iGoogle Makes A Move To Become More Social

Though it is still a bit premature to claim that iGoogle will compete on equal terms with the current crop of social networking majors any time soon, the continued improvements that iGoogle showcases will obviously give the user another viable option. Since it carries the tag of “ from the house of Google”, iGoogle could find its acceptance in the social networking segment. Google knows the direction the web is headed to and from. That is – information to communication.

iGoogle is Google’s personalized homepage that lets users customize their internet experience by offering them the option to choose the content they are interested in seeing. It gives the user customized news, calendar, games, weather forecasts, movie times, quotes etc.

Some of the new iGoogle Gadgets introduced include:

Flixter- helps users rate and review movies or browse what movies their friends have seen and found interesting

NPR- helps users browse through the headlines across categories and share with their friends stories they find interesting

GoComics is for comics lovers where comics can be seen, reviewed and shared

Chess Gadget allows users to play their favorite game of chess with their friends

Crossword-  the crossword puzzle gadget gives them an opportunity to do some crossword puzzle solving with the help of their friends.

Social Photos gadget allows users to share their albums from Flickr as also to browse their friends’ albums

More on iGoogle Gadgets from Google

From the Google blog,  “We launched iGoogle in 2005 as a way for people to quickly and easily personalize their Google experience with all the information on the web that was most useful to them. Now tens of millions of people choose to use their iGoogle homepage to check email, track the news, watch videos, chat with friends and much more. Today, we’re pleased to tell you about the new social features that we’re introducing to iGoogle”.

“Your friends are able to see what you share or do in your social gadgets either by having the same gadgets on their homepages, or through a new feed called Updates. Updates can include your recently shared photo albums, your favorite comics strips, your travel plans for the weekend and more. To help you manage who you are sharing with, we’ve created a Friends group. You can add and edit friends in this group at any time. If you already have a Friends group within your Google Contacts, you’ll be able to easily share with those friends on iGoogle as well. If you don’t care to share, iGoogle’s social features are optional and can be disabled on a gadget-to-gadget basis with just a few clicks”.

Google’s obviously made this subtle move to become extend itself  into the social networking segment.  The goal is to play a pivotal role at a time when the web’s role is quietly shifting from information to include social communication. The recent release of a slew of iGoogle gadgets is acknowledgement of the power of social marketing.

Facebook Lite to Resemble Twitter

This stripped down version of the Facebook platform closely resembles Twitter. It features a left- navigation with four main categories namely a wall, info, friends and photos & videos and gives your most recent status updates and the updates of your friends. There is no denying that “Facebook Lite” is singularly aimed at taking Twitter head on as Facebook strives to find ways to meet the growing buzz that Twitter has.

Facebook Lite Not Available To Everyone Just Yet

Recent trends among internet users suggest that people use more than one social network to stay in touch with their friends and families.  What people aren’t sure about is whether people are using both because they each offers something the other does not.  Facebook Lite is aimed at satisfying the needs of Twitter users and should help answer that question.

According to Facebook’s official announcement, ”We are currently testing a simplified alternative to Facebook that loads a specific set of features quickly and efficiently. Similar to the Facebook experience you get on your mobile phones, Facebook “Lite” is a fast-loading, simplified version of Facebook that enables people to make comments, accept Friend requests, write on people’s Walls, and look at photos and Status updates. We are currently testing Facebook Lite in countries where we are seeing lots of new users coming to Facebook for the first time and are looking to start off with a more simple experience.”

“This evening, the test was temporarily exposed to a larger set of users by mistake. We have not opened up access to http://lite.facebook.com to all users at this time. People who are not part of the test and are trying to access “Lite” will be directed to http://Facebook.com as usual”.

Facebook lite is a hot topic of discussion on Twitter with many even suggesting that it’s the “Twitter killer”.  In my opinion, Facebook made a wise move to incorporate all the simplified and less personal features of Twitter into Facebook Lite. Facebook Lite may not kill Twitter; but it very well may now be able to find out if they can put a dent in the booming popularity that Twitter has created.

If Facebook had only thought of this opportunity just 12 months ago then Twitter may very well have never received the recognition it has received.

