Monday, January 25, 2010
Social Media Pakistan by JAMAL ASHRAF (SEO)
Social media describes websites that allow users to share content, media, etc. Common examples are the popular social networking sites like Friendster, Facebook, MySpace, etc. Social media also includes YouTube, Photobucket, Flickr, and other sites aimed at photo and video sharing. News aggregation and online reference sources, examples of which are Digg and Wikipedia, are also counted in the social media bucket.
News Corporation (NWS) owns Myspace, the most-viewed website in the world. It also purchased Photobucket, a photo-sharing website.
Yahoo! (YHOO) has been making moves to enter the social media segment. Its Flickr photo-sharing website and 360 social networking site are examples of this.
Google (GOOG) purchased YouTube, a leading online video sharing website.
Microsoft (MSFT) announced a minority $240 million investment in Facebook in late October, valuing the company at an estimated $5 to $15 billion overall.
AOL announced on March 2008 the $850 million purchase of Bebo. At the time, Bebo was the third largest social networking site behind MySpace and Facebook in terms of page views and unique monthly visitors, both key metrics for online advertising.
Why Do You Need Online Media Marketing
What is Online Media Marketing?
Online Media Marketing is another way to market and advertise your business online. Through press releases and e-mail campaigns customers hear about your business and find your products and services.
In the traditional world, there are different media outlets to let customers know about your business: phone books, television and radio ads, word of mouth, etc. On the Internet, it is all about driving customers to your Web site by means of search engines or other Online Media Marketing such as Press Releases and E-Mail Campaigns.
Why Do You Need Online Media Marketing?
You have exciting news about your company – sales are up, you have new products, new employees or you've recently appeared at an industry event. Network Solutions will get the word out on your behalf through our professional Press Release Service that will help boost your search engine rankings even more.
You want to go the extra mile and reach out to your customers through newsletters and announcements in a way that is hassle-free and affordable. We give you the tools to get the job by creating targeted e-mail campaigns to measure results. Feel Free to post you inquiries on heliumx.
Online Media Marketing is another way to market and advertise your business online. Through press releases and e-mail campaigns customers hear about your business and find your products and services.
In the traditional world, there are different media outlets to let customers know about your business: phone books, television and radio ads, word of mouth, etc. On the Internet, it is all about driving customers to your Web site by means of search engines or other Online Media Marketing such as Press Releases and E-Mail Campaigns.
Why Do You Need Online Media Marketing?
You have exciting news about your company – sales are up, you have new products, new employees or you've recently appeared at an industry event. Network Solutions will get the word out on your behalf through our professional Press Release Service that will help boost your search engine rankings even more.
You want to go the extra mile and reach out to your customers through newsletters and announcements in a way that is hassle-free and affordable. We give you the tools to get the job by creating targeted e-mail campaigns to measure results. Feel Free to post you inquiries on heliumx.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Songs Placements Designed by Heliumx
Song Placements Patrick Leonard gets review in Performing Songwriter Magazine
Song Placements member Patrick Leonard continues to wow music lovers everywhere with his infectious Pop tunes. Earlier this year, Leonard was chosen as a finalist for an album review by the prestigious Performing Songwriter magazine
Well, the results are in and they are nothing short of fantastic! Leonard's debut album, Begin the Beginning, received high praise from critics at the magazine.
The review, which can be review can be read at www.performingsongwriter.com/pages/music/117.cfm, praises his vocal work ("his voice is reminiscent of a young George Harrison") and musical arrangement.
It's another trophy on the shelf for a musician whose star continues to burn bright. Congratulations Patrick!
Song Placements member lands 2 films!!!
Our A&R department has just confirmed that Song Placements member Nothing Ever Stays have just finalized two film placement deals on a pair of independent films set to appear in theaters across the country!
"Difficult" will be featured in Horror film "The Crypt," already out in theaters, while "The Burn" will appear in "The Outside." Both songs originally appeared on their 2007 EP The Progression.
The SoCal natives have become a fixture on the indie circuit and continue to make huge strides in their music career. A big congratulations goes out to Nothing Ever Stays and to the Song Placements A&R department on their double success!
Song Placements gets a mention on Entrepreneur.com
Song Placements' dedication to its musician-friendly business ethic is winning over new fans everyday including the wonderful folks over at "Entrepeneur" magazine.
Our latest press release can be found in their "News Release" section at http://www.entrepreneur.com/PRWeb/release/20714.html. We feel honored to be listed in this highly-respected publication that carries news stories about business opportunities and business management.
Song Placements are going Radio Crazy!!!
With all the changes in the music industry, radio is rapidly becoming one of the biggest platforms for indie artists to advance their careers. Song Placements has seen this trend first hand as we have had tremendous success recently with radio placements!!
Our A&R team has been working overtime to secure radio placements for our members. In all, they have secured over 350 radio placements in the past 2 months alone and that number keeps growing!!
Some of the Song Placements members placed are Street Pharmacy, Sweet Japonic, Dizzy X, Jon Davidson, Friday Night Gunfight, Etched in Red, David Boone, and Song Placement veterans like Nathan Morris, Patrick Leonard, Chad Overman, and Fools and Horses. They have all seen spins on KALX, KAMP, WCWP, WPND, WBNY, KRCC, WHRW, KXYM, KGFN, KCFV, and many other stations across the country!
We want to thank the A&R for all their hard work and congratulate all the artists who are getting radio play!!! Great job guys!!
SongPlacements.com has launched a new series of teleconferences
SongPlacements.com has launched a new series of teleconferences where we find breakthroughs in how to manage, market and sell your music. We have never failed to find breakthroughs for those who attend and a single twist one way can often mean a magnificent increase in success with your music.
The topic for our the teleconference is The 5 GUARANTEED STEPS TO SUCCESS for an Independent Artist!
You MUST learn The 5 STEPS TO SUCCESS. It can increase your ability to successfully navigate yourself through the proper music industry channels, build your fan base at ten times the normal rate and bullet-proof you against the competition.
Song Placements secures 55 radio placements in 1 day!
Friday, Sept. 4th was a big day for Songplacements.com members. Our team secured 55 new radio placements on that day! Although not a record, it was still a "very successful day," says our very own Adam.
Check out the list of artist who got placed.
Life jive added Matt Swachman
WVHC added B Miles, Stacey knights and Randolph
Trapper added Senate and A New Vice
WBTS added Yoshi and Non Human Intelligence
KFCF added David Boone, DeeDee Omalley, Tina Sugandh, David Andrew Smith, Scott Mccurry, Joe koneig, Graham Wilkinson, Troy Gray and Diano Garcia and Aviation Orange
WWOZ added Tina Sugandh Diano Garcia
WCWP added Chad Overman, Jon Davidson, Joe Koenig, Nathan Morris, Patrick Leonard, Sweet Japonic, Sccott Mccurry, David Andrew Smith and Aviation Orange
KOTO Added Candygram for Mongo, Paritcle Zoo, David Andrew Smith, Senat, Black Market and Aviation Orange
KTCS added Black Market, Yoshi and Redclay
WAER Added Glen Coleman, Like Trains, Taxis, Stacey Knights, Tina Sugandh, David Andrew Smith, Scott Mccurry and Joe Koneig
Remedy added A Living Daylight, Tina Sugandh and David Andrew Smith
KCSS added Aviation Orange
KBUT added Avowed, Sugar Red Drive, Chad Overman, Non Human Intelligence, Fools and Horses, Joe Konieg and David Andrew Smith
Song Placements members Fools and Horses land big gig!
Fools & Horses are riding high! The quartet from Baltimore, MD was selected to perform for the thousands of spectators who will attend the 25th Philadelphia International Cycling Championship.
The event, sponsored by TD Bank, is the longest-running cycling road race in the United States. It will also host a separate area featuring live bands, DJ's, photo booths and other entertainment at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art where the Start/Finish line will also be located.
Fools & Horses, voted "Best Band" in 2008 by the readers of the Baltimore City Paper, have been touring relentlessly in support of their latest album I Am The Ghost. Check them out at
Song Placements member Samuel Ventura to open for Ryan Cabrera!!
Song Placements member Samuel Ventura has established himself as one of most promising young artists in the New York area, and his hard work is starting to pay off. It is official that Samuel will open for pop star Ryan Cabrera on July 10th at The Westcott Theatre in Syracuse, NY!!
Samuel Ventura is making the most of his unique blend of acoustic folk-pop, rock and roll, modern reggae, and punk rock. With praise from music critics across the country, it is no wonder that Ventura has been picked up to play a number of shows and festivals over the next few months. Here are what the critics have to say about Samuel Ventura:
"Ventura's song's make you happy, they make you feel upbeat, it's what the world needs right now to be perfectly honest. With the immersion of Samuel Ventura into the pool of muscial H2O, we will see pop's new saviour."
-Turn Up The Sound music blog, April 6, 2009, read the entire aticle and interview here.
Song Placements David Boone is featured artist on LifeJive!!
Song Placements continues to see success with LifeJive as David Boone and the Mercenaries are selected as a featured artist!! Known for his poetic songwriting approach, David Boone has ten albums under his belt and has encapsulated his thoughts and emotions for the better part of his adult life.
"The State of the Union", Boone's newest album, is out now and gaining critical appraise. You can check out David Boone and the Mercenaries here: David Boone on LifeJive.
