By Robert Lockard
Imagine trying to beat Microsoft at its own game. Microsoft, the giant of software and Web browsers, seemed all but unstoppable in its dominance of the Internet with its Internet Explorer browser five years ago. However, a small browser, which was originally called Phoenix, debuted on November 9, 2004 and started giving Explorer a run for its money.
We now know this Web browser as Firefox. And it recently turned five years old. Happy birthday, Firefox!
I read about Firefox’s anniversary in the Webware article, “After 5 years, Firefox faces new challenges.” I talked a little about Firefox in my Submit Solution blog entry, “Google Chrome is the best Web browser.” I mentioned that it’s my favorite browser, even if it’s not exactly as fast as Chrome.
Many factors led up to the swift success of the Firefox browser. Microsoft got a little lazy on creating new features for Explorer. Plus, viruses were specifically designed to target Explorer, giving Internet users a strong incentive to try something new. Right on cue, Firefox arrived with its innovative tabbed interface, customizability and popup ad blocker. It was an instant hit, receiving 10 million downloads in the first month alone.
Firefox 2.0 was an even bigger success, gaining support from Web designers who started to comply with the new browser’s design standards. Google also lent a hand by embedding its search engine into the Firefox browser and giving Firefox a portion of the advertising revenue it received from searches through Firefox.
Google has now entered the fray with its own browser, Chrome. Who knows if it will be able to enjoy the same success as Firefox, but it’s a healthy thing to have competition, as Microsoft has certainly learned by now. Firefox is still going strong, though. It estimated about 160 million people downloaded the Firefox 3.0 version and more than 300 million have downloaded its current 3.5 version so far. For a five-year-old, Firefox is looking exceptionally strong.
Keep coming back to the Submit Solution Web Design Blog for great discussions on topics like this.
This is a complete version of the eHarbor Blog post: “Happy birthday, Firefox.” The photo of the Firefox birthday cake is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of Christopher Blizzard.
By the way, try saying the title of this blog entry three times fast. I’m no good at quickly repeating f sounds.
By Britnee Nguyen
In speaking with a photojournalist from a newspaper the other day, she was telling me how a company had called the newspaper trying to sell them on the idea of using utah SEO/utah PPC to improve their traffic to their stories. I was surprised at first since I’ve never thought those services could benefit a newspaper. Actually, some say pay-per-click has been the reason of newspapers downfall since more choose to advertise that way instead of through the traditional newspaper ad route.
The thing with SEO and keyword internet marketing is that it does take some time to build up. So if newspapers are trying to use SEO to build up traffic to timely or breaking news, it will be too late and useless before they see the results. People will have picked up the timely story beforehand somewhere else.
With utah PPC on the other hand, I can see how that would benefit newspapers. If there is a breaking story that they want to be the ones where readers go to find more information on-line, then PPC would definitely work. Basically, the way it would work is if this kind of scenario happened: Someone twitters breaking news utah adwords management that there is a shooting downtown and that they are there at the scene. A viewer sees it and texts about it to their friend who lives near the shooting area. Since not many details are given, the friend who receives the text is most likely to immediately jump on-line to search for more details.
By this time, newspapers would have caught this story too. They write up a quick article and constantly update it. In addition, they bid on a utah pay-per-click ad that will pop up on search engines for whoever searches: “shooting in ‘city’ or ‘state’”. And then whoever searches for that term (such as the friend who received the text) will find the newspaper article pop up very first on the list, and will most likely click on it.
This is just an example of one scenario. From what I’ve found, it looks like several newspaper organizations such as Cox Newspapers Inc., The Chicago Tribune, and New York Daily News have used pay-per-click advertising in the past to generate more revenue and traffic. If more newspapers got into PPC then they would have more chances of viewers going to their site for more information instead of other websites.
So instead of newspapers competing with PPC, they should actually take advantage of it and use it for their own benefit. Traffic and revenue are things newspapers desperately need right now, and PPC can help them achieve these things.
For more information on utah PPC services, visit Submit Solution who are experts in the field of PPC and keyword internet marketing.
Flickr Photo Credit: antonkawaski
By Britnee Nguyen
When a person thinks about pay-per-click advertising, the first thoughts might be that it is used to drive traffic to a website. The ad has no charge until someone click on the ad, and then you’re charged per person who clicks on it, hence “pay-per-click”. Another way pay-per-click advertising can be advantageous is during a PR crisis.
We are so interconnected with the internet that someone who posts something on-line in the U.S., can be easily viewed from someone in any other country with internet access. Since so many are using the internet, many opinions and news items are floating around on-line. Sometimes breaking news is reported by a first-hand witness who tweeted it on Twitter.
This is great that the flow of communication is intertwined and available. This opens the amount of knowledge one can obtain learning from others all around the world. However, if you’re a company who has opposers posting negative blogs and discussing opinions about your company, their voices might overcome yours. You may never get the right news out, because the average Joe is beating you to it, and reporting it in their viewpoints.
How can you make sure your company’s statement during a PR crisis effectively gets out into the public? How can you make sure your website or sheet doesn’t get passed over to another person who is not affiliated with your company? There’s no clear-cut solution, but one strategy that might help is using pay-per-click advertising.
If your company is in a crisis mode and is trying to get the correct information out, pay-per-per-click advertising is highly effective for several reasons. First, it gets your site in the top three listed when someone searches on Google or other search engines. People are always searching online for updated news. This way, people are more likely to click on your site that is related to what they’re searching for.
An example of this is found here. When swine flu was a hot item, the government and a health website were found at the top of the list when “swine flu” was searched. This was through paid-per-click advertising and helped guide people to the right sources instead of wrong information elsewhere.
A crisis is always difficult to handle, but with the right tools and preparation there’s no need to worry. Consider pay-per-click advertising to reach a large audience base to get your website with vital information at the top of the search engine list.
