Gmail’s Grid View Set to Change Email Marketing

Gmail is currently experimenting with a new grid view, for the promotional emails, that is set to change Email Marketing. The new view will highlight the images attached with the email. Email Marketing Agencies will now require focusing on attractive images also, apart from optimizing the subject lines. The grid view changes the list view of the emails and replaces the mails with thumbnails. Gmail's “promotions” tab will now look more familiar with a folder or a webpage rather than the traditional mailbox.

Though the grid view is still in the experimentation phase, market analysts are speaking with certainty of times when it will be launched completely. The most important change that will be noticed is the immediate change of focus from the subject line to the image of the email. In fact, Email Advertising Agencies, that used long subject lines in attempts of capturing the attention of the users, will need to rework their strategy as the subject lines will be trimmed after 75 characters along with the advertiser’s name that will be shortened to 20 characters. Also, with the presence of a highlighted image, the focus of the user will automatically turn away from the written content. The onus of the getting the user to open the email will now rest on the image more than the subject line.

The tests that were run on the new grid view showed that the techniques that are currently prevalent in Email Marketing will fall short when the grid view is activated for all. A number of thumbnails stared blankly without images while a few others had images that did not have the optimal resolution. Though it is true that the option of viewing the “promotions” folder in the grid view or list view will lie at the user’s discretion, most users will definitely chose the former that will present the folder in a more colorful and attractive manner. The Email Marketing Service Providers would do well to start their preparations with proper images, so that when the story of the promoted brand starts being told by the images, they are not left wanting in quality.

The Hot SEO Question - To Guest Blog or Not to Guest Blog

Guest Blogging, which used to be a respected and trusted way of gaining visibility, has become one of the most confusing areas for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) professionals all around the world. For those that did not take the warnings from Google’s Matt Cutts seriously, the first major action on a leading Guest Blogging site came as a well-deserved wake-up call. With Guest Blogging enthusiasts launching into debates on whether Guest Blogging is dead, SEO's and bloggers are in a fix on whether to use the technique or not. We tried to analyze the scenario and come up with a conclusion on whether Guest Blogging is likely to become a way of attracting sure shot penalty from Google or is it still harmless.

Even while enthusiasts continued to claim that Guest Blogging should be okay as long as there is good content, Google slammed a penalty on one of the leading and respected Guest Blogging sites. Though it is true that the concerned site, much like any other site, contained half-baked and spun articles too, there is also abundant quality content to be found. Now, we will all agree that once such a site becomes popular, content of all sorts will try to make a way into it. It is practically impossible to ensure that 100% of all the write-ups in a popular Guest Blogging site are unique and smoked in high quality. So, the question that comes into mind is whether your site will suffer due to the few bad write-ups that exist there in spite of the others being mostly good. Well, a concentrated analysis of the reasons, for the action by Google, puts the blame on one simple occurrence – Backlink Spam. The popularity of the site attracting Backlink Spammers is also a primary reason for the existence of poor quality content in the site. Google had one simple solution for this – no follow links – which for some reason or the other, the site refused to implement.

There is a strong possibility that the above event (which experts opine are being done manually as of now) will soon become an all-out attack from Google. It is a very good idea to delete / disavow / no follow links from or leading to poor quality Guest Blogs before that happens. Though lessening Backlinks does not seem like a good SEO Strategy, many Top SEO Agencies have done well without many of them. The idea of Guest Blogging is to share useful content among experts from similar fields. The provision for the Backlinks was made so that they act as bridges for them to communicate. If some of the SEO's have started using them to manipulate search results, and they cannot be stopped in any other way, it is better to blow down the bridge. If the content has interested the audience enough, they will wade through the waters to reach your site.

How to Make Users Click on Your Web Banner Ads?

Web Banner Advertising has had some stiff competition from the PPCs (Pay-Per-Click) recently. However, they are still pretty much in the frame, if done intelligently. Let us have a look at the latest techniques employed by leading Web Banner Advertising Agencies in order to increase the click rates of the Banners. The techniques primarily focus on enticing the users with practical solutions or stress on the prevalent threats that need to be tackled with the products and services that the Banner advertises.

Gone are the days of the Banners that claim something in the line of 99.9% efficiency. Users have realized that most of the times, they are marketing gimmicks. The modern day users look for practical solutions that are achievable. Change the presentation of your Web Banner into a straightforward message in order to succeed with the present lot of internet users. Too much flashiness hampers the believability of the ad and creates barriers between the Banner and the user’s click. A Banner Ad that focuses on providing simple but effective solutions does a much better job of enticing users that are more likely to convert.

Recently, the internet has been witness to a spate of Banners that work up fear for situations that may arise in the absence of the product or service. Though such Banners have been overused, they can still be used in a tapered down form. As long as the copy of the Banner does not attempt to sensationalize and presents the threat in the real scale, this technique works just fine. Users would actually be thankful to the Banner for saving them from unwanted situations.