Mad props to David Boone and the Mercenaries for being LifeJive's featured artist!
Song Placements duo featured on radio show
Song Placements artists Nathan Morris and Sugar Red Drive have secured more radio placements!! The Song Placements members are playing on WMJC 94.3FM in New York and will be featured on Sunday, July 12 on a 1-hour radio show!!
Both Nathan Morris and Sugar Red Drive have secured numerous radio placements in recent weeks and it looks like there is much more to come!
Congratulations to these amazing artists and we look forward to securing more placements!!
Song Placements member Harriet Schock currently in theatres!!!
Here are what the critics are saying about Harriet’s Music:
“Harriet Schock's literate songs are characters in themselves; the harmonizing voices of Irene's recording sessions provide eloquent counterbalance to the soul-searching dialogue.” -Sheri Linden, L.A. Times
“Prolific gold and platinum Los Angeles based singer/songwriter Harriet Schock is lending her narrative talents to the latest film directed by cinematic auteur Henry Jaglom. The feature, titled ‘Irene in Time,’ is centered on the complex relationships between fathers and daughters, and the potential lifelong consequences of these complex bonds. Schock’s contributions include four songs she performs on screen in conjunction with the film’s star, Tanna Frederick.” -Dan Kimpel, Music Connection Magazine
Song Placements member Phero is this week's featured artist at Remezcla.com.
We're sending some love over to Chicago right now as Song Placements Hip-Hop artist Phero is this week's featured artist at Remezcla.com.
Swing over to http://remezcla.com/remez/zune/zunepage/index2.html where you can download his song "The Foundation" off his latest album The Rise.
Remezcla.com, the online guide to Latin Culture in the U.S,. has teamed up with Zune to promote emerging Latin artists. We want to congratulate Phero, who combines old-school Hip-Hop flair with a classic Latin sound, on his continuing success.
Song Placements sets placement record!!!
We would've moved into our new offices much sooner had we known it was a harbinger of good luck! Only two weeks in our new location and we've already broken a new company record: on Thursday, May 14, we reached an office high of 56 placements in one business day!
A number of our artists are now in the process of signing deals for a number of projects including soundtracks, publishing companies, commercial, college and internet radio to name a few.Artists will be announced once their deals have been finalized.
Song Placements lands 22 placements with Levy Publishing!
Song Placements continues to get the job done as they land 22 placements with Levy Music Publishing! Since moving into the new Song Placements headquarters, it's been nothing but extraordinary placement numbers for its members!
Levy Music Publishing is a full-service publsihing company out of Los Angeles that provides pre-cleared music of all genres to the entertainment industry.
Song Placements and World Wide Arts continue to give artists exposure!!
Song Placments and World Wide Arts' Independent Coffee Network continue to work closely to provide some of the best indie music to coffee shop patrons across the country.
Through broadband,World Wide Arts supplies indie coffee store owners with a high definition plasma TV that delivers content, such as music video and various artwork. The Independent Coffee Network mission is to serve thousands of indie coffee stores as one, creating a powerful independent group of stores.
The Independent Coffee Network was created with a simple goal: to give the independent coffee store owner an original media product, differentiating them from everyday chain stores and connecting the loyal and independent consumer with the independent business owners. WWA delivers the first and only network of original artistic video content to independent coffee store owners. The independent Coffee Network brings coffee customers thought content that is contextual to the coffee house environment creating better engagement for customers and marketers.
Song Placements member Sam Chase lands placement in 1st month!!
LifeJive Radio continues to pick up Song Placements artists as Sam Chase is the LifeJive Artist of the Week! Somewhat of a fresh face, Chase was formally educated at Berklee College of Music and decided to hit the ground running upon his 2008 graduation.
Chase's musicianship is crystal-clear on his album, in which he played drums on four tracks, acoustic guitar, and bass.
Note: Sam Chase's placement with LifeJive is one of the fastest placements in Song Placements.com history at just under a month!
Jay Hoad Band on Vimby.com!
Congratulations to Jay Hoad Band for their recent placement on Vimby.com!! "Digiwhat" was picked up by Vimby for a surfing special on Eli Mirandon.
Vimby.com is a site that features videos of what is going on in America. If you are a skater or a musician, or you are doing something creative and cool, Vimby.com is a way to show the world what you are doing.Again, congratulations to Jay Hoad Band on their current and future success!!
Song Placements Members Invading New York Airwaves!!
With all the recent success and Song Placements.com radio placements, New York seems to have been hit pretty hard by a surge of up-and-coming artists!! A large number of Song Placements members have found placements all over the New York radio circuit.
Song Placements members Street Pharmacy, Fools and Horses, Nathan Morris, Patrick Leonard, Sweet Japonic, and Jon Davidson are among those artists on New York airwaves!! Congrats to all the Song Placements members on their current radio success!!
Tina Sugandh peaks at #15 on Billboard Charts!!!
Superstar and Song Placements member Tina Sugandh is wasting no time in captivating music lovers everywhere with her trademark Indian/Bollywood Dance sound.
We are proud to announce that the latest single off her debut album has breached Billboard's Top 40 Dance Music chart. Peaking at number 15, "You Without Me" has enjoyed a presence on the charts for 10 weeks and shows no sign of slowing down.
This is no surprise to any of us here at the office as Tina has been captivating audiences since she was a young girl.
Fools and Horses continue to thrive!!
Song Placements member Fools and Horses have seen their share of success in '09. With numerous placements in everything from film to radio, Fools and Horses continues to make a name for themselves playing sold out shows across the country.
Earlier this year, the band won 3 awards at the 23rd annual Washington Area Music Awards, including Best Modern Rock Duo/Group, Best Modern Rock Recording for "I Am the Ghost," and Best Album Design. They've also just returned to the States after touring across Asia.
Things are only getting better for the Song Placements members as they continue to secure placements and play to sold out crowds! We want to congratulate Fools and Horses on a great 2009 (we're still not done)!!
Song Placements member Patrick Leonard continues to wow music lovers everywhere with his infectious Pop tunes. Earlier this year, Leonard was chosen as a finalist for an album review by the prestigious Performing Songwriter magazine
Well, the results are in and they are nothing short of fantastic! Leonard's debut album, Begin the Beginning, received high praise from critics at the magazine.
The review, which can be review can be read at www.performingsongwriter.com/pages/music/117.cfm, praises his vocal work ("his voice is reminiscent of a young George Harrison") and musical arrangement.
It's another trophy on the shelf for a musician whose star continues to burn bright. Congratulations Patrick!
Song Placements member lands 2 films!!!
Our A&R department has just confirmed that Song Placements member Nothing Ever Stays have just finalized two film placement deals on a pair of independent films set to appear in theaters across the country!
"Difficult" will be featured in Horror film "The Crypt," already out in theaters, while "The Burn" will appear in "The Outside." Both songs originally appeared on their 2007 EP The Progression.
The SoCal natives have become a fixture on the indie circuit and continue to make huge strides in their music career. A big congratulations goes out to Nothing Ever Stays and to the Song Placements A&R department on their double success!
Song Placements gets a mention on Entrepreneur.com
Song Placements' dedication to its musician-friendly business ethic is winning over new fans everyday including the wonderful folks over at "Entrepeneur" magazine.
Our latest press release can be found in their "News Release" section at http://www.entrepreneur.com/PRWeb/release/20714.html. We feel honored to be listed in this highly-respected publication that carries news stories about business opportunities and business management.
Song Placements are going Radio Crazy!!!
With all the changes in the music industry, radio is rapidly becoming one of the biggest platforms for indie artists to advance their careers. Song Placements has seen this trend first hand as we have had tremendous success recently with radio placements!!
Our A&R team has been working overtime to secure radio placements for our members. In all, they have secured over 350 radio placements in the past 2 months alone and that number keeps growing!!
Some of the Song Placements members placed are Street Pharmacy, Sweet Japonic, Dizzy X, Jon Davidson, Friday Night Gunfight, Etched in Red, David Boone, and Song Placement veterans like Nathan Morris, Patrick Leonard, Chad Overman, and Fools and Horses. They have all seen spins on KALX, KAMP, WCWP, WPND, WBNY, KRCC, WHRW, KXYM, KGFN, KCFV, and many other stations across the country!
We want to thank the A&R for all their hard work and congratulate all the artists who are getting radio play!!! Great job guys!!
SongPlacements.com has launched a new series of teleconferences
SongPlacements.com has launched a new series of teleconferences where we find breakthroughs in how to manage, market and sell your music. We have never failed to find breakthroughs for those who attend and a single twist one way can often mean a magnificent increase in success with your music.
The topic for our the teleconference is The 5 GUARANTEED STEPS TO SUCCESS for an Independent Artist!
You MUST learn The 5 STEPS TO SUCCESS. It can increase your ability to successfully navigate yourself through the proper music industry channels, build your fan base at ten times the normal rate and bullet-proof you against the competition.
Song Placements secures 55 radio placements in 1 day!
Friday, Sept. 4th was a big day for Songplacements.com members. Our team secured 55 new radio placements on that day! Although not a record, it was still a "very successful day," says our very own Adam.
Check out the list of artist who got placed.