A Better 'Real Time' Search Experience for the User

Speculation is ripe that the FriendFeed purchase was intended to help Facebook shore up its search engine segment as it presently is testing an update to its search utility that also features up-to-the-minute details for status updates, notes and links from users' home pages. FriendFeed presently also offers users a customized feed of a similar nature with shared content from various social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube. Though it's still vague as to how these two services will be integrated, the fact is that their combined efforts should bring in a better real time search experience to the Facebook user. Facebook as we all know had earlier this year introduced several features to make its own home page profiles work much more like Twitter.

Though the fight for social networking supremacy historically was between Facebook and MySpace, Twitter made its presence felt in the last year and the latter is growing in popularity by the day.  With FriendFeed in its arsenal, Facebook may now take on Twitter for real time search. Many rate the technical competence of FriendFeed to be superior to that of Twitter which should sound sweet to the ears of Facebook followers. 

“Facebook and FriendFeed share a common vision of giving people tools to share and connect with their friends,” said Bret Taylor, the co founder of Friend Feed and  the previous group product manager who launched Google Maps. “We can’t wait to join the team and bring many of the innovations we’ve developed at FriendFeed to Facebook’s 250 million users around the world…It was immediately obvious to us how passionate Facebook's engineers are about creating simple, ground-breaking ways for people to share, and we are extremely excited to join such a like-minded group."

From all indications it seems that for the present, FriendFeed will continue to operate as usual with both maintaining separate entities, but will work as one to develop long term strategic plans. FriendFeed's API will also function as usual.  The user base of FriendFeed is miniscule compared to that of Facebook and the utilization of Facebook will only improve the toolset of Friendfeed.  Where FriendFeed really scores is on the technical front with its highly acknowledged expertise on the real time updates.  Facebook could make use of this talented pool in its future growth and expansion plans. Facebook will no doubt bring in more offerings as part of the FriendFeed purchase and label it as its own.

As per the agreement, all FriendFeed employees will join Facebook and FriendFeed’s four founders will hold senior roles on Facebook’s engineering and product teams.

It seems that the initial reactions on the buyout have been mixed with a majority of FriendFeed users speaking against the move. Like any honourable employee, they feel that FriendFeed will cease to exist as a single entity with more and more of FriendFeed services being integrated with Facebook.  But what is better?  Having great technology that no one notices or having your technology used by one of the worlds biggest social marketing sites?

Facebook Eyeing the Search Business Jackpot

It seems that the ultimate aim of this $50 million deal by Facebook is on the real time search market. The search market is the goose that lays the golden egg. Google, Microsoft and others are constantly after it for a very big reason. Control over search means control over dollars.  Facebook is betting their seach reputation with the technical expertise of FriendFeed should signal the birth of another search giant in the near future.

Was the Purchase of FriendFeed a Smart Move For Facebook?

Facebook now owns the closest thing out there to what Twitter is.  A good move for a company thats own lack of vision made the creation of Twitter possible.

Hopefully it isn't too late.

What is the big deal about being endorsed in the public domain by members of social marketing sites?  Well think about it for a second – usually business controls what is said about them by way of push advertising.  By building a positive social marketing persona your business is apt to receive more positive publicity because the remarks are viewed more as ‘honest’ feedback about your products and services.

Here is some of the ways that you can be found through Social Networking.

Facebook & Other Social Networking Sites

After creating your profile in Facebook and other social networking sites (like Linked In) you can join several of the networks organized by city, workplace, school and region. These networks help users connect with members of the same group and connect with friends and share your interests, hobbies, links, exchange messages etc.

Community members share their opinion on a certain product they have used and this offers a great business marketing opportunity. Through these networking sites you have other people sell your products indirectly by making favorable comments about your product. After all, people will trust the opinion of one man they know more than the opinion of 20 other people they are not familiar with. With millions of people as members, these social networking sites are virtual communities and offer a platform where people can promote their business.

Social networking sites like these are the place where you can create a buzz.

Business Review Sites Also Play their Part

Major business review sites such as work.com, entrepreneur.com, merchantcircle.com and business.com also offer people the option to upload their reviews and opinions on any product or service that they found useful and stand up to their quality standards.

