Jepoy Dino's Thoughts

2012-10-27T04:08:00.000-07:00

I was too busy last weekend that I couln't update Jepoy Dino's Thoughts... And the topic should have been about Banner Ad prices, and I tried searching my mind on what really takes to price the ads; and I had nothing...

I don't know how it would sound to my readers if I say that your website direct banner ads should be based on a metric... and usually web traffic pops into mind. But is it really just traffic or the CPM - Cost Per Mille - that matters? Well, it provides you a mathematical model of how to price it - more clicks per thousand means higher prices.

In my mind, I think it's not as simple as just CPM. As an advertiser, the value the website shall give depends also on the service in terms of market data and targetted engagements - in this case leads capture - may affect the price of the ad. For instance, if I can provide the advertisers contact details and profile data of the netizens who clicked their ad - won't that be valuable? Or maybe, to go further on these data, I could arrange the visitors to capture their age and location, won't that be more valuable? How about orchestrating a social media campaing redirecting the netizens to the banner ad on the website - isn't that direct traffic capture for the brand or product being advertise?

How about a cycle through email push to the visitor who clicked the banner ad? Isn't this a quick way to communicate instantly to the targetted client? Tracking this email push to the client by the sales team doesn't only provide sales leads, but also an engagment wherein the most important messages gets through instantly to the curious client?

How much would the advertisers pay for that? I believe better than the CPM of 1,000,000 by the other website. So even if my website is just 10,000 visitors for now, a targetted social media campaign coupled with value added services that may be used by the advertisers will still be a better deal.

With all these possibilities, how much can I really price my banner ad boxes?

2012-10-14T03:27:00.003-07:00

A colleague of mine asked me today what are the industry's standard sizes and going prices of banner ads?

You may actually set your sizes the way you see fit on your website. However, it would be best to put the standard size setforth by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). The IAB is composed of media groups responsible in selling media ads in the United State of America. (http://www.iab.net/about_the_iab)

The IAB have suggestions and format defined as the internet matures. In their website, IAB has some suggestions which I pasted below:

Source: http://www.iab.net/guidelines/508676/508767/displayguidelines?preview=1&psid=0&ph=aa14

Banner ads are meaures in pixel (width x height). And there are standard sizes which are still being used today, and may still be adapted by your advertisers, as follows:

Source: http://www.bannercreator.nu/banner-size.html

The prices for these ad sizes varies according to Page Rank, Relevance, and the Advertiser's campaign budget. Generally, the more visits and unique it is, brand exposure qualifies how it should cost. So it's actually you who shall define how much do you think your website is worth versus the Advertiser's objectives.

2012-10-06T04:17:00.000-07:00

Online advertising through Banner Ads for small businesses may be simple. We know that Banner Ads targets a specific niche and works around the idea of persuasion and collective interests of the visitors.

If I have a small business selling used branded bags in the internet, how do I advertise? First, we should know that to advertise is to persuade and to generate interests that will match a certain customer profile. There are ways to attract new customers into your website such as Pay-Per-Click (PPC), which is the most fastest way to generate leads but may also be the most expensive. Affiliate links to other website which is slow in bringing in results. And Banner Ads, which is relatively cheap because the audience is targeted well.

As a small business, the reach required would also be in the proximate locations and influences – municipal level, company level where you work for example – touching that small network amongst your peers, or maybe a small group of enthusiasts or ladies’ civic organization to promote the used branded bags. Using Banner Ads on where these small networks usually hang-out in the internet will be a good start for a small business like this.

Somehow the Banner Ads would not only be a click-through but also expands your exposure – telling your market that you are in business and that your products are available now. By knowing you have such products, that are affordable and classy, these netizens will try to contact you for a much awaited conversion. Not only will the exchange be in the internet, which is quite expensive for start-ups to really shopify their sites, a good Banner ad exposure may spell the difference.

If you can maintain the Banner ads to bring traffic or exposure to your business, or further pinpointing a specific user segment for your product and brand, the results may be very much cost-efficient considering a low cost placement in the right website. So knowing the right message to imbed and the durability of the placement in a high-traffic precise visitor profile website shall be perfect for a quick sale in the near future.