The world of Internet Marketing sees newer techniques by the hour. The vastness of the opportunities is one of the key features of the medium. However, even in the face of new techniques, a few traditional forms like Web Banner Ads, with a few tweaks here and a few tweaks there, still remain effective.

Key Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Advertising.

Online Advertising is the best choice for brands looking for long-term, performance-oriented campaigns with high penetration. In fact, the term “high penetration” is an understatement as an Online Advertising Campaign operates on a global scale. However, just like any other media, Online Advertising also suffers from a few disadvantages. A good Online Advertising Agency understands both the advantages and disadvantages of the medium in order to create campaigns that set new heights in performance.

Advantages

Some of the unique advantages of Online Advertising have been discussed below.

Highest Penetration

There is no media that can compete with Online Advertising on the levels of penetration. An Online Ad posted anywhere in the world can be viewed from anywhere in the world. Thus, an Online Advertising Campaign essentially has a worldwide audience. The medium also offers ample opportunities for posting campaigns specially designed for the areas where they would be implemented. A properly implemented campaign on the internet can do wonders for your visibility.

Promptness

Online Advertising incites prompt action without the ad copy saying so. An Online Ad is clicked immediately if it is exciting enough. Thus, the response is generated on an immediate basis. Business houses all around the world will always have eloquent presentations on the importance of promptness.

Better reproductions of the creative visualizations are possible with Online Advertising. Thus, the overall impacts of the ads are much higher.

Maintenance Convenience

Advertisers and publishers are well accustomed to the toil that the maintenance of ads demands. Online Advertising provides options of setting alerts on the basis of time period and events and does away with the requirement of manual inspections. Next is its ability to produce fast and accurate analyses. These data are crucial in terms of making the urgent changes even while the Online Advertising Campaign is running and improving on the ads later at the stage of conceptualization itself.

Disadvantages

Even though Online Advertising presents increased efficiencies, it also suffers from a few disadvantages.

Banner Blindness

One of the major disadvantages of Online Advertising is that it has been used to such extents that the users have developed a blind eye to most Online Ads. The Top Online Advertising Agencies across the world rely on innovative approaches to tackle this blindness.

Intrusive

Web Banners, if not placed systematically, can be intrusive and distracting elements for the internet users. There have been some horrible instances of agencies flooding sites with so many banners that it became virtually impossible for the user to work on them. Online Advertising Agencies need to understand that optimization rather than maximization is the name of the game here.

Developing the inherent advantages of the Online Medium and utilizing it in manners that the associated disadvantages do not act as hindrances are some of the important traits of a successful Online Advertising Agency.

3 Popular Ways of Unethical Online Advertising

Unethical Online Advertising uses the ways that are against the rules and guidelines of advertising on the internet. Though cases of blatant violations hardly exist anymore as the repercussions are fast and defining, Unethical Online Advertising still thrives on the lapses that prevail. For example, yes, if links are caught being dumped at every other site, you are in for trouble, but if they are created in a manner that can escape the scrutiny of the search engines, it might get the job done without any objections. However, this doesn’t change the fact that Link Spamming is essentially an unethical practice. 3 of the popular ways by which the Black Hats advertise their sites are listed below.

Link Spamming

Link Spamming never seems to go out of fashion. “Don’t have enough content? Build links to the intended web pages, wherever you can” seems to be the battle cry of desperate SEO's. Although the use of unnatural means (bots, programs, etc.) have largely vanished as they are easily caught in the nets laid by the search engines, manual spamming still happens on a large scale. The trick employed is to build links in numbers just below the ones which would set the alarms off. This is a highly risky behavior and should be avoided. With the complacency, of those building links unnaturally, having been recently and famously crushed, manual Link Spamming is also a disaster waiting to happen. Focus on the appropriateness of the link and not its numbers.

Google Bowling

Google Bowling has recently become very popular. So Black Hats saw Google punishing sites with unnatural links. What strategy do they go ahead and build? Build unnatural links for your competitors! Then you just have to wait for Google to do its job. One of the immediate risks that are being taken is that if Google does not detect the spammed links, you might just push your competitor far ahead of you.

Guest Blogging Spam

Guest Blog and Article Posting is a wonderful way of advertising your site and increasing web presence. But the perpetuators of the unethical means, suffering from a need to overdo everything, calculated that more blogs lead to higher rankings, thereby giving birth to the term, Guest Blogging Spam. Most posting sites, apprehending backlashes (and correctly so!), increased the strictness of reviewing the postings.

The Dangers of Unethical Online Advertising are many and with intensities that can destroy the reputation of the website forever. It is not only smart but absolutely necessary to stick to the ways of Online Advertising Agencies with “haloed heads”.