These business review sites are read by a large number of people engaged in trade and commerce and opinions expressed in these columns carry due weight among the members of the virtual community. These sites offer endless ability for promoting your product / service as people consider opinions from peer group to be more accurate, believable and relevant.

Advertising Copy Losing Credibility

Gone are the days when consumers blindly accepted all that was dished out by copy writers in the name of sales copy. People are becoming more and more suspect and take these tall claims by advertisers with a pinch of salt.  Push marketing does still exist but, newspaper advertisements, bill boards and all forms of online and offline advertisements are becoming less and less effective with the passage of time.

Over a century ago, the great retailer John Wannamaker is reported to have said “Half of all advertising works; I just don’t know which half”.  Much water has flowed through the Thames since then.  As of now the percentage is very much on the lower side and all surveys point to a major drop in the effectiveness of advertisements to sway the consumer in the purchase a product or service. Earlier a click through rate of 5% was reasonable; now a click through rate of 1% is extremely good.

This is not to belittle the importance of advertisements as it is only advertisements that can create awareness and interest in a product or service. It is also not to say that all advertisements are a waste of money. The point I would like to drive home is that a good percentage of the population unlike in earlier times just fall short of purchasing the product merely on the basis of advertisements.

Instead they look online now.  What best way to refer business then by friends you trust through a social network?

Social Networks Driving Purchase Decisions

More and more people rely on the opinions and favorable product reviews done by others in the selection of goods and services. Social networking sites are a very key contributor to cementing the opionions of a given product or service.

With social networking sites reporting a surge in the number of followers each day these will soon become the focal point of any product marketing initiative by business owners.  Business that is wondering about the way of tomorrow — hope you are reading!

Here are some of the things that a successful Twitter profile will include!

Include Your Bio in the Twitter Profile

The first and foremost step in creating a successful Twitter profile is to include your bio in the Twitter profile. Statistics made available from Twitter grader that collected data from over 1.6 million Twitter accounts reveal that Twitter profiles that contain a bio will attract eight times as many followers as one without a bio. The statistics further go on to reveal that a profile with a bio will average over 120 followers as against 15 followers by one without it.  So it is of utmost importance that your profile contains your bio with all the important elements so that you stand every chance of attracting and building rapport with followers of the same genre having similar likes and preferences.

Though a Twitter profile averages only 140 words there is no reason why your bio should be ignored.  If you do ignore this vital element you lose out on potential followers and a golden chance to develop relationships on a personal level. Reveal your likes and dislikes, interests, preferences, hobbies, experiences etc and you stand every chance of developing intimate relationships with like minded individuals. You will soon realize that the growth in the number of your followers is in proportion to the amount of info you include in your bio.

Add The Twitter Link To Your Website!

It has also been shown that adding a link to your website where the type and nature of your business is clearly described would prove enormously useful. This gives your followers a peep in to your activities and answers the question “what are you doing”.   In short, it allows visitors on your corporate site to go to your Twitter site which will often ‘humanize’ your company.

If some of your followers are also in the same line of business as you are, the chances of getting business association is indeed brighter. It also be a good idea to create two Twitter accounts: one for your personal use and the other for promoting business interests.  In such scenario there is then no need to mix business with pleasure.  Your personal Twitter can include all your business thoughts but also it would not put your corporate image at any risk.

It has also been shown that users with links on their corporate site have 7.5 times more followers than a profile without a link.  A link included in your profile then is a major ingredient of a successful Twitter profile.

Use Your Real Name

Always use your real name (either business or personal) and avoid using pseudonyms.

Twitter helps build relationships on a company or personal level so using your name is a must.  It is also be a good idea to upload your photo or company logo and even your geographic location. Telling your followers your real name, and other personal information will bring in a sense of trustworthiness amongst your followers.

Don’t Only Promote Your Own Content But Instead Speak To Your Market!

Think of developing unique and useful content that your followers are looking for; think of how this content could benefit them. If you have a company blog, make sure to reference your blogs.  This way people that are interested in what you do will also find and add you!  Heck – we will probably be posting this link to Twitter itself!