2012-09-29T19:38:00.002-07:00

Advertising online through Banner Ads are meant to persuade viewers or visitors of the website to adhere or be captured by the product or brand. One of the objectives of persuasion is to change the belief sets of the visitor. In short, that is to change the attitude of the buyer towards the brand.

A banner ad should attract attention to achieve a message push. One way these advertisers do it is by appealing to the emotions of the visitor. Values that are usually attacked are fear, love, pleasure, vanity or the usual we see now on Ensogo.ph or Groupon.com which touches on scarcity of an offer to instil fear. The fear attitude is engaged to entice them to not miss a valuable offer wherein others had already availed of. This becomes an attitude changer for the visitor since he wants to avail of the scarce offer too that is about to end soon. The fear or scare concepts changes the attitude from passive to immediate aggression – be first to avail at all cost.

This technique of creating stimuli, touching on values and emotions, is prevalent in most advertising media. They simply identify values and emotions that are already desirable by nature such as Sex, Affection, Delicious Food etc. that is already associated with the target visitors, naturally as people with the same interests. When this has been established, advertisers exploit these desires by instilling fear of loss, aspiration to be loved, or messages that create urgency to change attitudes, or in greater sense personal lifestyles.

In looking at the objectives of the advertisers – to emotionally persuade or provide information on a product – the website shall just be a medium to push these messages to the visitors of the site. The website owner should have a good profile of the visitors so that the advertisers may find a good niche of viewers to expose the brands. When a match and opportunity is present, then a good content ad online may be as effective as the traditional media channels.

2012-09-22T21:24:00.004-07:00

I received an email from a good friend who is handling consumer brands of a snack food company, telling me what they usually look for in a website to display their banner ads. He mentioned that some banner ads are to maximize on impressions. But for them, a simple display will do.

Here is what I found out:

1) they usually place their ads on top of the page where traffic on that website is highest. It doesn't have to be the home page because part of the factor they look at, is the relevance of the brand to the traffic profile and the activities being done by the visitors on that particular page.

2) the banner ad message is always simple - in fact the dominant brand color and logo will suffice

3) the banner ad size will depend on how fast the website page loads up. It is important because studies show that a slow loading page, somehow has a high exit experience.

He also mentioned that the more traffic - unique visitors - a page has, the better exposure the brand will have. In this case, it is the way the brand is exposed to the target visitors that makes the difference. They measure the banner ad with a link to their system - not to their website like a Click Through banner ad - but by placing a code into the ad box that catches the visits it is imbedded on. The average impressions are measured this way for non-click throughs.

Since this is the way they measure value on a particular placement, I may adjust the media marketing efforts to appeal to them. I have to know the profile of their target market, so I could align the media efforts to attract the right visitors.

It also gives me an insight on how much budget or cost targets these advertisers have, based on the number of visitors. Since they monitor the impressions as total unique visitors, then it is crucial that the price of the ad box be commensurate to the expected impressions. More visits translates to affordability and maximize brand exposure. So if I exceed expected visits, most probably they shall extend their ad placement.

Now that I have a feel of how this banner ad can monetize my website, I think we need to adjust the pages and media marketing efforts to what is expected by my potential advertisers.

2012-09-22T21:24:00.003-07:00

2012-09-22T21:24:00.002-07:00

2012-09-22T21:24:00.001-07:00

2012-09-22T21:24:00.000-07:00

I received an email from a good friend who is handling consumer brands of a snack food company, telling me what they usually look for in a website to display their banner ads. He mentioned that some banner ads are to maximize on impressions. But for them, a simple display will do.

Here is what I found out:

1) they usually place their banner ads on top of the page where traffic on that website is highest. It doesn't have to be the home page because part of the factor they look at, is the relevance of the brand to the traffic profile and the activities being done by the visitors on that particular page.

2) the banner ad message is always simple - in fact the dominant brand color and logo will suffice.

3) the banner ad size will depend on how fast the website page loads up. It is important because studies show that a slow loading page, somehow has a high exit experience.

He also mentioned that the more traffic - unique visitors - a page has, the better exposure the brand will have. In this case, it is the way the brand is exposed to the target visitors that makes the difference. They measure the banner ad with a link to their system - not their website like a Click Through banner ad - but by placing a code into the ad box that catches the visits it is imbedded on. The average impressions are measured this way for non-click throughs.

