InfoStyle: Internet Concepts

The Internet has become the most important source of current information for users - the primary place they go for research, general information, hobbies, entertainment listings, travel, health and investments. E-mail is still the single most important reason people go online. E-mail is a tremendous convenience, and for most users, it is a free service with enormous benefits. E-mail opens opportunities to communicate more often and with a much broader circle of people than we ever reach by telephone or by mail.

Real-Time
Real-time represents the growing demand for immediacy in our interactions. Immediacy is compelling, engaging, highly addictive ... it's a sense of living in the now. Content time shift relates to getting content when you want it.

Cloud Computing
Cloud computing was very much a buzzword last year, but there's no doubt this transition will continue. The trend, in which data and applications cease to reside on our desktops and instead exist on servers elsewhere ("the cloud"), makes our data accessible from anywhere and enables collaboration with distributed teams. Continuing the trend cloud computing will shift even more data and applications from your desktops to anonymous servers elsewhere ("the cloud"), making data accessible from anywhere and enabling collaboration with distributed teams. Giants like Microsoft, Apple and Adobe are already moving in this direction.The cloud movement will see a major leap forward with the launch of online Office applications.

Contextualisation
Search results and content is being filtered, based on the context of the end user.  The context filter can be location, time, previous searches, behaviour, etc. This is a really important trend for online publishers to understand.

Social Media Marketing
Surveys show that 68% of small businesses plan to increase social media marketing. Social media will indeed continue to be a great way for marketers and brands to create conversations with customers. So, be sure to make 2010 your year to test content that attracts repeat and referral business. Customers are more likely to respond to social media marketing because they already know you and trust you based on feedback from other people or their prior purchases. The secret of social media marketing -The secret of social media marketing success is Listen,  Interact,  React to feedback, Sell (if appropriate). Then do it all again. So, be sure to make 2011 your year to test content that attracts repeat and referral business.

Online reputation
With more and more consumers making decisions based on what they find online, small business owners will have to pay greater attention to track the buzz around their brands. As consumers prove to be highly influenced by online reviews and comments, business owners that do not monitor their brand mentions may have a hard time to prevent negative word of mouth. It us very important that negative feedback be countered with appropriate repkies online.

Blogs and Articles
One of the main difficulties of the web is being able to really track a story as it develops and creating engaging formats for long-form articles. In 2010, news organizations and publishers will design stories that are more suited to the way readers consume online content. As a result, other formats that are either engaging and eye-catching will gain momentum in 2010, like the blogozine.  Converting prospects into customers depends on driving visitors to content that maximizes conversions, and that means your conversion rate is only as good as the content on your landing page. If that landing page is your blog and your blog changes frequently, your conversion rate is only as good as your latest blog post. Instead of blogging to convert your website visitors into customers in 2010, work hard to test and develop great landing page content. When you find something that works, don't change it.

Video
In 2011, online video will keep growing. Online video is interactive, memorable, widely accessible, cheap to create and highly shareable, that is why entrepreneurs and business owners are willing to invest even more on video. It is crucial though, that you do not overlook your text content for video. As powerful as video can be, it can be more cumbersome than text because you cannot scan a video as quickly as you can scan a page of headlines, links and text to quickly find the exact information you need.

Search Engine Optimization
Sites with relevant content and credible links will continue to rule the search rankings in the coming year.; As the volume of web content continues to grow, consumers will demand even more relevant and personalized search results. That means search engines will be looking for more relevant and personalized content from publishers and brands. In fact, the search engine algorithms are already beginning to pay more attention to date of publication, geo-location, mobile device browsers, past behavior and social media content. Make sure you allocate a portion of your budget to testing content, keywords and links that are targeted toward niche audiences. Consumers will still use search engines in 2011 as a primary means of finding products and services to fulfill their needs, and they will still be clicking on relevant ads. Search advertising prices will remain reasonable, and average returns will remain comparably high as larger companies with decreased search marketing budgets continue to allocate resources to lower-cost SEO tactics in hopes of attracting visitors at lower prices. 2011 has the potential for even more downward pressure on price-per-click if Bing can gain enough loyal searchers to attract business away from Google.

Mobile Marketing
The major change in the new media world over the next three years will be the shift from desktop computers to mobile devices. One speaker predicted by 2013 the smartphone will be the most common way for people to access the internet.Mobile marketing is all about marketing to people through their mobile phones and smart-phone devices. Demand is increasing dramatically for mobile applications and mobile web-browsing due to wider adoption of devices like the iPhone and Google Android phones. As more people adopt these phones and features in 2010, look for small-business marketing services to start providing lower-cost mobile marketing solutions like text messaging, mobile e-mail marketing, mobile websites, mobile application development and location-based marketing. Use tools like Google Analytics to see how many people are visiting your website on mobile web browsers. If you find interest in mobile interaction among your customers, begin testing simple mobile marketing campaigns such as sending a few mobile coupons via text or building a mobile micro-site for one of your products.

Internet Marketing
Internet marketing trends develop quickly, so expect many new and exciting trends to emerge in 2011. Don't be too quick to jump on new bandwagons because consumers move more slowly than marketers and technology. Stay focused on attracting repeat business, deepening your customer relationships and solving problems for people. Those are the trends that never fail small businesses. Make 2011 your year to test content that attracts repeat and referral business. Your current customers are more likely than total strangers to respond to offers posted on social networks because they already know you and trust you based on their prior purchases. Internet surfers have become discriminating on their expectations with the different websites. Thus, many websites strive to upgrade and change the way their sites reach out to its users. Measure, measure, measure - Another major theme is 'measurability', particularly with respect to online advertising. Many of the new services being showcased focus on improving return on investment. The recession has accelerated this trend and online publishers had better get used to it.