Alliance Blog Reviews

Of all of the marketing tools that exist, one of the best ones for many businesses is website linking. Some people think that this just means putting up your link anywhere, but that isn’t always effective. Your focus in linking and other marketing practices should be the quality of your ads and links, not the quantity. That’s what search engines look for.

This is a simple tool that anyone can use. You can submit your link to article directories with articles, directories for your industry, and relevant websites that you build relationships with. The goal is to make it easy for people to find you. Just keep in mind that like targeted marketing, getting 5 quality links will be far better than throwing out 500 random links.

Make sure that you find professional marketing services if and when you need them. There is a lot involved in marketing a business, and you should make sure that you are doing things properly. Marketing tools are great, but sometimes are confusing to deal with when you’re not a professional.

Marketing companies will help you to accomplish your goals, get your business seen, and monitor your ongoing progress. You just have to swallow your pride and ask for help. It’s not good to settle for so-so marketing when you can collaborate to get exceptional marketing.

Website linking is nearly limitless, and can be a lot of fun. You can link your blog to your website and vice versa, link to other websites, and even link to or from your Facebook or other social networking pages. This invaluable tool offers a lot of different options for people who need them.

Make sure that you’re thinking about keywords. You need a short URL for your link or keywords that are relevant and to the point. This way, people can find your website linking easier, and use your business when they need it. You need to make sure that you use keyword-rich phrases wherever you can in marketing.

Website linking brings a lot to think about. However, if you take the time to figure out exactly what is going on and what works for you, you’ll be just fine. With the help of a marketing company, you can figure it out faster and have a better experience in your business marketing, no matter what type of business you have.

To learn more or to find solutions for website linking in your business, visit www.Majon.com.

paidContent reports today that private equity company Providence Equity Partners, one of the backers of Hulu, is rumored to be joining up with Baidu for a Chinese equivalent of the popular professional video content site. While China is the largest Internet population (350M) and a huge market for ad dollars in just about every online arena, it’s little wonder both the Chinese search giant and the American investment firm are interested. While Providence declined comment, other sources told PC the deal was already closed. Reuters reports that the new video site would launch in the first quarter of this year. Providence will back it with $60M, while Baidu is fronting $10M. A recently-departed China Mobile executive is rumored to be the CEO of the new site. Analysys International reports that the Chinese online video market was worth 162 million yuan ($23.73 million) in the third quarter of last year—again, little wonder these two companies are interested in the market. On the other hand, this is considerably less than the well-established US video advertising market, of which Hulu controlled some 10% (and commanded similar ad rates to TV). Could a Chinese Hulu take over the same proportion of the Chinese ad market (to the tune of $9.5M)? Hard to say, of course. Before Hulu came along, it seemed doubtful that a site with such a model could succeed—but now it does appear to be successful, as well as a major source for online video content. Naturally, Providence and Baidu would need Chinese television stations and studios to sign on to create the professional content. And while the US isn’t the best counterexample here, China has a reputation for rampant online video piracy that may diminish the appeal (and the restrictions) of a site like Hulu. What do you think? Can Baidu expand its empire successfully with this? Or is China just not the market for another Hulu? Pilgrim’s Partners: SponsoredReviews.com – Bloggers earn cash, Advertisers build buzz!

Excerpt from:
Baidu Getting into Video?

Google declined to go for the fake out as they unveiled the expected Nexus One today at their Android event . First spotted after employees received free phones last month , the Nexus has already created a media frenzy as the “real” Google phone—one that will be sold by Google through their web store (though manufactured, like so many other Android headsets, by HTC). So today is the formal announcement of the phone, along with the full rundown of the technical specs (available below). Search Engine Land , Read Write Web and many others are liveblogging the event, which features Google, Android and HTC engineers presenting not only the phone but an update on the progress and history of the OS. But we’ve been following Android for over two years now , so we’ll just stick to the Nexus news. Google has decided that their phone is so smart, it can’t even qualify as a “smartphone”—they call it a “superphone.” (Buzzwords FTW!) And for the low, low price of $529, one can be yours today. (Free engraving!) As per the rumor, the phone is available unlocked with no data plan included; T-mobile is the premiere partner for $80/month, but they’re not available just yet. Verizon and Vodafone are slated to join in spring. In the store you can have two lines of custom engraving added to the back of the phone (for free), and naturally checkout is through Google Checkout. The phone itself is pretty slick—with a fast enough processor and enough memory to run the “live wallpaper” and other apps in the background, multiple apps simultaneously and get some pretty good-looking graphics (if you’ve seen the Engadget video ). However, it’s not the game changer that the iPhone was. Processor: 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor 3.7″ AMOLED display Trackball at bottom which pulses and uses multicolor lights to notify of new calls and messages Light and proximity sensors (automatically dim backlight, etc.) 11.5mm (