Since this is the way they look at value on a particular website, I may adjust the media marketing efforts to appeal to them. I have to know the profile of their target market, so I could align the media efforts to attract the same visitors that would matter most to these advertisers.

It also gives me an insight on how much budget or cost targets these advertisers compute for, based on the number of visitors. Since they monitor the impression as total unique visits - then it would also be crucial that the price of the ad box be commensurate to the expected impression. In this way, more visits means economies of scale based on the price I sold the ad box for. And if I exceed expectations, most probably they will extend the ad placement to my advantage.

Now that I have a feel of how this banner ad can monetize my website, I think we need to adjust the pages and media marketing efforts to what is expected by my potential advertisers.

2012-09-15T05:02:00.001-07:00

I know I want directly placed Banner Ads on my website. And to get advertisers into my website, is to know how they conceptualize a Banner Ad Campaign.

The objective of these advertisers is to 1) create click throughs and 2) entice a "Call to Action" type of Banner Ad. It is needless to say that the ultimate objective is to make sure they profit from the Campaign.

I need to show them how much visitors I have and provide them a profile of my own website campaign - or how and who do I attract on my website that will jive with the target market of these advertisers. Moreover, I have to show them where the visitors gravitate to on my pages and what are they looking for. If I get a match, then I'm sure to get some inquiries on my ad boxes.

Once I know I have a good website to complement the Banner Ad campaign of my potential advertisers, I should also know how to size the ad boxes, what kind of Banner Ad should I recommend - animated or simple text and digital links, and the right color of the Banner Ad to coincide with the overall feel of the website.

I can put up a digital map of the website and include the percentage or actual page visits for each internal page. This will give the advertisers a statistical probability of how much exposure the product will get, hoping a "click through" will happen. Of course, it may just simply be a Banner Ad with a message. It need not be a "click through" display depending on the objectives of the adverstiser.

Once a click through is established, a "Call to Action" may be executed. These advertisers would want a purchase/commercial engagement to happen. After all, the objectives really is to profit. The "Call to Action" will be dependent on the kind of message it shall convey and how the profile of my visitors match. If for example, a visitor is hooked on my videos, and the videos take 10 minutes to finish, isn't it a food snack product Banner Ad on the side of the page where the video is imbedded be a good position?

To sum up, a Banner Ad Campaign serves a couple of functions: to ensure that it interests the visitor to click and provide a good brand message for the "Call to Action". And my website should be designed to provide good results.

2012-09-07T20:15:00.001-07:00

How effective can Banner Ads monetize your website? I believe that this is the most effective and more profitable, since you cut on any middleman or broker agency that shares with your revenue.

Although it would seem that these ad agencies have the muscle and connection to quickly find good adverstiser for your website, it somehow struck me --- why are these advertisers willing to put up a banner ad in the first place on my website? So it means my website has the essentials to make them pay Php5,000 on a text link, and all I have to do is just find the right companies. If they can do it, so can I. And I can put all my effort into it and save the 50% commission I need to pay them for finding one.

More than the savings, I want control over where these banner ads are displayed. By going directly to these advertisers, I know which page and how it should look like on my website. Having control on it, makes it more exclusive and appropriately adding to the value for both my website and their ads.

This also bring credibility into my website, since direct advertisers are joining my cause and has put confidence that their brands shall increase in value by advertising on mine. This creates a synergy that when properly managed, will increase the reputation of my website.

Although it is time consuming to negotiate for direct banner ads. It also sometime is not a stable revenue flow. The ads are most of the time contracted for 30 days or less and it makes you scamper for new ones evertime the term is about to lapse. Not to mention the documents pertaining to the contracts for each brand, that you have to establish before you can engage on their banner ad.

Considering all these pros and cons, I still want direct advertisers simply because, if they pay me an amount, it is because my website can deliver the value expected of it. No ifs, no shares, but simply best value for their money.

2012-08-25T05:19:00.002-07:00

In running a website, the object like any other business is to profit. You have to maximize website design and content to earn - through advertising.

Usually there are 2 kinds of clients for a website owner, a publisher and direct ad placement from companies. An Ad publisher is a group that looks for websites and sells their links to capture a certain market, and you get to share in the advertisement check that they make. An example would be Google's AdSense, which is a robot managed program that analyzes the content of your website for topics, and it simply flash an Ad pop up for your audience.

