Online Advertising expected to Surpass traditional media in 2012

Online Advertising expected to Surpass traditional media in 2012

Businesses in the United States are expected to spend more than ever before on online advertising in 2012 despite the downturn in the economy, estimates eMarketer.com.

They estimate a 20% growth this year (reaching $40 billion) with double-digit growth continuing through 2014. By 2016 advertisers are expected to spend a whopping $62 billion online! Cha-ching!

So how does this compare to traditional media such as newspapers and magazines? As their revenues are chipped away once again, eMarketer.com suggests that US online spending will be greater than the total amount spent on print magazines and newspapers for the first time at $39.5 billion. One might suggest that Canadian markets will be in a similar boat. Television is not facing as much pressure, but online advertising is still expected to be a significant rival this year. Visit our friends at businessinsider.com here to find out more about what television advertisers are expected to face.

The kernel of this issue appears to be one of value. Businesses are obviously seeing more value in advertising to a wide audience at pennies per view instead of an aging audience at hundreds of dollars per reader. A good way to measure this is to ask yourself “what was the last ad I read?” If you’re like most of us, we can’t answer that question with a great measure of confidence.

Of course, traditional media have tried to be more creative by offering online versions of their paper-based publication. However, one would think that this kind of pressure to survive would engage them to get more competitive. The reality is that for the most part, newspapers and magazines continue to change enormous fees for a decreasing number of readers, putting even the possibility of an advertising campaign out of reach for most small businesses. For example, a recent client of ours purchased an ad in a national newspaper that measured about 6” wide by 10” high. Given the national distribution, one might suspect that it would cost a little more than your neighborhood publication, but with a price tag of $50,000+ no wonder things are changing. For the small business owner, or new start up, online advertising is the only really affordable medium. For more on this topic, visit eMarketer here.

Has your business thought of doing more advertising online? Perhaps we can help. Visit us at www.esitecreations.ca or contact us at sales@esitecreations.ca to talk about it.

10 Reasons to Start a Blog for your business

1. Keep your money - Blogs are inexpensive to set up, and takes no additional outlay of funds when you have something to say.

2. Create an edge over your competition – Blogs help to provide a clear competitive differentiation between you and your customers. They provide a unique forum to tell your story again and again to countless people.

3. Become the expert – Blogs help you (or your employees) become a respected expert over your competitors. Over time, many will come to trust what you have to say, and your website and the products and services you sell will always be relevant. This type of relational marketing is earned, not bought – blogs just make it happen as quickly as possible.

4. Easily develop your own brand – Even if you’re not selling anything, blogs help to build your brand. Your “brand” could mean

- who you are,
- what your company stands for, and
- the types of products and services you offer.

5. Integrate your website products and services – Corporate blogging is a great opportunity to say what you think and link back to your website in the end. Some experts agree that this is crucial to the success of both your business and your blog.

6. Generate more traffic – Your blog posts are always welcomed by major search engines that “feed” on new content. In return for a routinely updated blog, your business will also be easier to find in these search engines.

7. Have direct communication with customers – Not only do blogs provide a unique way of speaking directly to your customer, you can use this medium to speak honestly and openly as well.

8. Make public relations a breeze – Blogs are one of the most effective public relations tools, and after all you want the media to call you first.

9. Manage your reputation – Blogs are a unique medium that help you manage your reputation. When someone says something that is either true or false – write about it and set the record straight. Your customers and potential clients will appreciate it.

10. Play with the big guys - A well used blog gives your business an edge over your competitors.

For more information on this topic or how we can help your small business expand it's website to offer a blog, visit us at www.esitecreations.ca today.

HTML5 is Here…and some website owners are saying ‘huh?’

"…say goodbye to Flash, Silverlight and Java!"

Don’t fret all you website owners who have heard the latest news this week about the Adobe’s acknowledgement that HTML5 is the new coding standard for new websites, moving forward. For those who are not sure what I’m referring to, HTML5 is the newest version of the coding language that runs in the background of your website.

Website developers have been waiting for the ‘official push’ towards HTML5 since it is a big improvement over previous and similar versions and finally standardizes the web experience. It simplifies the incorporation of animation, audio, drag and drop, fonts graphics and video on your website.