Read more here:
Google Premieres Nexus (Big Surprise)

Google is ‘all in’ on mobile. AdMob purchased . Operating systems and devices in place. Announcements out the wazoo on just about everything as of late. Now, there is the ability to have your contact phone number show up on your ads on high end mobile devices and the call costs the same as a click. Earth shattering? Nope but it adds to the Google news wave that seems to keep growing. Search Engine Land reports on the announcement that went out to AdWords advertisers recently “your location-specific business phone number will display alongside your destination url in ads that appear on high-end mobile devices. Users will be able to click-to-call your business just as easily as they click to visit your website. You’ll be charged for clicks to call, same as you are for clicks to visit your website.” Google’s variation on the ‘pay per call’ theme is one that should resonate with advertisers for sure. The ability to click on a phone number and make a call has been in place on the organic side but now advertisers can benefit from this smart phone opportunity. I don’t know about you but the rate of innovation from Google in the past few months looks like their version of “Shock and Awe”. There appears to be few areas that they are not busy at improving on and making sure that the world is aware of it. As a result it’s tough for anyone else to get an innovative word in edge wise. While it’s interesting to watch, it’s also the kind of stuff that makes some queasy. It seems that each time Google provides a service that another competitor does there is the underlying current of “there goes the competitive neighborhood”. This eventually may lead to even more talk of Google being too pervasive and too powerful. When does the “whoa, wait a minute there big fella!” talk turn into action from either a competitor or the government itself? Maybe this year will be the year of ‘intervention’. Personally, I hope not but it may not be avoidable.

See original here:
Google to Add Mobile ‘Click to Call’ Feature to AdWords

Social media is gaining greater acceptance across all levels of business from the SMB to the multi-national enterprise. No surprise there. What is beginning to play out though is the fact that the space is new and evolving. As a result, some of the techniques or tactics that seem to be the ‘norm’ are now being seen a bit differently. Why? Because there may be other things that just work better. That’s where the evolving part comes in. eMarketer reports on a Marketing Profs survey (this link is for a synopsis of survey that is for sale and we are not in any way associated with that sale) from earlier in September 2009 that shows what is usually done on some social media outlets isn’t what is driving results. The most common marketing tactic used on Facebook was attempting to drive traffic to corporate materials through status updates, followed by friending customers. But the most effective tactic for consumer-oriented companies was creating a Facebook application, which was done by less than one-quarter of total respondents. The chart below tells the rest of the story: Now that’s for Facebook. Apparently the same rules apply for Twitter. Like those on Facebook, marketers using Twitter were also most interested in increasing traffic. Driving traffic by linking to marketing Webpages was the most common activity on the microblogging site, followed by driving sales by linking to promotional pages. But again, the most effective tactics were different. So what was Twitter most effective at for companies? Online reputation monitoring and management. Sure you can drive traffic to your site but there is always the question of the quality of the traffic you drive. As for responding to a negative comment or seeing your brand get trashed? That’s easy and obvious to spot and there is no real wiggle room. It is what it is. As a result companies need to respond and there is a ‘measurable’ result. Here is how the rest of the uses panned out. So where are you on this one? Do you use social media in ways that may not be talked about in the mainstream but have yielded success for you? Remember, it’s OK to share because it’s about social media. No secrets here .

Read more from the original source:
Social Media: More Than Meets the Eye?

It appears that not just the Year of Mobile is being christened this January but new competitive lines are being drawn as well between Internet giants Google and Apple. Yes, it’s time to officially deem Apple an Internet company in my opinion but you are always free to disagree. According to All Things Digital Apple is preparing to announce a purchase that virtually mirrors the acquisition made of AdMob by Google. Apple is ready to buy Quattro Wireless for $275 million. Apple had been in the mix for the AdMob deal but Google won that one. So as a result Apple and Quattro’s ad platform will be getting geared up to fight out the looming iPhone v. Droid device conflagration (great ‘over-the-top’ word, huh?) that could shape the future of how many people acquire information from the Internet. Quattro was already ID’d as a potential win as evidenced by investment and there are more players out there says All Things D: Waltham, Mass.-based Quattro has raised close to $30 million from two main venture investors–Highland Capital Partners and Globespan Capital Partners. Founded several years ago, its clients include Ford (F), Disney (DIS) and the National Football League. Competitors in the space are many still, despite these big acquisitions, including Millenial Media and Jumptap, both of which are now clearly in play to other players from telcoms to other device makers to big Internet companies. So get ready for the battle that lies ahead. Who are you putting your money on?

Read more:
2010: The Year of Google v. Apple?