On the other hand, a direct Ad placement from companies, are those paid advertisements in square boxes that is seen on your website, wherein you managed yourself and get directly paid for it. Both capitalizes on information to get through your traffic. By introducing their products and services to your audience, if the reached is concentrated to a common group - this increase their probability of a sale.

A Banner Ad may come in Text form, Digital pictures, or Animated flash codes. They also come in the form of articles or news teasers. Price is determined by the box size; and the bigger it is, the more expensive. The higher the page rank of your webpage, the higher is the price that you may command. Technically, Banner Ads are html scripts that directs a visitor to the website of the advertiser, to catch the interest and engagement for a possible sale. It may also be just a simple picture on a corner of your webpage and still your audience are exposed to it, for a possible sale tomorrow at the mall.

You may compare it to an Ad you see in print and billboards, or the television. Exposure allows "suggestive" sales messages that captures interest. More people seeing it, the more chances they will make a sale. So how do you entice them to put one in your website? Or to make your website match the target market?

There is a science on how these marketers see the effectiveness of a Banner Ad on your website. Content may be a key. They usually spot "Sticky Content", which is a web page that attracts repeat visitors and creates influence altogether. When you reach this point of popularity, Ads shall be a major source of income.

2012-08-18T18:50:00.001-07:00

I had a good chat with a friend somewhere in the Eastwood area yesterday and I learned some of the good trends in Digital Marketing. When I was on my way, I really couldn't expresss what I thought about this Marketing Tool, until that eye-opener conversation - that made me realize that I have come in contact often with the ideas and concepts that circles around this subject. It was really simple afterall.

We talked about Reputation Engines and Group Messaging as the newer ones. The former is actually the "Follow Me" functions we find on Twitter and the other social media sites. This technique dwells on the fact, that your sphere of influence make up for value. Those you know, represents who you are. It naturally becomes your base of influence. The more followers who are reputable, the higher is the reputation score.

The latter - Group Messaging - is a way to communicate in a small group, concentrating the interests and builds a niche for marketing efforts. It becomes a precise target for marketing campaigns, because it is already organized by interest and location. Imagine selling a flip-flop to a group of surfers, pushing enticing email messages for a possible commercial engagement? This becomes a focus approach to a marketable group.

There are other trends aside from these that capitalize on the curiosity of the clientele, and satisfying the desire to know more of a product and service. As you may notice nowadays, QR codes proliferate to capture information on an establishment's product offerings. It is a quick way to push the information for a more defined and accurate match of need and availability - an infomercial way of capturing your decision to buy.

On the other hand, the better of the technique to inform, is the Q & A sites, which have the same rationale - to know what to buy. Except that, it allows a dialogue between marketers and clientele. This is a more personal and more human manner of selling, compared to the techy-approach of a QR Code. Q & A has an advantage of promoting discussion around the brand and interject the negatives and positives of the competition, making it more informative, there by increasing chances of a sale. It builds better loyalty and knowledgebase, among others.

With all these Digital Marketing technique, there is one common ground for all. The target audience are organized to one common interest, and is targeted in a manner that it creates a topic that people will be talking about and shall coalesced into a common bond.

2012-08-11T01:54:00.000-07:00

Some websites make it so hard for visitors to understand the service and product being offered. If they do however, it seems so tedious you get lost in the words which makes your brain to freeze!

I suggest some of these websites should have an FAQ page. Or maybe a blog site within the navigational plan. Or better yet, why not a Forum Board!

hmmm.... what is a Forum Board? Well, it is a message board wherein conversation among visitors and administrators may transpire. This seeks to answer queries and a channel for raw ideas to be posted for everyone to comment on. It helps to know what others seem to be afraid to ask or confused with, for the administrator and the owner to clarify.

A forum board is composed of threads. These are a hierarchy of subforums that organizes the information for others to read and reference with. It is like a discussion board wherein message pins are readable by all. This concept in the internet is like our Bulletin Boards, which we visit most of the time for announcements and other information that are relevant to us.

The Forum Board is also a feedback channel for the website. It categorizes the questions and answers for the administrator to take note of. However, it also may be abused by visitors and competitors to weaken the website's integrity through malicious postings. Somehow, it is hard to distinguish the real person under a name handle who does these negative messages, allowing these types to do it.