One of the most important improvements that HTML5 brings to the table that it will eliminate the need for Flash is video and graphic design items. All you need is an updated browser and you can forget the need to upload any annoying plug-ins to view the content. This enhanced web browsing experience promotes a “seamless user experience” that applies to any device that accesses the web. Very soon those who use mobile devices or tablets to view previously inaccessible Flash-oriented content such as YouTube videos will be able to view them without an hiccups.

One of the big winners with the introduction and standardization of HTML5 is Apple. Waiting patiently in the wings for the mass adoption, it has developed all of its devices and software to support HTML5. Following Steve Jobs’ long time vocal and occasional public beat down of Flash where he chastised Adobe for supporting new flash development, he has most certainly spoke from the grave in recent days; In a November 8, 2011 blog post by and Adobe executive Danny Winokur, he announced that the company would “...no longer continue to develop Flash Player in the browser to work with new mobile device configurations.” On Adobe’s official website, the company said that their “…new focus will be placed on HTML5 which we now agree is the best solution when developing content for the web and for mobile devices.”

So what does this mean for your current website? Well, perhaps not much. This will really depend on your website and the elements you have on it - so check with us or your website developer. The good news for everyone is that although HTML5 improves the readability of any content going forward, it will not affect any HTML-based websites currently on the Internet. This is a significant point for website owners who feared that their site would need a major overhaul. However, most website owners will eventually phase such elements out of their websites over time.

visit us at www.esitecreations.ca today.

A useful resource in determining which website browsers support certain features, visit

caniuse.com.

Don't be fooled by Search Engine Optimization Promises

Everyone and your uncle outside of the web development world think that Search Engine Optimization is something that you can do to your website and the results will simply come along.

In reality, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a long term experience that should be part of your long term development plan for your website. Even in a perfect world, this could take several weeks to several months to see significant improvements to your website.

Those companies who approach business owners and promise immediate results are simply not being truthful. There are no magical tactics that can get your site ranked higher - at least legally or ethically.

The "Good Guy" formula for SEO results in steady and ongoing improvements to site ranking that stand to last. The "Bad Guy" way of getting what you want may provide you temporary gain with popular search engines, but may possibly result in getting your site banned or black listed from search engines.

As such, we're only going to discuss the "Good Guy" methods to SEO, because this has proven to be the longest lasting, most beneficial path to success - not to mention the most ethical. Having said this, there is no way of knowing in advance what will happen, but one thing is for sure - your site won't be banned.

Stay tuned for our next blog on understanding how sites are ranked.

Google gets social with new +1 tool

Savvy business owners large and small are salivating at the future potential of Google’s new “+1” feature – a clickable button shown next to search results that tells your customer’s friends, contacts and others on the web that you like the site and think others should visit as well. Officially, clicking the +1 button next to a search result means you think “this is pretty cool” or “you should check this out”. Businesses looking for information or resources online will quickly understand the benefits of the +1 button because it means that your customers and supporters can now recommend your content to their friends and contacts directly from the Google search results page.

To take it one step further, Google has decided that the +1 button would be a great asset directly inside a website, so they are making this available to YOU for free! It’s also keeping website design firms like ours working through the night, as businesses continue to request the addition of this new feature.

So, what can this do specifically for your business? Google tells us that some of the major key benefits to utilizing this feature include:

• Page relevance and search ranking. Google is constantly tweaking and improving how it’s Google Rank technology. +1 will further enhance this capability.


• Personalized annotations that will show up next to your own website’s page results may increase its visibility and overall popularity. With this new found fame, there may be more opportunities for other qualified prospects to land on your site.
  

Since Google has just released this new feature, you will start seeing it more and more until many believe that it will eventually be an everyday part of our search experience. Many believe that the Google version of Facebook’s “Like” button will fall by the wayside similar to how their other attempts at knocking over the social giant have failed. But for now, many are optimistic that this will eventually see the end of Facebook’s dominance. To kick-start the momentum, the company has partnered with companies like Best Buy, Nordstrom, Reuters and others, so we suggest you go searching for the +1 button and see if adding such a feature would be beneficial to your business.

If you would like to discuss adding this feature to your website or have any questions, visit us at www.esitecreations.ca today.

To view the YouTube video of the Google +1 feature, click here.