Tag Archives: Internet Marketing

Can Microsoft’s Bing Beat Google In The Search Engine Wars?

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Internet Marketing Newsletter – Special Report

Can Microsoft’s Bing Beat Google In The Search Engine Wars?

This week, like many online marketers who keep a close eye
on countless profitable keywords, I spent most of my time
giving Bing (the new search engine from Microsoft) a really
good run-through. I was mainly testing it to see how good the
results were compared to those given by Google, who is still
the top dog when it comes to the extremely lucrative online
search market.

My first overall impression of Bing has been surprisingly
positive. I really wasn’t expecting it to be so good, mainly
because it was coming from Microsoft and my opinion of them
lately has been permanently downgraded by my own trials and
tribulations with Vista on my brand new “IBUYPOWER” gaming PC.
What were they thinking… it had me scrambling for my old Windows XP
which I truly love using… let us just hope Bill and the boys get the next
Windows OS right!

In this light, I was very curious to see how Microsoft would
do with this new search engine or site? Would they give us
something useful or totally mess it up?

While one would like to remain objective in analyzing any new
search engine, our own viewpoints do creep into our judgments,
many a time without us even realizing it. So with this in mind,
please read the following information and critique of Bing in
this light. Also, since the majority of my present online income
comes directly or indirectly from Google, most of my own personal
opinions are slanted in favor of Google. I really like Google
and I have been using it personally for years. I can honestly
say I could not get through my marketing day without Google.
And this is not so much Google search, it’s Google Alerts,
Google Analytics, Google Adwords, Google AdSense, Google Docs,
Google Maps, Google Earth, iGoogle… and the list goes on.

But the question at hand – Can Microsoft’s Bing Really, Truly,
Honestly give Google Search a run for those all-important search
engine dollars?

First, you really have to check out the Bing site or interface
and see it for yourself. Like Google’s, it’s very simple with only
search as the main function, as it should be. Your search can be
on the Web, Images, News, Maps, and more… does this sound
familiar to you? Does it remind you of another search engine?

Bing!

There are also links at the top of the Bing homepage pointing
to Sympatico/MSN, Windows Live and Make Bing Your Homepage. There
is also a very scenic background picture which they seem to be
changing/rotating each day. This might seem like a minor point,
but in my opinion it’s a nicely added touch that will help visitors
remember Bing in their mind’s eye. Catching your potential user’s
attention should never be frowned upon when you’re discussing the web.

As a former artist, I am always impressed when I see a nice
layout and design incorporated into a website. Bing gets top
marks for a simple, yet great design. It just has a little more
impact than Google’s now-iconic homage to white space. But will
search users of Bing really be looking for scenic pictures or will
they be looking for good solid results to solve their questions
and problems? In most cases, they will be looking for the latter.
However, the background images on Bing could help distinguish it from
Google because the search results themselves are extremely similar
in many cases. Don’t know if this is good news or bad news for Google?

I was firmly struck with how same the results are in both search
engines. Since I am a full-time online marketer, I monitor countless
keywords on a regular basis (hey, they’re my bread and butter), so
I have to keep a close watch on them. Thankfully, most of my first
page Google keywords are also being displayed on the first page in
Bing, so I can easily remain neutral in any upcoming search wars
should they occur, those Swiss guys have the right idea.

While the results and the way they are displayed, are very similar
in both engines, in my opinion, Bing has a better layout with
a much more pleasing arrangement of their listings. There’s a nice
preview button for each listing and it gives you related searches
and your search history on the left-hand side of the page. More
importantly, the search results are substantive, for example,
if you search for Obama, in addition to the search results you
will get related Obama listings for Issues, Facts, Biography,
Childhood, Speeches and News. Also, in this case, you have around
20 main listings running down the results page as opposed to Google
which usually gives 10 main organic listings. Although this is
changing as Google places in more News, Products, Videos
and Brand Name links into their rather crowded listings.

One slight difference, Google has the “Did you mean” feature
which helps correct your spelling and help you find the right
word you’re searching for. It would be curious to see how many
people/students/searchers use Google not for search but as a
gloried spell-checker! Regardless, this is still a major reason
for many people to keep using Google. Not to be outdone, Bing has
a similar function and will guess at the right word or spelling.

Bing Romiance

At the moment if you compare web traffic as measured by Alexa.com,
you will see that Google is in the number one spot. It gets the most
traffic of any site on the web but all of this is not search traffic,
only around 65% goes to search if you also count image search – gmail
counts for around 25% of the traffic.

In second place we have Yahoo.com but most people use that site
for email, around 43% and much less use it for search. MSN comes
in at number 6 and again visitors are using it for other things than
for search. You can note that Bing traffic is listed under
“runonce.msn.com” and accounts for roughly 20% of the traffic.