There is a way to secure the forum. One way is to pre-qualify the visitor by a registration process, to be approved by an administrator. With this, the administrator may collate information of the registrant in a database. As an added security, a Moderator may also be assigned to channel good ideas and siphon out unwanted ones. With this two in place, a Forum Board may be the best way to filter good information.

2012-08-03T22:54:00.000-07:00

Is Pay Per Click (PPC) a forgotten model to earn revenues out of web traffic? I believe that if an idea can create value, it shall be available forever. Let me try to know how effective PPC may be for a website by describing what it really is, in my point of view.

I think of PPC as a concept, wherin a merchant advertises on a website, and the website owner gets paid for every click that is directed to a possible commecial value. The volume of traffic that is redirected to the merchant translates to a possible sale. The concept is like advertising in a billboard, the more people sees the merchant's site or offerings, the higher is the possibility it may get an inquiry or an interest on the products and services being offered.

However, PPC is now more of an ecompassing program. PPC revenue is derived by the number of clicks or redirection to the mechant, plus the possible purchase opportunities that it can generate. In this case, the website owner gets paid for the performance it provides the merchant. If a netizen clicks through the ad banner on the website, and didn't materialize into a sale - then the merchant has no cost to pay in terms of a commission on the sale. But on the other hand, the merchant as an advertiser in the website - taking advantage of the website's traffic - pays a price per click, providing a small revenue to cover cost of the website owner. We call this fixed-rate PPC.

There are arrangements wherein the website owner is afforded an over-riding commission on the increase in sales of the merchant. It somehow acts like an advertising agency, developing an ad campaign across search engines and social sites in which the website owner shares on the advertising budget of the merchant, and a contract price is established based on revenue results. PPC plays an important role in as far as feedback and market information gathering is concern. These information is very valuable, and may have to be paid for by the merchant; hence, the over-ride commission it entails. This is an example, of bid-rate PPC.

But do you really mind if its fixed-rate PPC or bid-rate PPC you are availing of? I find it to be just a function of cost-efficiencies for the merchant. For the website owner, on the other hand, the quickest accounting is best.

2012-07-28T00:40:00.001-07:00

I had a good insight last night on the relevance of the website in the point of view of the designer and the owner. I realize that a designer looks at it as a car being suit up, and the owner personally attached on how it shall serve its ultimate purpose.

Somehow the site owner sees it to be her "baby" insisting that it is part of her personality. The designer, on the other hand, searches for the most efficient features. For both to be successful in their roles, the two should be complementing and in harmony.

Although the designer does the work technically, the owner is actually is the promoter and the visionary. It is the owner that sets what it should be and is the only absolute guide even after the site is published. She should be the basis for the site evolution, where function and improvement initiatives should emanate from.

Her advocacies should be the ultimate purpose. And as Advocate of the site, the owner shall defend the site from any suggestion that will undermine its effectiveness, even within the organisation and its core members. It is her role to make sure that the integrity of the site is preserved, and doesn't diminished even with pressures from internal disputes.

And the most challenging for the owner is actually how to defend and envision the content vis-a-vis changes and opinions of those who are to use the website, co-relating the functions of each member of the company. The owner should plan the content considering the message and tone, balancing the objectives and personality of everyone. She will have to take into account the perceptions and objectives of her colleagues, and naturally diminishes her own visions as a sacrifice for a more balanced site.

In short, the owner somehow is mediator and evangelist, always a diplomat and gets the grunts of all. This reality should be acceptable to her because there will always be trade-offs in design and function, and it is her role to find the balance, keeping in mind total bottom line. And as owner, no matter how chaotic the experiences are or were in my personal experience last night, she shall call the shots for the website and rightfully call it her "Baby".

2012-07-14T21:23:00.001-07:00

Have you heard of the term Attention Economy? Well, it's a new trend in the world wide web that's an offshoot to social media marketing or some would say a part of it. It's a new way of doing things wherein you agree to be paid in exchange for your attention. What the heck is that?!

Well, some companies believe that in using the "grape-vine", it would be effective to use the person-to-person approach in exposing their services and products. You may identify yourself with the right service and products, and it comes with the influence you make. Examples of these, are the personalized news, personalized search, alerts for recommendations, or the "follow me" types.