Life jive added Matt Swachman
WVHC added B Miles, Stacey knights and Randolph
Trapper added Senate and A New Vice
WBTS added Yoshi and Non Human Intelligence
KFCF added David Boone, DeeDee Omalley, Tina Sugandh, David Andrew Smith, Scott Mccurry, Joe koneig, Graham Wilkinson, Troy Gray and Diano Garcia and Aviation Orange
WWOZ added Tina Sugandh Diano Garcia
WCWP added Chad Overman, Jon Davidson, Joe Koenig, Nathan Morris, Patrick Leonard, Sweet Japonic, Sccott Mccurry, David Andrew Smith and Aviation Orange
KOTO Added Candygram for Mongo, Paritcle Zoo, David Andrew Smith, Senat, Black Market and Aviation Orange
KTCS added Black Market, Yoshi and Redclay
WAER Added Glen Coleman, Like Trains, Taxis, Stacey Knights, Tina Sugandh, David Andrew Smith, Scott Mccurry and Joe Koneig
Remedy added A Living Daylight, Tina Sugandh and David Andrew Smith
KCSS added Aviation Orange
KBUT added Avowed, Sugar Red Drive, Chad Overman, Non Human Intelligence, Fools and Horses, Joe Konieg and David Andrew Smith
Song Placements members Fools and Horses land big gig!
Fools & Horses are riding high! The quartet from Baltimore, MD was selected to perform for the thousands of spectators who will attend the 25th Philadelphia International Cycling Championship.
The event, sponsored by TD Bank, is the longest-running cycling road race in the United States. It will also host a separate area featuring live bands, DJ's, photo booths and other entertainment at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art where the Start/Finish line will also be located.
Fools & Horses, voted "Best Band" in 2008 by the readers of the Baltimore City Paper, have been touring relentlessly in support of their latest album I Am The Ghost. Check them out at
Song Placements member Samuel Ventura to open for Ryan Cabrera!!
Song Placements member Samuel Ventura has established himself as one of most promising young artists in the New York area, and his hard work is starting to pay off. It is official that Samuel will open for pop star Ryan Cabrera on July 10th at The Westcott Theatre in Syracuse, NY!!
Samuel Ventura is making the most of his unique blend of acoustic folk-pop, rock and roll, modern reggae, and punk rock. With praise from music critics across the country, it is no wonder that Ventura has been picked up to play a number of shows and festivals over the next few months. Here are what the critics have to say about Samuel Ventura:
"Ventura's song's make you happy, they make you feel upbeat, it's what the world needs right now to be perfectly honest. With the immersion of Samuel Ventura into the pool of muscial H2O, we will see pop's new saviour."
-Turn Up The Sound music blog, April 6, 2009, read the entire aticle and interview here.
Song Placements David Boone is featured artist on LifeJive!!
Song Placements continues to see success with LifeJive as David Boone and the Mercenaries are selected as a featured artist!! Known for his poetic songwriting approach, David Boone has ten albums under his belt and has encapsulated his thoughts and emotions for the better part of his adult life.
"The State of the Union", Boone's newest album, is out now and gaining critical appraise. You can check out David Boone and the Mercenaries here: David Boone on LifeJive.
Mad props to David Boone and the Mercenaries for being LifeJive's featured artist!
Song Placements duo featured on radio show
Song Placements artists Nathan Morris and Sugar Red Drive have secured more radio placements!! The Song Placements members are playing on WMJC 94.3FM in New York and will be featured on Sunday, July 12 on a 1-hour radio show!!
Both Nathan Morris and Sugar Red Drive have secured numerous radio placements in recent weeks and it looks like there is much more to come!
Congratulations to these amazing artists and we look forward to securing more placements!!
Song Placements member Harriet Schock currently in theatres!!!
Here are what the critics are saying about Harriet’s Music:
“Harriet Schock's literate songs are characters in themselves; the harmonizing voices of Irene's recording sessions provide eloquent counterbalance to the soul-searching dialogue.” -Sheri Linden, L.A. Times
“Prolific gold and platinum Los Angeles based singer/songwriter Harriet Schock is lending her narrative talents to the latest film directed by cinematic auteur Henry Jaglom. The feature, titled ‘Irene in Time,’ is centered on the complex relationships between fathers and daughters, and the potential lifelong consequences of these complex bonds. Schock’s contributions include four songs she performs on screen in conjunction with the film’s star, Tanna Frederick.” -Dan Kimpel, Music Connection Magazine
Song Placements member Phero is this week's featured artist at Remezcla.com.
We're sending some love over to Chicago right now as Song Placements Hip-Hop artist Phero is this week's featured artist at Remezcla.com.
Swing over to http://remezcla.com/remez/zune/zunepage/index2.html where you can download his song "The Foundation" off his latest album The Rise.
Remezcla.com, the online guide to Latin Culture in the U.S,. has teamed up with Zune to promote emerging Latin artists. We want to congratulate Phero, who combines old-school Hip-Hop flair with a classic Latin sound, on his continuing success.
Song Placements sets placement record!!!
We would've moved into our new offices much sooner had we known it was a harbinger of good luck! Only two weeks in our new location and we've already broken a new company record: on Thursday, May 14, we reached an office high of 56 placements in one business day!
A number of our artists are now in the process of signing deals for a number of projects including soundtracks, publishing companies, commercial, college and internet radio to name a few.Artists will be announced once their deals have been finalized.
Song Placements lands 22 placements with Levy Publishing!
Song Placements continues to get the job done as they land 22 placements with Levy Music Publishing! Since moving into the new Song Placements headquarters, it's been nothing but extraordinary placement numbers for its members!
Levy Music Publishing is a full-service publsihing company out of Los Angeles that provides pre-cleared music of all genres to the entertainment industry.
Song Placements and World Wide Arts continue to give artists exposure!!
Song Placments and World Wide Arts' Independent Coffee Network continue to work closely to provide some of the best indie music to coffee shop patrons across the country.
Through broadband,World Wide Arts supplies indie coffee store owners with a high definition plasma TV that delivers content, such as music video and various artwork. The Independent Coffee Network mission is to serve thousands of indie coffee stores as one, creating a powerful independent group of stores.
The Independent Coffee Network was created with a simple goal: to give the independent coffee store owner an original media product, differentiating them from everyday chain stores and connecting the loyal and independent consumer with the independent business owners. WWA delivers the first and only network of original artistic video content to independent coffee store owners. The independent Coffee Network brings coffee customers thought content that is contextual to the coffee house environment creating better engagement for customers and marketers.
Song Placements member Sam Chase lands placement in 1st month!!
LifeJive Radio continues to pick up Song Placements artists as Sam Chase is the LifeJive Artist of the Week! Somewhat of a fresh face, Chase was formally educated at Berklee College of Music and decided to hit the ground running upon his 2008 graduation.
Chase's musicianship is crystal-clear on his album, in which he played drums on four tracks, acoustic guitar, and bass.
Note: Sam Chase's placement with LifeJive is one of the fastest placements in Song Placements.com history at just under a month!
Jay Hoad Band on Vimby.com!
Congratulations to Jay Hoad Band for their recent placement on Vimby.com!! "Digiwhat" was picked up by Vimby for a surfing special on Eli Mirandon.
Vimby.com is a site that features videos of what is going on in America. If you are a skater or a musician, or you are doing something creative and cool, Vimby.com is a way to show the world what you are doing.Again, congratulations to Jay Hoad Band on their current and future success!!
Song Placements Members Invading New York Airwaves!!
With all the recent success and Song Placements.com radio placements, New York seems to have been hit pretty hard by a surge of up-and-coming artists!! A large number of Song Placements members have found placements all over the New York radio circuit.
Song Placements members Street Pharmacy, Fools and Horses, Nathan Morris, Patrick Leonard, Sweet Japonic, and Jon Davidson are among those artists on New York airwaves!! Congrats to all the Song Placements members on their current radio success!!
Tina Sugandh peaks at #15 on Billboard Charts!!!
Superstar and Song Placements member Tina Sugandh is wasting no time in captivating music lovers everywhere with her trademark Indian/Bollywood Dance sound.
We are proud to announce that the latest single off her debut album has breached Billboard's Top 40 Dance Music chart. Peaking at number 15, "You Without Me" has enjoyed a presence on the charts for 10 weeks and shows no sign of slowing down.
This is no surprise to any of us here at the office as Tina has been captivating audiences since she was a young girl.
Fools and Horses continue to thrive!!
Song Placements member Fools and Horses have seen their share of success in '09. With numerous placements in everything from film to radio, Fools and Horses continues to make a name for themselves playing sold out shows across the country.
Earlier this year, the band won 3 awards at the 23rd annual Washington Area Music Awards, including Best Modern Rock Duo/Group, Best Modern Rock Recording for "I Am the Ghost," and Best Album Design. They've also just returned to the States after touring across Asia.
Things are only getting better for the Song Placements members as they continue to secure placements and play to sold out crowds! We want to congratulate Fools and Horses on a great 2009 (we're still not done)!!
Friday, January 15, 2010
SEO -Off Page And On Page Optimization
Author: Jamal Ashraf
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) has become such a broad term today that whichever activity drives any traffic on your website is considered as an SEO Activity! In earlier days, we – as SEO Consultants - used to focus specifically on the structure and content of websites only, which we called “On-page SEO”. We tried hard to make sure that our clients’ websites have been set up right with proper page titles, meta text, content placement, image names etc. But today, the definition of SEO has changed expanded drastically. Now-a-days, SEO as a service is divided into 2 categories :-
1.On-Page SEO - optimize content, internal links, meta tags etc
2.Off-page SEO - backlinks, social media, forum posting, press release etc.