Also keep in mind that you will build a more respected following if you reference consistent material.  Don’t be too self promotional.  Instead, while its find to reference your latest blog posts, don’t be afraid to point to other links on other websites that are related.  It shows your genuine interest is not only for self promotion.  Your content should obviously contain keywords related to your line of business.

Customize Your Design

A customized profile design also forms a crucial element in a successful profile. It shows a higher level of professionalism, uniqueness and gives the visitor a way to see you stand out! A unique and customized profile design will create a good impression among your followers and make you stand out from the crowd. Check out our Twitter profile to see how we do it! www.twitter.com/techwyse

Though Twitter allows you to go as high as 800kb for background image, we advise you keep it in the 300kb range or less as this would help for faster loading. Always avoid super bright colors and prefer those that are in tune with your style and taste. Use contrasting colors for your background, text and link colors. Always leave some free space to the left of the main content area as the content area shifts left and right depending on the browser’s window size.

But remember that prior to creating a customized design it is a good idea to browse through several profiles of your followers to get a feel of how a good customized design for your profile can be developed.

What it boils down to is that in creating a successful Twitter profile you should include every detail about yourself, who you are and what you represent,  so that you are able to increase the number of your followers and build rapport with each and every one of them. And with an increase in the number of your Twitter followers your business prospects could very well brighten all the more.

It is not a mere numbers game either. Among the latest entrants are celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore.  To learn what this spells for the average member there is an interesting and informative write up by DJ Kennedy titled “Oprah Joins Twitter and Twitter Becomes Mainstream”

What Makes Twitter Tweet?

What are the ingredients that make it so successful? Twitter undoubtedly is easy to use and very user friendly at that. It builds a sense of community and of real – time connectedness and information flow for people from every walk of life. It makes sharing of news quick and easy and is in tune with the American psyche of being quick and easy. It has further stepped out from its original intent of “what are you doing” to something much more all encompassing.

The media attention that Twitter is getting has also contributed in no small measure to the phenomenal growth of the site. Andrew Lipsman the ComScore analyst wrote recently that “It seems you can’t get through a typical newscast anymore without some mention of Twitter” Lipman believes that the growth of Twitter is partly a result of the media attention it receives

Even the mainstream news channel CNN is using Twitter to get news out to avid news readers as it is a known fact that Twitter followers visit top news sites an average of three times more often than the average person.

Twitter Needs to Monetize to Stay Afloat

Many people wonder how long Twitter can maintain this growth momentum?  Twitter has no known avenues for monetizing its immense publicity mileage. Their potential to reach out to millions is a universal fact but Twitter is yet to chart out a business model with advertising.

Those in the advertising industry are certainly waiting to see how Twitter begins to monetize.  I am certain that the investors that are consistently trying to purchase the company have their own ideas as well.

One thing we do know — Twitter has arrived.  Given the explosion of social marketing sites over the last several years I think its safe to say that the Twitter we know today will be vastly different a year from now!

We have evolved even further since then. Google has again surprised many people interested in search engine optimization with shift in its search algorithm focus. Over the last years it has become more scrupulous with the quality of links and weights different links based upon a scale.

What are Inbound Links

As many of us know, inbound links are links pointing to a site from another site. Everyone would obviously love to link to a site that has something of value to offer. Google considers such a process to be a reflection of the acceptance of a site and a popularity measurement done by others. It feels that such sites should be given their due position in their search rankings. Think of it much like a democratic process whereby the most efficient and suitable candidate is elected.

Google has viewed all reciprocal links (you put a link on your site and that site puts a link to yours) with a little more suspicion. They do not anymore occupy the importance it once had in Google’s ranking scheme.

Getting an inbound link from a site operating in the same industry segment and having a high page rank of three or above is more valuable than having a link from a site that has a page rank below two and/or no relevance to your industry. Don’t know how to view Google’s PageRank?  You can easily find a page’s page rank by using the Google tool bar found at http://toolbar.google.com

Google Prefers Deep Links

These days, Google prefers deep links.  This means that search engines want to see links that go to pages other than your home page.  The text that is on the site linking to you is also important.  Its called anchor text!  If that text is relevant to your site and it links to you this is a good thing in the eyes of big G!