This new concept, emphasizes on how netizens value their attention. They get paid for posting news articles and clicking on links where they are needed. The value is derived from relevancy. The more relevant the post is, or the more relevant the followers are, is expected to translate into more engagements.

The objective is to direct and redirect visits to companies that offer the relevant service or product. Trending it this way, allows a broader reach with focus. Concentrating the visits in this manner, allows a funneling through that may achieve greater results. More people carrying their influence, with the same interests, into the right service and product, shall statistically increase the best probabilities.

With all these information above, what then is Attention Economy? It is simply a maximization of the scarce resource - people's attention as a commodity. In web theory, it is the realization that when a netizen is looking for something, he will find it eventually in filters and in another competitor's site. Hence, if Attention Economics is applied, the first page the netizen sees should be the most relevant thus catching his attention to stay in your site and make a difference - and more often get paid for it.

2012-07-08T03:24:00.000-07:00

In Social Media Marketing Techniques, the popular partner is Twitter and Facebook. Am I right that these social sites bring the most following? And the more followers, the most engagements are achieved?

The answer is rooted on the memberships of these sites. The more prominent the users are, the more valuable are the visitors for your site. However, the people's profile should match the target market for your website, isn't it? So it may not always seem to be best to have Twitter and Facebook; nonetheless, the overwhelming number of members will statistically bring the most crowd to push the website's presence.

As it is, presence may be a step forward in making some of your products and services known to a larger market. Twitter and Facebook provides this. However, isn't it better to formulate an ad campaign and make available banner ads on sites that have the right profile for your target market? Is it more strategic in bringing in more engagements, than to just have traffic and visitors that squat on your site, and distort your analytics? The key is to have a precise plan on reaching the netizens who are qualified visitors that convert their visits into engagements, and a focused understanding on these types should be captured, more than just super-numbers brought in by Twitter and Facebook.

You have to follow the right people in Twitter and Facebook. Not only do we zero-in on these users, we also need to know what they are talking about so we can plan for the Twits and Status Updates you want them to receive, pointing them towards your site most of the time. If they find the posts and topics interesting, and see that you have more of what they need than anyone else - You are sure of an increase in the engagements more than you expected.

More so, you have to have a plan to exploit the leads Twitter and Facebook generates for you. The followers may have connections in their roster too, that may provide you better people to tap. Exploit on the numbers, creating a set that is most valuable for your website. Ensure that these group, creates a traffic that links your site to the same profiles that make a difference.

Linking up with Twitter and Facebook is a good start. And to move forward, identify the members that have the most essential contribution to your site in terms of quality traffic and actual engagements. Search the net on more precise links to enhance collaboration, touching base on where it matters most in terms of contact. All these are not easy, but I believe a social media plan with these insights, may prove a better outcome than just a link to these 2 popular social sites.

2012-06-28T05:01:00.000-07:00

It just came as a thought to me today, how much value do we get out of a website? Or how much impact does a website have on business?

First, we have to understand the preferences of the Visitors. In my readings, we always have a liking on quick loading of pages, appealing home pages, and a clear information on the company conveyed by the website. Somehow, experts say we only have 10 seconds to load up a page or else the visitor shall disengage. It's because the home page is the showcase, and the one that retains the most impression on a first time visit. With this as a fact, the home page should have a brief description of the company and the offerings, clear enough that the interests of the visitor is captured quickly.

It is good to understand and be conscious as well on the internet speeds available to the visitor. As technological capabilities improve, if it is capable of loading up graphics and better designs to entice an egagement, then this shall be a guide on how the website should be created. The features and the formats for the website can't be without a clear understanding of these factors.

Knowing the technical and preferences of the visitor leads us to a detailed design of the website that allows quick and easy transfer of information to the visitor. If we can express what we wish to say within their attention span, and easily imparting the messages and distinct elements into a well planned broadcast, then the engagement should be half way to completion.

Once engagement and interest has been established, Navigation is now essential. A good navigation plan is a further step towards the fulfillment of the visitor to be totally impressed. There is no point to an aesthetically and techincally awesome site when visitors can't get to the right pages that provide the best satisfaction. It is somehow a rule to put them within a few clicks of the information that matters to them.