Honestly, I don’t agree with the concept of Off-page SEO. You may call it ‘Off-page promotions’ or ‘Off-page optimization’ but ‘Off-page SEO’ definitely does not make sense to me.
Wikipedia defines SEO as the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via natural or un-paid (organic or algorithmic) search results.
Then why is everyone writing so much about “Off-page SEO” when, ideally, the term even doesn’t exist at all? I leave this up to you all to help me find the answer in your comments below.
Just because it is such a popular term these days, I could not stop myself from using it as the title of my blog article even though I don’t agree with it This is also one of the problems with SEO Consultants & business owners like us – that we have to keep our readers/customers happy with giving them what they want to take!
Coming back to the topic of today’s discussion, which is about the best “Off-page SEO” tactics or “Off-page Promotion” (for my own sake) that can help you drive consistent traffic on to your website for a long run. These techniques are just the ones which I have tried myself and achieved reasonable success for my clients. You may have tried something else which worked for you so don’t hesitate to share that with our readers.
http://www.heliumx.com/seo
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) has become such a broad term today that whichever activity drives any traffic on your website is considered as an SEO Activity! In earlier days, we – as SEO Consultants - used to focus specifically on the structure and content of websites only, which we called “On-page SEO”. We tried hard to make sure that our clients’ websites have been set up right with proper page titles, meta text, content placement, image names etc. But today, the definition of SEO has changed expanded drastically. Now-a-days, SEO as a service is divided into 2 categories :-
1.On-Page SEO - optimize content, internal links, meta tags etc
2.Off-page SEO - backlinks, social media, forum posting, press release etc.
Honestly, I don’t agree with the concept of Off-page SEO. You may call it ‘Off-page promotions’ or ‘Off-page optimization’ but ‘Off-page SEO’ definitely does not make sense to me.
Wikipedia defines SEO as the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via natural or un-paid (organic or algorithmic) search results.
Then why is everyone writing so much about “Off-page SEO” when, ideally, the term even doesn’t exist at all? I leave this up to you all to help me find the answer in your comments below.
Just because it is such a popular term these days, I could not stop myself from using it as the title of my blog article even though I don’t agree with it This is also one of the problems with SEO Consultants & business owners like us – that we have to keep our readers/customers happy with giving them what they want to take!
Coming back to the topic of today’s discussion, which is about the best “Off-page SEO” tactics or “Off-page Promotion” (for my own sake) that can help you drive consistent traffic on to your website for a long run. These techniques are just the ones which I have tried myself and achieved reasonable success for my clients. You may have tried something else which worked for you so don’t hesitate to share that with our readers.
http://www.heliumx.com/seo
Which is your favorite art inspired Google logo?
Written By: Jamal Ashraf Siddiqui(SEO/Business Development)
Most companies looking for a branding solution will toss and turn losing sleep over the most minute details of their company logo. What many of them are looking for is the “perfect” logo that will be universally recognized. What they don’t realize is that while a logo does help you get noticed, it is the product that really sets you apart. To find that perfect balance it makes sense to look where you find the answer to almost every other question looming today, Google.
While Google was revolutionizing how users navigate the internet, they were also changing the face of their business. Google’s homepage is incredibly simple, incorporating only the their logo, a single search bar, and a handful of hyperlinks. Even with this primitive design users continually flock to the most popular search engine on the internet. Why? because image isn’t everything.
While you may not be able to search for why Google’s logo is successful, you can certainly see it. Google has been known to change its logo possibly more than any other company the public has seen.
Google has kept their logo’s general shape the same, but simultaneously proven that finer parts of a logo really don’t matter. By offering one of the most reliable search engines, with competitive accuracy and volumes of data, Google established itself as a dominant player on the net. Now they have the ability to play with their image, keeping it fun, creative, and interesting; all reflections of Google’s strengths.
Whether it be holidays, current events, seasons, celebrity birthdays, or just random artwork, Google has the opportunity to change the face of their company. Here are some of my personal art inspired favorites. Vote on your favorites:
nullnullnull
Most companies looking for a branding solution will toss and turn losing sleep over the most minute details of their company logo. What many of them are looking for is the “perfect” logo that will be universally recognized. What they don’t realize is that while a logo does help you get noticed, it is the product that really sets you apart. To find that perfect balance it makes sense to look where you find the answer to almost every other question looming today, Google.
While Google was revolutionizing how users navigate the internet, they were also changing the face of their business. Google’s homepage is incredibly simple, incorporating only the their logo, a single search bar, and a handful of hyperlinks. Even with this primitive design users continually flock to the most popular search engine on the internet. Why? because image isn’t everything.
While you may not be able to search for why Google’s logo is successful, you can certainly see it. Google has been known to change its logo possibly more than any other company the public has seen.
Google has kept their logo’s general shape the same, but simultaneously proven that finer parts of a logo really don’t matter. By offering one of the most reliable search engines, with competitive accuracy and volumes of data, Google established itself as a dominant player on the net. Now they have the ability to play with their image, keeping it fun, creative, and interesting; all reflections of Google’s strengths.
Whether it be holidays, current events, seasons, celebrity birthdays, or just random artwork, Google has the opportunity to change the face of their company. Here are some of my personal art inspired favorites. Vote on your favorites:
nullnullnull
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Luxury Marketers Move Online but Most Lack Digital Cunning
During the flush years, luxury brands seemingly cemented their exclusive status by shunning one of the ultimate mass mediums, the internet. According to a new study, only 33% of luxury brands were selling online a year ago, but the recession has had a profound effect, as 66% of luxury brands are now peddling their wares on the web.
Ralph Lauren has bested many of its luxury peers in the mobile space with its iPhone app.
But, despite the increase, most luxury brands lack digital savvy, said Scott Galloway, an associate professor of marketing at NYU Stern School of Business who looked at 109 luxury brands across 11 categories, including fashion, electronics, jewelry, hotels and automobiles.
"It was fine when revenues were growing 11% a year. And then everything changed. They've woken up and said, 'Last holiday season sales were down 34% but traffic to our website was up 61%.' Brands are innovating out of necessity."
In his study, Mr. Galloway awarded brands designations of "Genius," "Gifted," "Average," "Challenged" and "Feeble." He found that the high-end automobile and electronics categories tended to have more digital savvy, while the cruise and tours segment, along with jewelry, were the least savvy.
Luxury marketers' fear of losing control of their brands, when coupled with a lack of digital and social-media skills, has contributed to the dismal state of the category online, Mr. Galloway said. But he expects that will change dramatically over the next 24 months, as brands realize they can't ignore technology. The days of a tightly controlled brand, with beautiful merchandise and flagship stores at tony addresses, along with ads shot by high-profile names in Vogue and Vanity Fair, are over, he said.
Luxe exemplars
But some brands have been rolling with the times, and it's probably no surprise that Apple and Sony have been at the forefront with robust digital presences that utilize search and incorporate video and user-generated content. In the auto category, more than half of the brands in the study are reaching consumers via mobile devices. BMW sends text messages to remind owners to purchase winter tires, while Ferrari's mobile game lets users customize and race vehicles.
There are other bright spots. Ralph Lauren has been aggressive in the mobile space, with the launch of an iPhone app. And Estee Lauder has a makeover widget that allows users to upload a photo and virtually test products on their faces.
When it comes to Twitter and Facebook, luxury brands are making a showing but have not had nearly the same impact as other marketers. The Four Seasons and Fairmont hotels have separate Twitter accounts for each property and post updates with special events and promotions. And Trump Hotels, tweeting via @ivankatrump, boasts the largest number of followers, just shy of 260,000. After Apple, Lamborghini has the highest Facebook fan count, with about 1 million fans.
Still, less than half of the brands included in the study purchase search terms.
Mr. Galloway suggests that the excuse that luxury customers are not online is dated, pointing out that 40- to 55-year-old women, a sweet spot for these brands, is the fastest-growing segment on Facebook. Likewise, Generation Y, a growing group of luxury consumers, is poised to outnumber baby boomers by 2010.
"Luxury has become very complacent, as they've had the curse of being monstrously successful over the past 20 years. There hasn't been a great deal of urgency around innovation," he said. "All of a sudden the model has become very broken."
Ralph Lauren has bested many of its luxury peers in the mobile space with its iPhone app.
But, despite the increase, most luxury brands lack digital savvy, said Scott Galloway, an associate professor of marketing at NYU Stern School of Business who looked at 109 luxury brands across 11 categories, including fashion, electronics, jewelry, hotels and automobiles.
"It was fine when revenues were growing 11% a year. And then everything changed. They've woken up and said, 'Last holiday season sales were down 34% but traffic to our website was up 61%.' Brands are innovating out of necessity."
In his study, Mr. Galloway awarded brands designations of "Genius," "Gifted," "Average," "Challenged" and "Feeble." He found that the high-end automobile and electronics categories tended to have more digital savvy, while the cruise and tours segment, along with jewelry, were the least savvy.