MSN Alexa

Curiously, I see from my own log stats that Bing is regarded as a
site rather than a search engine. Most of my sites use AWStats
and Bing is listed under sites rather than in the search engine
section. I am already seeing some traffic from Bing, be interesting
to monitor this traffic and see if it increases over time…
could be a good indication Bing is catching on with search users.

Bing Obama!

Can Bing truly compete with Google?

Well, judge for yourself, take the Obama test! Do a test search
of Obama in both Bing and Google. Compare the results – which
one do you like? Which one gives a better overall picture/summary
of Obama? Be honest, be true… which results would you like to
see in your searches? Does Bing give Google some real competition?
The answer to that question lies on both those pages… any search
engine who will beat Google must give quality results, as good as
or better than Google. The same holds true for Bing or any of the new
search engines which have appeared recently on the web.

Google Obama!

Frankly, at the moment, I don’t see any search engine (old or new)
giving Google any real serious competition. Mainly because Google
hasn’t just remained a search engine, wisely, it has expanded its
functions and services over a whole list of web activities, way beyond
search. Combined, all these services (mostly free) have propelled the Google
Brand Name into the most serious player on the web. Even if someone
gives Google a run for all those search dollars… Google can easily
win the traffic war on so many other fronts.

Only time will tell if Bing can eat into Google’s 70% or more share of
the very lucrative U.S. search market. But if they keep it simple and
start offering the same or better results than Google, Bing (aka Microsoft)
could give Google a few hiccups, we could actually see some major battles
for the search users’ hearts and minds, especially among the hard-core
searchers. Bing does have an appeal and one can’t forget that Microsoft
does have more than a few pennies to throw at this venture.

In the end, because of Google’s dominance and well-deserved reputation
for giving quality results, not to mention a Brand Name that has probably
already leaped into our genetic code, only marketing and lots of it, will
give Bing an outside chance of beating Google. And if you’re laughing at
that statement, you probably have an attic full of GM stocks gathering dust.

Please Share:

Titus Hoskins
www.bizwaremagic.com

Why Twitter Is Becoming So Important

BWMagic’s Internet Marketing News!

…….
Contents:

o Why Twitter Is Becoming So Important
…….

Perhaps you’re like me and not really into the whole social
networking scene. It is really not “my cup of tea” as they say,
but these social networking sites are becoming so important
you just can’t ignore them if you have a website or do any
type of online marketing.

Social bookmarking sites like Digg, FaceBook, MySpace…
and now Twitter – have become so popular with Internet users
you just can’t ignore them or pretend they don’t exist. They
are a force to be reckoned with and must be dealt with in your
marketing.

Twitter is probably the one you should be paying the closest
attention to at the moment. If you’re not familiar with Twitter
– it’s simply an online messaging/contact system where you send
short messages (tweets) of 140 characters or less, to all your
contacts or people who have subscribed to your Twitter
account and are following you.

These messages can be about what you’re doing, programs you’re
supporting or links that you are promoting and so on. A very simple,
yet extremely powerful system.

Needless to say, it has taken the world by storm and Alexa now
ranks Twitter as 50th of top sites on the web. It just seems
like everyone now has a Twitter account and are following their
most favorite people or companies.

As a social contact and list building tool, Twitter can’t be
beat… some even argue it will bypass email as a way to
contact your list. Mainly because you don’t have to worry
about the “s” word.

Important News Regarding Twitter

Recently, Webpronews has reported Twitter will now be
searchable and the content in the links in your messages
will be indexed and ranked. They will have an algorithmic
ranking system much like the one Google has to rank it’s
index.


“According to CNET, Twitter’s new VP of Operations Santosh
Jayaram says that Twitter Search, which currently searches
only the text of Twitter posts, will soon crawl links included
in tweets, and index content from those pages.”

Basically, what this will mean is that Twitter will
virtually become a search engine – one run by millions
of users who will vote with their subscriptions and usage
of the content. Online democracy in it’s purest form as
users could decide what’s valuable or not.

Of course, this could prove to be a major rival to Google
in the coming years. And if you think Google is too
powerful to be unseated, then you haven’t been on the
web long enough to know everything passes, everyone
has their day and then we move on.

Twitter, if it’s not snatched up by Google, will also
prove to be a major competitor in the valuable search
market. One that offers some interesting options to
the traditional type of search we have now – one that
is more related to sites that let users vote up or down
the content they want to see featured in the index.
Sites like Digg could be the role model for this new
searchable Twitter.

Regardless of how all this plays out – the question
remains – are you using Twitter to promote your site
or business?

Twitter is an excellent way to build your list of
contacts or people interested in the same things
you are – if you do any kind of list building
(and you should be) you will already know the importance
of keeping a list of customers and using follow-up
emails in your marketing.

How big a list can you build?