Google scans the entire page for consistency of topic and not merely the area surrounding the anchor text. So sites that link to you with relevant content is obviously much more appealing!

How To Get One Way Back Links

There are several ways of getting other sites to link to you or to create one way back links;  while many webmasters like to perform directory submissions, article submissions, social book marking and submitting to PR sites, while this can be somewhat effective in h elping for less competitive areas there one thing that will work much better.

Link baiting!

Think of it like this;  do you have something that you can offer on your site which will cause a buzz in your industry?  If you can find something that is so unique, so different, or so helpful that many people link to it then you are achieving your goal naturally!  You are getting others linking to you without doing it yourself. 

Here is an example. A cosmetic surgeon in Toronto, may decide to put animated videos of his/her procedures on his site.  Other relevant people may see this and link to it themselves.  What did you do?  You created something unique enough to have someone notice it and link to it.

No one obviously can alter Google’s ways by waving a magic wand. Commanding over 80% of the search market Google is the trend setter and anyone wanting to have traffic coming to their site had better tune their online strategies to coincide with Google’s algorithm. 

The best rule of thumb to remember;  Google likes 2 things -  Content and Sites Linking to you.  So make sure the information you offer is relevant and updated often.  Be unique and make sure others see what you are doing.  It will hopefully create a buzz and cause others to link to you!

If the font and font size is to his/her liking, he is more apt to stay.  If he/she finds difficulty in reading through the content due to the  font size , the person is more likely to leave the site for good. If you had given ample thought to analyzing your target audience and deciding upon the right font and font size you may very well help improve the overall time a person will spend on your site.

New Generation Fonts

Choose fonts that are easy on the eye and clearly legible. Verdana and Arial are considered a good option and offer easy reading. These are common and installed in all computers presently. These fonts look equally pleasing when taking out print outs of any documents from your computer.  Further to this point, text and the background color should contrast and this should offer easy reading. Black text and white background are considered the best selection by far.

Jakob Nielson on Font Size

Jakob Nielson, the web usability czar, speaking on font size had earlier remarked, ”Tiny text tyrannizes users by dramatically reducing task throughput”.  He recommended that designers be careful in the choice of font size and avoid cramming pages with small font that users are unable to read . Most present day web browsers , however, offer the option of enlarging or reducing the font size with CTRL and + and CTRL-

This ls a useful tool and offers the users the freedom to select the font size of their choice. (the problem is not many people know about it!) Jakob Nielson had also cautioned web designers from disabling this facility and displaying a font that users may be reluctant to accept. In case the designer was particular that a default font size be included in the site he suggested that 10 point be used as default so that users need not take recourse to manual overrides. He had in addition said that font size should be related to the age of your target audience and if your site is particularly targeted at seniors a font size of 12 point may be better.

The importance of having a font that does not strain the eyes and is visually appealing is of utmost importance. Many visitors may not even take the trouble of enlarging the fonts if the font size is too small.

A well designed site with correct font size could go a long way in making a commercial success of your site by making a visitor stay longer on your site and aid conversions in the process.  Isn’t that what its all about?

What is the benefit for business to purchase a domain at seemingly unbelievable rates?

• Domain name exact match – a company may purchase a domain because it matches the company name exactly and the fee to purchase the domain makes economic sense.  Ever heard of the Nissan case? (that is a whole different story!)
• Brand recognition – the domain is simple, descriptive and offers the company a broad domain which describes their brand
• Search engine reasons – generic domains and domains with relevant keywords in the name can be an important factor in ranking well on search engines.

Here are a few tips for those that are looking to acquire or register domains for their own website;

Domain Names – A Reflection of Your Online Brand

Domain names are a reflection of your online brand and should reflect the type of business the website seeks to promote. To ensure a better chance at ranking well in search engines, domain names should contain keywords related to your line of business as it is assumed that keywords appearing in domain names figure prominently in search engine algorithms. If the keywords used are appropriate, there is a likelihood of the website being displayed prominently for searches made using these same keywords.

If you have a well established brand that commands value in the market it would be advisable to include that name in the domain URL. You could also choose keywords pertaining to the industry and choose a domain name that is reflective of the products and services being offered by the industry you are in.