Luxury marketers' fear of losing control of their brands, when coupled with a lack of digital and social-media skills, has contributed to the dismal state of the category online, Mr. Galloway said. But he expects that will change dramatically over the next 24 months, as brands realize they can't ignore technology. The days of a tightly controlled brand, with beautiful merchandise and flagship stores at tony addresses, along with ads shot by high-profile names in Vogue and Vanity Fair, are over, he said.
Luxe exemplars
But some brands have been rolling with the times, and it's probably no surprise that Apple and Sony have been at the forefront with robust digital presences that utilize search and incorporate video and user-generated content. In the auto category, more than half of the brands in the study are reaching consumers via mobile devices. BMW sends text messages to remind owners to purchase winter tires, while Ferrari's mobile game lets users customize and race vehicles.
There are other bright spots. Ralph Lauren has been aggressive in the mobile space, with the launch of an iPhone app. And Estee Lauder has a makeover widget that allows users to upload a photo and virtually test products on their faces.
When it comes to Twitter and Facebook, luxury brands are making a showing but have not had nearly the same impact as other marketers. The Four Seasons and Fairmont hotels have separate Twitter accounts for each property and post updates with special events and promotions. And Trump Hotels, tweeting via @ivankatrump, boasts the largest number of followers, just shy of 260,000. After Apple, Lamborghini has the highest Facebook fan count, with about 1 million fans.
Still, less than half of the brands included in the study purchase search terms.
Mr. Galloway suggests that the excuse that luxury customers are not online is dated, pointing out that 40- to 55-year-old women, a sweet spot for these brands, is the fastest-growing segment on Facebook. Likewise, Generation Y, a growing group of luxury consumers, is poised to outnumber baby boomers by 2010.
"Luxury has become very complacent, as they've had the curse of being monstrously successful over the past 20 years. There hasn't been a great deal of urgency around innovation," he said. "All of a sudden the model has become very broken."
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
How to Register Your Own Domain Name
How to Register Your Own Domain Name
If you have a web site, you should seriously consider registering your own domain name. A domain name is a name like "heliumx.com" or "magsnet.net", which you can use to refer to your website. Note that you do not have to be a company or organisation to register a domain name. Any individual can do it too.
Importance of a Domain Name
There are a number of good reasons for having a domain name:
•If you ever change your web host, your domain name goes with you. Your regular visitors or customers who knew your site name as www.heliumx.com (for example) would not have to be informed about a change of URL. They would simply type your domain name and they'd be brought to your new site.
•If you get a domain name that describes your company's business or name, people can remember the name easily and can return to your site without having to consult their documents. In fact, if you get a good name that describes your product or service, you might even get people who were trying their luck by typing "www.yourproductname.com" in their browser.
•If you want good sponsors (advertisers) for your website, a domain name is usually helpful. It tends to give your website an aura of respectibility.
Registration Overview
Getting a domain name involves registering the name you want with an organisation called ICANN through a domain name registrar. For example, if you choose a name like "example.com", you will have to go to a registrar, pay a registration fee that costs around US$10 to US$35 for that name. That will give you the right to the name for a year, and you will have to renew it annually for (usually) the same amount per annum.
Some web hosts will register it and pay for the name for free (usually only the commercial web hosts), while others will do it for you but you'll have to foot the ICANN fees.
My personal preference is to register the name directly with a domain name registrar rather than through my web host. I've heard stories, in the past, of less-than-reputable web hosts that registered the domain under their own name, making them the owner of the domain rather than you (although I don't know if such web hosts still exist today). Registering with a domain name registrar allows me to make sure that I am registered as the owner, the administrative and technical contacts. Being the owner is vital — if someone else places himself as the owner (such as your web host), he can always decide to charge you some exhorbitant fee for the use of the name later, and there is little you can do. The various other contacts are less vital, but still play important roles. For example, the administrative contact's approval is required before a domain name is transferred out of a web host. If he/she cannot be contacted, the technical contact is used.
Although some web hosts suggest that you put them as the technical contact, you may prefer to keep yourself as one, so that when you want to transfer your name to a new web host, you don't have to wait for your old host to approve the transfer. Apparently a few have been known to take their own sweet time to do this, while unscrupulous ones have actually refused to do it.
Domain names disappear extremely fast. Many people claim that all the good domain names are gone. I doubt that — but it is probably true that most good domain names that are descriptive of products and services have been taken. If you want a domain name for your site, I suggest you act now, or face the anguish of having lost that name later. After all, US$20 (more or less) for a year's ownership of the name is pretty cheap when you realise that you're cornering a good name for your website.
REGISTER YOUR DOMAIN NOW
If you have a web site, you should seriously consider registering your own domain name. A domain name is a name like "heliumx.com" or "magsnet.net", which you can use to refer to your website. Note that you do not have to be a company or organisation to register a domain name. Any individual can do it too.
Importance of a Domain Name
There are a number of good reasons for having a domain name:
•If you ever change your web host, your domain name goes with you. Your regular visitors or customers who knew your site name as www.heliumx.com (for example) would not have to be informed about a change of URL. They would simply type your domain name and they'd be brought to your new site.
•If you get a domain name that describes your company's business or name, people can remember the name easily and can return to your site without having to consult their documents. In fact, if you get a good name that describes your product or service, you might even get people who were trying their luck by typing "www.yourproductname.com" in their browser.
•If you want good sponsors (advertisers) for your website, a domain name is usually helpful. It tends to give your website an aura of respectibility.
Registration Overview
Getting a domain name involves registering the name you want with an organisation called ICANN through a domain name registrar. For example, if you choose a name like "example.com", you will have to go to a registrar, pay a registration fee that costs around US$10 to US$35 for that name. That will give you the right to the name for a year, and you will have to renew it annually for (usually) the same amount per annum.
Some web hosts will register it and pay for the name for free (usually only the commercial web hosts), while others will do it for you but you'll have to foot the ICANN fees.
My personal preference is to register the name directly with a domain name registrar rather than through my web host. I've heard stories, in the past, of less-than-reputable web hosts that registered the domain under their own name, making them the owner of the domain rather than you (although I don't know if such web hosts still exist today). Registering with a domain name registrar allows me to make sure that I am registered as the owner, the administrative and technical contacts. Being the owner is vital — if someone else places himself as the owner (such as your web host), he can always decide to charge you some exhorbitant fee for the use of the name later, and there is little you can do. The various other contacts are less vital, but still play important roles. For example, the administrative contact's approval is required before a domain name is transferred out of a web host. If he/she cannot be contacted, the technical contact is used.
Although some web hosts suggest that you put them as the technical contact, you may prefer to keep yourself as one, so that when you want to transfer your name to a new web host, you don't have to wait for your old host to approve the transfer. Apparently a few have been known to take their own sweet time to do this, while unscrupulous ones have actually refused to do it.
Domain names disappear extremely fast. Many people claim that all the good domain names are gone. I doubt that — but it is probably true that most good domain names that are descriptive of products and services have been taken. If you want a domain name for your site, I suggest you act now, or face the anguish of having lost that name later. After all, US$20 (more or less) for a year's ownership of the name is pretty cheap when you realise that you're cornering a good name for your website.
REGISTER YOUR DOMAIN NOW
Search Engine Visibility in Web Design
Appearance, Usability and Search Engine Visibility in Web Design
I was recently asked by a visitor to Heliumx.com to take a look at her company's website, designed by a university student. I will not give the URL for that site, partly to protect the innocent, and partly because by the time you read this, it'll probably have been modified.
The site was heavy in its use of graphics with images adorning most parts of the page layout, to provide curved borders (to replace the sharp corners in enclosing boxes), different background images for different parts of the page, etc. It had a top navigation bar, driven entirely using JavaScript. The navigation bar mimicked the Heliumx.com of menu bar you find in computer programs - there is a horizontal menu bar with different items listed. When you move your mouse over one of those items, the menu will automatically expand vertically. As you move the mouse cursor down the pop-up menu, the item beneath the pointer is highlighted. Click it, and you will be delivered to another page on the site.
In general, that site is typical of the kind of sites produced by newcomers to web design. It scores well in terms of prettiness and gadgetry (although only under one browser, it doesn't work well under other browsers), but fares dismally in terms of usability and search engine readiness. In fact, the reason my visitor wrote to me was because the website suffered a significant drop in the number of visitors after it was redesigned in its current form.
This article uses that site as a starting point for discussing some of the issues that a web designer needs to consider when creating a website that must exist and compete in the real world (as opposed to a site that is created merely to fulfill the course requirements of a school or university).
1. Appearance is Not the Most Important Issue
Over the years that I have dealt with newcomers to web design, it is my observation that they tend to focus excessively (and sometimes almost exclusively) on the appearance of a website. The site I mentioned earlier is a case in point: the designer tried hard to make the site look beautiful (and, if I may add, succeeded too - the site does indeed look pretty). However, as hard as it may be to believe (if you are a newcomer), appearance isn't the most important thing to look at when you are planning and creating your site.
Don't get me wrong here. I'm not saying that appearance is of no importance. Far from it. However, in this article, my intention is to address the excessive importance newcomers place on beauty. In fact, if you belong to the other extreme, discounting the value of the appearance of a website altogether, you might want to read my discussion of Two Common Web Design Myths at http://heliumx.blogspot.com
Having said that, your site can still survive (or even thrive) if it is a plain-looking site like Google. This is not necessarily the case if you overlook the other important issues in web design.