Well if you have been following the news, you will know
that Ashton Kutcher best out CNN by being the first
person to reach 1 million followers on Twitter.

What does this mean?

When the guy from that 70′ show Tweets – over a million
people get his message. Just imagine him recommending
your website link to his followers… and you will see
how powerful Twitter has become as a marketing and
promotion tool.

Even Google has a twitter account

but it only has a measly 600,000 followers.

Anyway, I hope you can see the potential of Twitter for
your own site promotion and online marketing. It’s a great
system and you should be taking advantage of it.

The least you should do is open a Twitter account to
promote your site or yourself. Place your Twitter
link on all your webpages so that your visitors can
follow you or your site.

Then make regular updates in Twitter announcing all
the important stuff happening to you or your site.
You can use Twitter just for entertainment or for
business. No matter what you do…

Just use it!

Kind Regards,
Titus

http://www.bizwaremagic.com

Twitter - Bizwaremagic

Videos – Should You Use Them In Your Marketing?

BWMagic’s Internet Marketing News!

If you’re looking for Marlon Sanders Top 10 Design Mistakes:

http://www.bizwaremagic.com/marlon_sanders/top10_designs.pdf


o Videos – Should You Use Them In Your Marketing?

You have probably already noticed, videos are everywhere on the web.
Online marketers and webmasters are using videos to bring in traffic,
to create buzz, to build links and to make more sales.

It should be a far-gone conclusion that you should definitely
be using videos in your marketing even if you’re not selling
anything. It’s a great way to bring in traffic and create interest
in your site or brand.

Just ask Susan Boyle!

Videos can have a tremendous impact on the web, especially viral
videos like many of those featured on YouTube and sites like it.
For promotion and word-of-mouth advertising… it can’t be beaten.

Truth be told, I am a marketer who’s set in his ways, anything
new like videos makes me cautious. For a long time, I resisted
using videos on my sites. If you have been doing something
successfully for years with your online sites – why change now?

The obvious reason – with online marketing, you have to change
with the times or go the way of the Do Do bird. If you don’t adapt,
you lose. Period, end of story.

Besides, it has been my long-term belief that all the websites on
the net will eventually turn into something akin to TV channels –
the Billion Channel Internet. God help us all!

But it’s coming, most people are generally lazy, they like to get
everything done for them with the least amount of energy wasted
on their part. Videos give you the information you need quickly and
without any fuss – you just sit there and watch and listen. Videos are
the perfect teaching tools. Videos are the perfect marketing tools.

Years ago, I started placing other people videos on my site –
I even have one from SBI on my homepage. It is an effective
way of making more sales.

Few other sites have also used my articles and turned them
into videos – mainly Site-Reference. Here’s an example:

8 SEO Techniques Every Webmaster Should Know

Basically anyone can make a simple video with a camcorder
or even a webcam. There’s also free video making software that
you can use such as from camstudio:

camstudio.org

You just capture what on your computer and the audio – as
you explain some marketing process or method. Many online
marketers use this technique for selling and/or explaining
their products.

Michael Cheney, Neil Shearing, Marlon Sanders… are all
top-level marketers who use this method. A very effective way
to get your message across.

You rarely see any major sales page or letter these
days that doesn’t have at least one video attached to it.
Many marketers also use video testimonials because they
are so much more effective than an ordinary text plug.

Recently, I have started using videos in my own online
marketing – no I am not making my own videos, I pay
someone else to make mine for me. I use the article video
service through Bill Platt’s www.thephantomwriters.com
– I was very pleased with the first video and will get
more done.

These videos are produced through www.topmarketmaker.com
and are very professional.

I have this video now on my sites and used it in a PRWeb
Press Release which brought in a lot of sales for me.
You can view it here:

I believe you can’t stand still, you must change with the times… if
the regular static HTML site is no longer as effective as using
videos, flashmovies, javascripts, rss blogs… you have to change
with the times or go the way… you guessed it, that extinct bird.

Never doubt the power of video, it can really help get your
site or product noticed on the web. It is a great way to
promote yourself or your site. One video on YouTube can virtually
change your life overnight – it can be more powerful than
TV or the web alone.

It is also an excellent way to earn more revenue and to build
your list of contacts. It’s hard to believe but one teenager
using YouTube has built up a list of over 1 Million subscribers.
So this same opportunity is open to any Tom, Dick or Fred with
a video camera and a little imagination.

Videos on the web are here to stay, so you might as well
join in on the fun and help your marketing in the process.

So what about you – are you using videos in your marketing?
Are you using videos on your site? If you’re not, you may
be missing out on an excellent source of new traffic and sales.

If you want more information on video marketing, why not try
this article I wrote a little while back:

http://www.bizwaremagic.com/video_marketing.htm

Kind Regards,
Titus

https://www.bizwaremagic.com