The most important success factor, is how concise and effective the content and information is communicated. Here we make sure we established credibility. Ensure everytime a visit is made, that security and confidence is preserved and is at par with expectations. The more relevant it is to the visitor, the higher will the engagement be which leads to a good value for money experience.

In general, to provide best impact on your business, the website should be well planned. Focus on the visitor and what the expectation is. Develop the website always within the technical bounds of what is available to them. Make sure they get what they want and that you alone can provide it.

2012-06-16T02:46:00.000-07:00

I'm observing the people here in our community clubhouse, all with their tabs and laptaps; and I only can conclude that they are surfing the net as I do.

A couple by the corner near the main entrance chats and smiles peering into the tab on top of the table. It seems they're checking out a good site or perhaps is watching a good video. A lady at the table by my left side has an ear phone and is speaking by herself intensely looking at her laptap screen, with a facial expression that of someone engaged in a serious conversation. As I am writing now, they seem not to notice me.

I wonder whether the internet captures these realities in our lives as we share and communicate with other netizens. It is quite amazing that the emotions are expressed through the connection already available through this technology. It doesn't only allows us to be with people so far from us, but also connects us in the same space and time. Everything to be as it happens, when we like it.

A lad, maybe about 16 years old now, has just sat across the hall and plays a loud Gotye song. Sets a mini speaker and slightly moves his head to the beat and the refrain. Music has evolved to video and many kinds of format, creating for us numerous ways to enjoy.

The capability to connect transformed the way are entertained. It provided us a new way of living. The internet made us all converge in one place, creating an avenue of people, events, and shared creations. And just by looking at these people now, I know they are with me in this cyber world.

2012-06-06T05:48:00.000-07:00

I noticed last Sunday how much time my kids spend on the internet. To my surprise, I watched them wake up and turn to their laptaps until before noon. They eat their lunch then there they are again!

In the internet with all kinds of information, harmful and entertaining as they are, seems to catch my kids attention. I saw youtube videos being watched from pop music to crazy personal videos from some deranged person or otherwise worse kind! I asked my boy why he watches those videos and who introduce it for him to click on, and he said he just was attracted at the number of views done on it.

It made me think that popularity is not good always. And I know from his answer that he was merely trying to surf and was attracted to it, without any kind of discerning sign on the quality of the experience. It made me think further, how can I secure his internet experience or perhaps direct him at least on his searches?

So I best thought maybe I need to have some good idea on how they are doing in their internet experience. I am not into restrictive ways when it comes to educating my kids, so I am planning to do the following:

1) Ask them on his favorite sites and try to get his reasons in liking them. This maybe will provide me a glimpse of what is going on in his head.

2) Instruct them on how to discern good stuff and bad ones. In my case, if I get nervous on what I see and experience, then I know that is not for me. I believe these kids are not as different as we are, so I would have to instill this basic sign of when to avoid a site or not.

3) Never allow them to give any information of where they are, neither through the social sites or even on the phone. Best security will always be Anonymity.

And lastly to totally eradicate my fear that they get harm is 4) to make sure that they clearly know what is right and wrong in real life.

That no matter how anonymous you are or the netizen you are interacting with, the morality in cyberspace should be the same in real life. Do unto others what you want others to do unto you (of course without exposing yourself too much, than what they have revealed to you). Right? Fair is only fair when you are comfortable about it. :-)

2012-06-01T06:43:00.003-07:00

We usually see a 404 error message if we wrongly typed an address. I sometimes don't mind the error message and simply re-type the address of the site i wish to go.

These 404 message is not just an ordinary prompt when we couldn't find our destination. In fact, this 404 message error means that you located the server but the exact resource location is not available at the time of your visit. It shouldn't be confused with the server not found message, which is explicitly saying that the location or site is truly non-existent. This type means you couldn't connect to the server you requested.

The 404 not found message and the similar ones are actually recognisable standard response codes. The first digit the number 4 indicates a wrong address or a URL. The next digits number 0 and 4 indicates the specific error encountered. Various numeric codes are followed with readable language such as "not found" in this case. Several codes like 204 - No Content, 301 - Moved Permanently, 401 - Unauthorized and many other Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) response status codes, is part of a world wide web standard.