2. Usability is Important for You to Achieve Your Purpose
All sites are created for a particular purpose. Some were created so that their owners can sell something. Others are information resources (like heliumx.com). Still others are designed to showcase their owner's talents (such as sites displaying the owner's resumes and portfolios).
The usability of your site is important to help you achieve that purpose. The basic question that you need to address when dealing with usability is: can your visitors easily access the information they need so that they can do the stuff that you want them to do? There are quite a number of things involved in this question.
a.Information Availability
Is the information that your visitors need to make informed decisions available on your site? For example, before they can buy a product, they will want to know more about that product. A brief one-line summary about your product's features may work for your main page, but you will probably find that you get more buyers if you can provide a link to a page that gives a detailed list of features of each of your products.
b.Information Accessibility
Not only must your information be available to your visitors, it must be easily accessible. A page that gives a detailed description of your products is not going to help your visitors if they have to work hard at finding it. In fact, my experience is that if visitors have to work at finding something on your site, they are not going to find it. Either put the information right under their noses, or put a link to it in that place.
c.Navigation
A good navigational system for your website is crucial. A navigational system is one by which visitors can move from one page to another. For example, on Heliumx.com, one way in you can access the main pages on the site is to use the navigation buttons on the left column of the page.
There are a few features to a good navigational system:
a.If you are using a navigation bar or panel, standardize its location on all the pages of your website. Don't make your visitors feel as though they are embarking on a treasure hunt every time they reach a new page.
b.In addition to your navigation bar or panel, provide short-cuts to places where visitors are likely to want to go. Don't force your visitors to have to go through your main page (or your site map) every time they need to visit another page on your site. In fact, put direct links in logical places - for example, on your "Products" page, you should have a links to your "Buy / Order" page as well as links to the pages with detailed information about individual products. Think like a visitor and ask yourself what are the things a visitor might want to know or do when he/she is at a particular page.
c.A good navigation system must be usable by all your visitors. As a result, try to avoid things that are dependent on certain facilities or features being available. For example, don't make your menu dependent on a specific browser. If your menu is JavaScript-driven, make sure that you have an alternative facility available for people who do not have JavaScript enabled.
d.If your site has a large number of pages, a site search engine will improve your site's usability. Not everyone mentally organises information the way you do. Hence a logical arrangement to you may not be logical to another person. Giving your visitors a way to search your web site will help them locate what they want. I discuss the use of a search engine for your site in my article How to Put a Search Engine On Your Site at http://heliumx.blogspot.com
e.It's always good to have a Site Map, unless your site has only a few pages. This allows people to have another route to the other pages on your site. It also helps search engines locate all the pages on your site, particularly if you use dynamically-generated links to your pages (like JavaScript-created links).
3. Search Engine Visibility is Your Site's Lifeline
As I mentioned earlier, the problem that my visitor faced when her site was redesigned was that it no longer appeared in search engine results even when relevant terms were used for searches.
The problem in her case was that her site relied exclusively on a JavaScript navigation menu. Apart from the links generated by the JavaScript menu, there were absolutely no other links on her site pointing to other pages within the site. Since search engines bots can't interpret JavaScript (at least not at this time, to my knowledge), they could not follow any links and could thus only index her main page. As a result, her pages were not listed in searches for her keywords (since only the main page was indexed), leading to a drastic drop in visitors.
This is a problem fairly easily fixed (for example, one way is to create a site map and add a normal link to it from the main page), but it illustrates one of the most important issues a real-world website faces: search engine visibility. If your site is not listed in the search engines, you're not going to be able to get many visitors, if at all. Without visitors, you're obviously not going to be able to achieve your purpose for the site.
Designing a site that is search engine ready is a lengthy topic, so I am not even going to try to address it here. If you are interested to know more, you can find some general principles for making your site search engine ready by perusing the articles listed on: http;//www.heliumx.com
Conclusion
This article is about the importance of factoring usability and search engine readiness into your web design. Usability is important because it improves the chances that your site will help you accomplish your purpose. Search engine visibility is crucial because without it, you will get few visitors. Plan with these two aspects in mind, even as you look into the appearance of your site, and your design will go far in helping you achieve the goals for your site.
I was recently asked by a visitor to Heliumx.com to take a look at her company's website, designed by a university student. I will not give the URL for that site, partly to protect the innocent, and partly because by the time you read this, it'll probably have been modified.
The site was heavy in its use of graphics with images adorning most parts of the page layout, to provide curved borders (to replace the sharp corners in enclosing boxes), different background images for different parts of the page, etc. It had a top navigation bar, driven entirely using JavaScript. The navigation bar mimicked the Heliumx.com of menu bar you find in computer programs - there is a horizontal menu bar with different items listed. When you move your mouse over one of those items, the menu will automatically expand vertically. As you move the mouse cursor down the pop-up menu, the item beneath the pointer is highlighted. Click it, and you will be delivered to another page on the site.
In general, that site is typical of the kind of sites produced by newcomers to web design. It scores well in terms of prettiness and gadgetry (although only under one browser, it doesn't work well under other browsers), but fares dismally in terms of usability and search engine readiness. In fact, the reason my visitor wrote to me was because the website suffered a significant drop in the number of visitors after it was redesigned in its current form.
This article uses that site as a starting point for discussing some of the issues that a web designer needs to consider when creating a website that must exist and compete in the real world (as opposed to a site that is created merely to fulfill the course requirements of a school or university).
1. Appearance is Not the Most Important Issue
Over the years that I have dealt with newcomers to web design, it is my observation that they tend to focus excessively (and sometimes almost exclusively) on the appearance of a website. The site I mentioned earlier is a case in point: the designer tried hard to make the site look beautiful (and, if I may add, succeeded too - the site does indeed look pretty). However, as hard as it may be to believe (if you are a newcomer), appearance isn't the most important thing to look at when you are planning and creating your site.
Don't get me wrong here. I'm not saying that appearance is of no importance. Far from it. However, in this article, my intention is to address the excessive importance newcomers place on beauty. In fact, if you belong to the other extreme, discounting the value of the appearance of a website altogether, you might want to read my discussion of Two Common Web Design Myths at http://heliumx.blogspot.com
Having said that, your site can still survive (or even thrive) if it is a plain-looking site like Google. This is not necessarily the case if you overlook the other important issues in web design.
2. Usability is Important for You to Achieve Your Purpose
All sites are created for a particular purpose. Some were created so that their owners can sell something. Others are information resources (like heliumx.com). Still others are designed to showcase their owner's talents (such as sites displaying the owner's resumes and portfolios).
The usability of your site is important to help you achieve that purpose. The basic question that you need to address when dealing with usability is: can your visitors easily access the information they need so that they can do the stuff that you want them to do? There are quite a number of things involved in this question.
a.Information Availability
Is the information that your visitors need to make informed decisions available on your site? For example, before they can buy a product, they will want to know more about that product. A brief one-line summary about your product's features may work for your main page, but you will probably find that you get more buyers if you can provide a link to a page that gives a detailed list of features of each of your products.
b.Information Accessibility
Not only must your information be available to your visitors, it must be easily accessible. A page that gives a detailed description of your products is not going to help your visitors if they have to work hard at finding it. In fact, my experience is that if visitors have to work at finding something on your site, they are not going to find it. Either put the information right under their noses, or put a link to it in that place.
c.Navigation
A good navigational system for your website is crucial. A navigational system is one by which visitors can move from one page to another. For example, on Heliumx.com, one way in you can access the main pages on the site is to use the navigation buttons on the left column of the page.
There are a few features to a good navigational system:
a.If you are using a navigation bar or panel, standardize its location on all the pages of your website. Don't make your visitors feel as though they are embarking on a treasure hunt every time they reach a new page.
b.In addition to your navigation bar or panel, provide short-cuts to places where visitors are likely to want to go. Don't force your visitors to have to go through your main page (or your site map) every time they need to visit another page on your site. In fact, put direct links in logical places - for example, on your "Products" page, you should have a links to your "Buy / Order" page as well as links to the pages with detailed information about individual products. Think like a visitor and ask yourself what are the things a visitor might want to know or do when he/she is at a particular page.
c.A good navigation system must be usable by all your visitors. As a result, try to avoid things that are dependent on certain facilities or features being available. For example, don't make your menu dependent on a specific browser. If your menu is JavaScript-driven, make sure that you have an alternative facility available for people who do not have JavaScript enabled.
d.If your site has a large number of pages, a site search engine will improve your site's usability. Not everyone mentally organises information the way you do. Hence a logical arrangement to you may not be logical to another person. Giving your visitors a way to search your web site will help them locate what they want. I discuss the use of a search engine for your site in my article How to Put a Search Engine On Your Site at http://heliumx.blogspot.com
e.It's always good to have a Site Map, unless your site has only a few pages. This allows people to have another route to the other pages on your site. It also helps search engines locate all the pages on your site, particularly if you use dynamically-generated links to your pages (like JavaScript-created links).
3. Search Engine Visibility is Your Site's Lifeline
As I mentioned earlier, the problem that my visitor faced when her site was redesigned was that it no longer appeared in search engine results even when relevant terms were used for searches.