If you were a company that sold "Steel Buildings" for example you may want to register the domain name www.steelbuildingsinc.com.

Hyphens can also be included in your domain name, however, if a domain name can be registered without then we recommend doing it that way.

Extensions & Geo Targeting

Consideration also needs to be given in selecting the proper extension for your domain name; “.com” is recommended for sites the conduct business on a global basis.  We also recommend ‘.com’ extensions over every other domain extension if it is available.  .NET extensions are a much less favourable alternative to .COM but there is no evidence that these extensions rank any worse.  If your domain is taken and you do not service an international niche you may want to consider a localized domain.  Some examples of GEO targeted domains include: .ca for Canada, .uk for United Kingdom, .au for Australia. 

If your company is for charitable reasons you may want to consider a .ORG address.  Be warned though that these domains are usually associated with sites that do not conduct regular online business.

In most cases, we also suggest to keep your domain as short as possible.  Your domain name should remain under eight characters and should always be easy to read, write, hear , remember and spell. In short, your domain name should be user friendly.

Good Domain Name = Increased Traffic

A well thought out domain name is a ‘sine qua non’ for a successful website .

A good domain name in conjunction with other SEO elements will guarantee a steady flow of traffic to a website. A good domain name alone, however, will not guarantee great web traffic. It should combine as part and parcel with other SEO processes that include using original content, links, conversion friendly website design, directory submissions, blogs, press releases, article submissions and good navigation among other important website elements.

As your domain name represents who you are online, choosing an appropriate domain name is a crucial part of your online business success. Your business growth will be accompanied by increased recognition and acceptability of your domain name among the business community.

If you want to begin looking for a domain quickly here is one of our favorite tools that we use to search for domain quickly and easily!

Determine The Product / Service You Are Selling

If you are selling environmental or ‘green’ products, it would not be appropriate to use colors like red or orange.  Instead you would want to use greens, and/or earth tones.  Choose a color that matches the product or service that you are offering.

Focus on the Target Audience

When deciding on the appropriate color for a website, consideration should be given to the target audience. The color used for a product focused on the elderly may not fare well with teens or younger generations. Also, over use of extremely bright colors like red, yellow, blue etc causes eye fatigue and could drive visitor away.

Background Color

We often find it helpful to have a different colour background.  By doing this, it punches the body of the website page forward and keeps the focus on the website itself.

Make Your Text Black

When it comes to reading text, people are used to reading black text.  It is the easiest on the eye.  There is no need to stray from what people have grown up using.

Color should relative to products being highlighted

As stated earlier, it is important to relate your product / service to a color relevant to your industry.

• Red is attractive and powerful and would go well for websites that are focused on products meant for children and also for inducing a visitor to take action with a “Book now”,  and/or “Reserve now”.  Red invokes emotion.
• Orange is used in websites that promote food products. It is known to promote positive thinking and increase creativity. The color also appeals to the younger generation.  Many technical companies use Orange.
• Yellow signifies cheerfulness and creativity. It appeals to children and is used in sites that promote leisure products. Yellow, however,  can tend to strain the eyes and should be used as an accent color in most cases.
• Green is pleasing to the human eye and is apt for tourism sites and sites that relate to nature. Green symbolizes prosperity and wealth.  Green also invokes trust and is one of the most trendy / corporate colors.
• Blue is a conservative color with incredibly high trust value and is known to relax the nervous system. It is suitable for sites offering high- tech products and also for diet products. Many people mistakenly use blue for text color.  This should be avoided as it is not a standard color for the human eye to read with.
• Black is useful for sites that relate to photography and art.
• Purple is used in religious sites and vacation sites.

Helpful Colour Chooser Tools

We all love tools that help make our lives easier. On an earlier blog post about color we had someone comment about a great color scheme tool.  We recommend you have a look at this one if you need help picking colours that work well together.

Don’t Make Your Website A Rainbow

A final note – the temptation with people starting out in web design is to use many colours.  The most impactful websites are the ones that keep the use of colour to a minimum.  As a rule, we recommend that your website employ the use of 2 – 3 colors at a maximum.   Often the biggest statement your site can make is in its simplicity.