All these are parts of the world wide web protocol, that is being followed by users of HTTP/1.1. This platform allows building of independent systems separate from data being transferred. It is actually set up to manage objects, links, and sub-links to organise multiple systems in the world wide web. When your browser sends a request, the server response by any status it is design to do like display content or files and other resource available to the requesting browser.

So whenever you see some HTTP response code, it tells you a specific problem in the server, the browser, and the non-existence of the site you are looking for. It's not just someone's funny idea to confuse us further in our searches, but actually a good guide if we understand the coded messages.

2012-05-25T23:14:00.000-07:00

When the internet started to catch my interest, it has become part of my daily routine to surf and get hooked. Mostly my favorite sites are about news and business trends. To some extent, I adapted a routine visit of reuters, bloomberg, bworldonline, the site of the bank i worked for, mtv, youtube, and facebook (of course!).

I wonder how much time do I really spend in the internet? If i would estimate, I am in social networks by 20% of the time, 30% on news, and 50% on videos and other lifestyle sites. I am so attracted with video and animation on the different sites I visit, and it is a sure return if I experience updated ones. Spending time watching and browsing on these sites provides me good entertainment. I just wonder why I'm attracted to it.

I believe each one of us have their own peculiar interest in the internet. Personally, I think mine is news reading, emailing, know how my friends are doing, and my desire to search for information and knowledge. The videos show a clear audio visual experience, and is the easiest to appreciate. The news is simply a need that I must do to update me on current events. Communicating, on the other hand, is because it's inevitable. In totality, all of these are my online activities that form part of my life in the internet.

One factor that describes my desires for the things on the internet is rooted on our culture. The way we are educated and raised, the work we do, the family interests and the influence of our peers and friends; somehow add to the whole aspect of our Netizen character. This is well evidenced by how people in different countries, so diverse from each other, statistically leave different footprints on the net. In closing this post today, let me share this information I found on how we are part of this cyber-world:

2012-05-20T01:13:00.002-07:00

Have you ever came across the term "Snippet" before? It is by the dictionary defined as a small piece of something, and usually these are information or parts of literatary works or articles. And in the IT world, or in the Internet, these are small programming text or codes.

Snippet coding are re-usable codes and functions differently in a variety of programming platforms. Since it is re-usable, it may be present in different programming modules, and operates uniquely on each one. For example, are loops or replay instructions for countdown clocks on your programming. Imbedding videos and slide shows into your website, is another. These visual and non-visual operations are in the form of snippets that are in the code lines of your programs.

Snippets may be classified to be static, dynamic, and scriptable. As the word static implies, you can just do plain text display. For the dynamic ones, these are your time values or those that run clocks or dates that form part of another applications. And for the scriptables, these are the runnables where we also find some variations of shell commands.

How wonderful isn't it? So when you get across the term snippet - it may not only mean parts of literary works like poems and short stories, but are also a term used in the internet. Let's improve our knowledge of the internet, and explore the possibilities and the usefulness of this world in our daily lives.

2012-05-16T17:56:00.001-07:00

The green bar or the https:// line in the address bar of your browser tells us that a website is secure. What really does it mean to be secured online? The common notion is that a Secured Socket Layer (SSL) certificate is in place.

An SSL certificate encrypts data that tells your browser connection to the company's web server is private. It prevents any intentional tampering of transmitted data and digital forgery. It is like a seal that tells your visitor that his activities on your site are free of any leak of confidential information.

Usually, it is a value add for your visitors to be engaged on your site. It guarantees somehow that your site is sensitive to your visitor's privacy. It improves the integrity of transaction online from your site, and will be a good reason to experience some more return visits. In a way, this improves the overall reputation of your site and your company.

SSL doesn't only secure the visit, but also authenticates the stay. This means you are not only sure of your information is safe, but also you have the peace of mind that you are sending information to the right server and not a dubious one. Some websites somehow mirror identities of legitimate companies, and you would be fooled to believe that you are in the right site. Not to mention, phising activities that are very rampant in the internet. An SSL certificate ensures that your are on the right location and company.

So, the next time you shall transmit information such as personal details on a feedback form, or a site that ask for confidential information, or a purchase you wish to do; check that the address bar should be color green with a padlock icon before the https:// prefix.