The problem in her case was that her site relied exclusively on a JavaScript navigation menu. Apart from the links generated by the JavaScript menu, there were absolutely no other links on her site pointing to other pages within the site. Since search engines bots can't interpret JavaScript (at least not at this time, to my knowledge), they could not follow any links and could thus only index her main page. As a result, her pages were not listed in searches for her keywords (since only the main page was indexed), leading to a drastic drop in visitors.
This is a problem fairly easily fixed (for example, one way is to create a site map and add a normal link to it from the main page), but it illustrates one of the most important issues a real-world website faces: search engine visibility. If your site is not listed in the search engines, you're not going to be able to get many visitors, if at all. Without visitors, you're obviously not going to be able to achieve your purpose for the site.
Designing a site that is search engine ready is a lengthy topic, so I am not even going to try to address it here. If you are interested to know more, you can find some general principles for making your site search engine ready by perusing the articles listed on: http;//www.heliumx.com
Conclusion
This article is about the importance of factoring usability and search engine readiness into your web design. Usability is important because it improves the chances that your site will help you accomplish your purpose. Search engine visibility is crucial because without it, you will get few visitors. Plan with these two aspects in mind, even as you look into the appearance of your site, and your design will go far in helping you achieve the goals for your site.
Unlimited Web hosting
The Real Meaning of "Unlimited" in Web Hosting ?
As many webmasters who have been burnt can attest, "unlimited" in web hosting lingo usually does not really mean "unlimited" when it applies to disk space and bandwidth. While the rest of a web host's feature list is usually written in English, this word is best understood as being written in the language of Humpty Dumpty.
The Language of Humpty Dumpty
In Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, Humpty Dumpty redefined the meaning of the word "glory" to mean "a nice knock-down argument". When Alice, to whom he was speaking, protested that that was not the correct meaning of the word, Humpty Dumpty replied:
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less."
In the same way, when web hosts use the word "unlimited" to say that you get "unlimited disk space" or "unlimited bandwidth" (or its equivalent "unlimited data transfer"), the word "unlimited" usually gets redefined to some other meaning, at the web host's discretion. The exact meaning varies from host to host, in the spirit of Humpty Dumpty, but it invariably means the opposite of the "unlimited" found in the English language.
Deconstructing the Meaning of "Unlimited" in Humpty-Dumpty-Speak
Let's translate one version of the Humpty Dumpty "unlimited" to real English.
According to a prominent web host, account holders are given "unlimited disk space". On this host, if you look at the fine print, you will find that "you can add as much content as you want, but maybe not all at once" (unmodified quote given). In other words, you can't use the "unlimited" space in one go. You can use an unspecified amount at first, and then add more. But who gets to decide how much you can use each time? The web host, of course.
This is confirmed by their next sentence, "The vast majority of our customers' sites grow at rates well within our rules, however, and will not be impacted by this constraint" (emphasis mine). Specifically what these rules are, that is, how many MB you can use at first, at what rate you can increase your disk space, is not stated. In other words, the web host has managed to entice you to host with them without even specifying how much disk space you can use.
Other Problems with Unlimited Space Plans
When web hosts provide "unlimited" space, they often have to restrict what what you can use the disk space for. They need to do this since if every user really uses their "unlimited" space, the host would have to spend an unlimited amount of money to buy an unlimited number of hard disks to provide space for them.
As such, if you look at the Terms of Service (TOS) agreements of web hosts providing either unlimited space or incredibly huge amounts of disk space (such as those providing hundreds of gigabytes or even thousands), you will notice that you cannot use the space for any purpose you choose. In most cases, their condition is that the space can be used only for the website. You cannot, for example, use the space as a sort of offsite backup space for your home or office computer.
Web hosts that specify a realistic amount of disk space for each customer usually don't need such restrictions. Sometimes you can see this advertised as "unrestricted disk space" or the like, meaning you can use the disk space you are allocated in any way you wish.
Unlimited or Near-Unlimited Bandwidth Plans
When it comes to bandwidth or data transfer, "unlimited" limitations (to use an oxymoron) are usually implemented by monitoring resource usage, a matter which I have written about at length in The Fine Print in Web Hosting: Resource Usage Limits. Please see that article for more information.
Not documented in that article, nor in another of my articles that mentions unlimited plans in passing, is the side effect of hosting with a shared web host that provides unlimited bandwidth: performance. Think about it this way. When a web host provides unlimited this-and-that, many people will be attracted to their plans. Be honest — I'm sure you find it tempting too (until you have been burnt, of course). Some of these people will be running huge static websites that will use enormous amounts of bandwidth. Since your site will also share the same bandwidth pipe as these people, and perhaps worse, be on the same server as they are, the performance of your site will be affected. To use an analogy, everyone is sharing the same pie. If someone takes a large slice of the pie, the rest will have to share the remainder, however small it may be.
"Terabyte" is the New "Unlimited"
Due to the bad reputation the terms "unlimited bandwidth" and "unlimited disk space" have in webmaster circles, newer more PR-savvy web hosts now list a monstrously huge number for the bandwidth and disk space they provide. For example, a few of the web hosts mentioned on the Budget Web Hosting pages list their disk space and bandwidth allocations in the hundreds of gigabytes. Some of them even give them in thousands of gigabytes (terabytes). These gigantic allocations seem to have taken the place of "unlimited" in web hosting parlance. If you see such gigantic provisions, compared to the more sober provisions of other hosts, it means that the restrictions mentioned above probably apply in some way or other.
Not All Unlimited is Suspect
Note that not all uses of the word "unlimited" in a web hosting package is necessarily Humpty-Dumpty-speak. For example, all web hosts allow you to create unlimited email aliases and so on. I believe that when these hosts advertise such features, they usually really mean it (although I must clarify that I've not actually tested such facilities to their limits.) These features are usually limited by the other aspects of your hosting account anyway, like disk space, which is probably why these hosts don't bother to restrict the number you use.
Confession is Good for the Soul
Before I get accused of being a hypocrite by people who have seen some of my other websites, let me clarify and confess something: I do have sites hosted on such near-unlimited web hosts. These sites usually fall into one or more of my "non-essential" sites category.
Essentially, I place such sites on web hosts that provide unlimited domain hosting. This makes it easy for me to dump new domains that I've registered, so that I can play with them, develop them or use them for testing. Since these sites don't get serious traffic, and the unlimited domains feature allow me to host any number of domains I like there without paying extra, I'm willing to take a small amount of risk with such hosts. However, it should be noted that whenever I regard a site as important, or it starts to get useful traffic, I move it to a web host that I trust.
In other words, I don't use such hosts for their unlimited disk space or bandwidth, but for the unlimited domain hosting. Because of my policy of moving sites away to other web hosts whenever a site gets decent traffic, I effectively don't even use a fraction of the near-unlimited disk space or bandwidth.
And yes, I know "unlimited" domain hosting has its limits too. But I go in with my eyes open (I hope).
Conclusion
When scrutinizing web hosts, look out for the "unlimited" line or its modern equivalent. Read the fine print. Don't accept the term at face value when it is used for space and bandwidth. Opting for unlimited disk space or bandwidth may mean that your site faces unspecified, or vaguely-specified, limits, as compared to web hosts that tell you upfront what you are getting.
As many webmasters who have been burnt can attest, "unlimited" in web hosting lingo usually does not really mean "unlimited" when it applies to disk space and bandwidth. While the rest of a web host's feature list is usually written in English, this word is best understood as being written in the language of Humpty Dumpty.
The Language of Humpty Dumpty
In Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, Humpty Dumpty redefined the meaning of the word "glory" to mean "a nice knock-down argument". When Alice, to whom he was speaking, protested that that was not the correct meaning of the word, Humpty Dumpty replied:
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less."
In the same way, when web hosts use the word "unlimited" to say that you get "unlimited disk space" or "unlimited bandwidth" (or its equivalent "unlimited data transfer"), the word "unlimited" usually gets redefined to some other meaning, at the web host's discretion. The exact meaning varies from host to host, in the spirit of Humpty Dumpty, but it invariably means the opposite of the "unlimited" found in the English language.
Deconstructing the Meaning of "Unlimited" in Humpty-Dumpty-Speak
Let's translate one version of the Humpty Dumpty "unlimited" to real English.
According to a prominent web host, account holders are given "unlimited disk space". On this host, if you look at the fine print, you will find that "you can add as much content as you want, but maybe not all at once" (unmodified quote given). In other words, you can't use the "unlimited" space in one go. You can use an unspecified amount at first, and then add more. But who gets to decide how much you can use each time? The web host, of course.
This is confirmed by their next sentence, "The vast majority of our customers' sites grow at rates well within our rules, however, and will not be impacted by this constraint" (emphasis mine). Specifically what these rules are, that is, how many MB you can use at first, at what rate you can increase your disk space, is not stated. In other words, the web host has managed to entice you to host with them without even specifying how much disk space you can use.
Other Problems with Unlimited Space Plans
When web hosts provide "unlimited" space, they often have to restrict what what you can use the disk space for. They need to do this since if every user really uses their "unlimited" space, the host would have to spend an unlimited amount of money to buy an unlimited number of hard disks to provide space for them.
As such, if you look at the Terms of Service (TOS) agreements of web hosts providing either unlimited space or incredibly huge amounts of disk space (such as those providing hundreds of gigabytes or even thousands), you will notice that you cannot use the space for any purpose you choose. In most cases, their condition is that the space can be used only for the website. You cannot, for example, use the space as a sort of offsite backup space for your home or office computer.
Web hosts that specify a realistic amount of disk space for each customer usually don't need such restrictions. Sometimes you can see this advertised as "unrestricted disk space" or the like, meaning you can use the disk space you are allocated in any way you wish.
Unlimited or Near-Unlimited Bandwidth Plans
When it comes to bandwidth or data transfer, "unlimited" limitations (to use an oxymoron) are usually implemented by monitoring resource usage, a matter which I have written about at length in The Fine Print in Web Hosting: Resource Usage Limits. Please see that article for more information.
Not documented in that article, nor in another of my articles that mentions unlimited plans in passing, is the side effect of hosting with a shared web host that provides unlimited bandwidth: performance. Think about it this way. When a web host provides unlimited this-and-that, many people will be attracted to their plans. Be honest — I'm sure you find it tempting too (until you have been burnt, of course). Some of these people will be running huge static websites that will use enormous amounts of bandwidth. Since your site will also share the same bandwidth pipe as these people, and perhaps worse, be on the same server as they are, the performance of your site will be affected. To use an analogy, everyone is sharing the same pie. If someone takes a large slice of the pie, the rest will have to share the remainder, however small it may be.
"Terabyte" is the New "Unlimited"
Due to the bad reputation the terms "unlimited bandwidth" and "unlimited disk space" have in webmaster circles, newer more PR-savvy web hosts now list a monstrously huge number for the bandwidth and disk space they provide. For example, a few of the web hosts mentioned on the Budget Web Hosting pages list their disk space and bandwidth allocations in the hundreds of gigabytes. Some of them even give them in thousands of gigabytes (terabytes). These gigantic allocations seem to have taken the place of "unlimited" in web hosting parlance. If you see such gigantic provisions, compared to the more sober provisions of other hosts, it means that the restrictions mentioned above probably apply in some way or other.
Not All Unlimited is Suspect
Note that not all uses of the word "unlimited" in a web hosting package is necessarily Humpty-Dumpty-speak. For example, all web hosts allow you to create unlimited email aliases and so on. I believe that when these hosts advertise such features, they usually really mean it (although I must clarify that I've not actually tested such facilities to their limits.) These features are usually limited by the other aspects of your hosting account anyway, like disk space, which is probably why these hosts don't bother to restrict the number you use.
Confession is Good for the Soul
Before I get accused of being a hypocrite by people who have seen some of my other websites, let me clarify and confess something: I do have sites hosted on such near-unlimited web hosts. These sites usually fall into one or more of my "non-essential" sites category.
Essentially, I place such sites on web hosts that provide unlimited domain hosting. This makes it easy for me to dump new domains that I've registered, so that I can play with them, develop them or use them for testing. Since these sites don't get serious traffic, and the unlimited domains feature allow me to host any number of domains I like there without paying extra, I'm willing to take a small amount of risk with such hosts. However, it should be noted that whenever I regard a site as important, or it starts to get useful traffic, I move it to a web host that I trust.
In other words, I don't use such hosts for their unlimited disk space or bandwidth, but for the unlimited domain hosting. Because of my policy of moving sites away to other web hosts whenever a site gets decent traffic, I effectively don't even use a fraction of the near-unlimited disk space or bandwidth.
And yes, I know "unlimited" domain hosting has its limits too. But I go in with my eyes open (I hope).
Conclusion
When scrutinizing web hosts, look out for the "unlimited" line or its modern equivalent. Read the fine print. Don't accept the term at face value when it is used for space and bandwidth. Opting for unlimited disk space or bandwidth may mean that your site faces unspecified, or vaguely-specified, limits, as compared to web hosts that tell you upfront what you are getting.
HELIUMX
Monday, January 4, 2010
Web Hosting Plans
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Sunday, January 3, 2010
Windows Web Hosting
What is windows web hosting?
Windows Server 2003 Web Edition is structured for dedicated Web serving and windows web hosting.
It aims at delivering a single-purpose solution for Internet service providers, application developers, and others who use or organize specific Web functionality.
Windows Server 2003 Web Edition Web Hosting
Takes benefit of advancement in Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0, Microsoft ASP.NET, and the Microsoft .NET Framework to make it easier to build and host Web pages, Web applications, and XML Web services.
Is an extremely successful platform for ASP.NET based intranet and Internet deployments.
Includes the newly re-architected IIS 6.0, ASP.NET, and the Microsoft .NET Framework.
Is dedicated Web-serving functionality that supports two-way symmetric multiprocessing (SMP), 2 gigabytes (GB) of RAM, and 10 in-bound server message block (SMB) connections for content publishing.
Does an economical Web server that is competitively priced for self-hosting organizations need to install Web pages, Web sites, Web applications, and Web services rapidly.
Windows Hosting and Development
Web developers can build Web pages and also Web services that can communicate with other platforms using standards-based interfaces like XML and SOAP.
Windows Server 2003 Web Edition is built on industry standards that allow organizations to extend current Web applications and promptly develop new ones.
This economical application development supports business output and flexibility and also boosts business solution opportunities.
Exclusively designed as a single-purpose Web server, Windows Server 2003 Web Edition delivers the next generation of Web infrastructure capabilities to Windows server web hosting operating systems.
Self-hosting organizations and service providers, who are in need of advanced Web functionality, gain from this cost-effective and efficient Web server operating system.
Windows Server 2003 Web Edition is structured for dedicated Web serving and windows web hosting.
It aims at delivering a single-purpose solution for Internet service providers, application developers, and others who use or organize specific Web functionality.
Windows Server 2003 Web Edition Web Hosting
Takes benefit of advancement in Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0, Microsoft ASP.NET, and the Microsoft .NET Framework to make it easier to build and host Web pages, Web applications, and XML Web services.
Is an extremely successful platform for ASP.NET based intranet and Internet deployments.
Includes the newly re-architected IIS 6.0, ASP.NET, and the Microsoft .NET Framework.
Is dedicated Web-serving functionality that supports two-way symmetric multiprocessing (SMP), 2 gigabytes (GB) of RAM, and 10 in-bound server message block (SMB) connections for content publishing.
Does an economical Web server that is competitively priced for self-hosting organizations need to install Web pages, Web sites, Web applications, and Web services rapidly.
Windows Hosting and Development
Web developers can build Web pages and also Web services that can communicate with other platforms using standards-based interfaces like XML and SOAP.
Windows Server 2003 Web Edition is built on industry standards that allow organizations to extend current Web applications and promptly develop new ones.
This economical application development supports business output and flexibility and also boosts business solution opportunities.
Exclusively designed as a single-purpose Web server, Windows Server 2003 Web Edition delivers the next generation of Web infrastructure capabilities to Windows server web hosting operating systems.
Self-hosting organizations and service providers, who are in need of advanced Web functionality, gain from this cost-effective and efficient Web server operating system.
Linux Web Hosting
What is Linux Web Hosting?
Linux Web Hosting allows a company to build its web sites by using the Linux Operating System. Using this platform for web development gives companies the flexibility to take advantage of the best and most popular open-source technologies such as PHP, MySQL, Python, and XML. The Linux Website Hosting is an open-source variation of the Unix Operating System.
Linux Web hosting and Unix Web Hosting are the most common budget hosting platforms used today. Linux web hosts and Linux web hosting companies are similar to Unix web hosts. The cheap hosting industry has allowed Unix web hosts to provide enormous amounts of space in their web hosting plans with lots of installed features with Unix and Linux hosting.
Linux Web Hosting allows a company to build its web sites by using the Linux Operating System. Using this platform for web development gives companies the flexibility to take advantage of the best and most popular open-source technologies such as PHP, MySQL, Python, and XML. The Linux Website Hosting is an open-source variation of the Unix Operating System.Linux Web hosting and Unix Web Hosting are the most common budget hosting platforms used today. Linux web hosts and Linux web hosting companies are similar to Unix web hosts. The cheap hosting industry has allowed Unix web hosts to provide enormous amounts of space in their web hosting plans with lots of installed features with Unix and Linux hosting.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Heliumx Web Hosting Company
HeliumX is an affordable Web Hosting brand by MAGSNET, the most successful web development company in Pakistan with over 6 years of industry experience or corporate customers.
MAGSNET was established in mid 1998 and since then its committed to provide cost effect web solutions to its customers in Pakistan and around the globe. To find our more about MAGSNET, please visit www.magsnet.net
Some of our happy and satisfied customers
MAGSNET was established in mid 1998 and since then its committed to provide cost effect web solutions to its customers in Pakistan and around the globe. To find our more about MAGSNET, please visit www.magsnet.net
Some of our happy and satisfied customers
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Dedicated hosting service
Dedicated hosting service: the user gets his or her own Web server and gains full control over it (root access for Linux/administrator access for Windows); however, the user typically does not own the server. Another type of Dedicated hosting is Self-Managed or Unmanaged. This is usually the least expensive for Dedicated plans. The user has full administrative access to the box, which means the client is responsible for the security and maintenance of his own dedicated box.
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Web Hosting
A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their own website accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server they own or lease for use by their clients as well as providing Internet connectivity, typically in a data center. Web hosts can also provide data center space and connectivity to the Internet for servers they do not own to be located in their data center, called colocation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_hosting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_hosting
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