By placing advertisements as hyperlinks within the text of web pages, in-text advertising campaigns can improve the chances of getting more ad clicks and leads. It is one of the most effective forms of pay per click advertising that enables companies to target specific keywords while taking into account the context of the website.

Why is in-text advertising more effective than others forms of contextual advertising?

In most advertising schemes, the ads are displayed in a separate section on the web page, which means that users are less likely to read the ads and click on them. On the other hand, in-text advertising places ads within the text of the article itself, so the readers are bound to come across these ads and click on them if they wish to explore the hyperlinked keyword.

There is a growing trend of linking keywords in an article to other pages for further elaboration. In addition to websites such as Wikipedia that interlink articles on various subjects, many news websites have also started linking important keywords in their articles to relevant news stories. So, readers who are accustomed to in-text linking can be expected to click on your ads.

Why do many websites avoid in-text advertising, despite its effectiveness?

A lot of companies choose not to use it because some forms of it such as bubble pop-ups ruin the user experience and can be quite distracting. When implementing in-text advertisements, the established convention one needs to follow is to double underline the ads so that readers can immediately recognize them as ads. This way people who don’t want to click on ads can simply ignore them.

However, many websites try to trick their users into thinking that the links lead to informational pages by not underlining the hyperlinked keywords. Such practices have diminished the credibility of in-text ads. Try not to use in-text ads in an informational article as your readers would expect links on that page to lead to other informational articles. But you can help your readers find an offer or deal with in-text advertising if you are writing an article about a common product or service.

All sorts of companies, ranging from NGOs to software houses, are now blogging to share their latest news, stories, opinions and developments. Blogs empower businesses to interact with their stakeholders and shape the brand image they want their customers to see. You can even gather feedback on your new products and respond to queries and concerns in the comments section. By regularly posting new stories about your company, you can win the loyalty of your clients, market your latest products and services effectively, and facilitate user-generated branding.

Benefits of Corporate Blogging:

Transparency: Blogging enables you to tell your customers about the culture and work environment of your company. A lot of businesses invite their employees to share their experiences and research through blogs stories. There are a number of companies where even the CEOs regularly contribute to the blog. This approach is ideal for building client loyalty and is an effective public relations tool.

Conflict resolution: Many companies often use blogs to share their opinions and to clarify their stance on issues that are controversial. Sometimes bloggers also write articles in response to posts by their competitors. You can even write personalized replies to comments and criticism by your customers.

Search engine marketing: Readers who are following your blog are automatically notified whenever you post a new story. In addition, blog posts that have been optimized for search engines direct additional traffic towards your website and improve its page rank. Be sure to link the keywords in your blog post to the important pages on your main website.

Blogs are connected: The blogging communities are connected and bloggers often interact with each other to share ideas and opinions. So, establishing a blog for your company provides you with an opportunity to expand your online network and reach journalists across the globe. You can even invite popular bloggers and journalists to contribute articles to your blog.

Salient Features of an Effective Blog:

• Make your blog titles as catchy as possible to instantly grab the interest of your readers.
• Write in a friendly and engaging way to connect with your readers at a personal level.
• Use images and videos to incorporate visual marketing in your posts.
• Optimize your blog posts by using keywords that are relevant to your business.
• Post a few blog stories every week but only when you have something new to share.

Internet marketing has become immensely popular among emerging and established businesses. Look for it on any search engine and you will come across thousands of online marketing companies, techniques and SEO gurus. With so many options available on the Internet, people often stumble into unethical practices that can harm their marketing campaign in the long run.

Here are some of the most common pitfalls and bad practices that should be avoided while pursuing the avenues of Internet marketing:

Spamming can ruin your brand image:

Many companies go for shortcuts such as forum, blog and email spam to get a quick traffic boost. However, these activities can tarnish the image of your brand. In addition, if your competitors and bloggers get a whiff of such unethical practices, they will pounce upon the opportunity to spread the word and damage your reputation. You should especially avoid spamming if you are running an e-commerce website as potential customers might come across your questionable tactics. Customers will only buy your products and services if they trust you.

Avoid black hat SEO techniques:

There are many SEO companies that use unethical, black hat techniques to increase the search engine ranking of websites. While this approach can certainly create an illusion of high visibility on the Internet, its benefits have a rather short life in most cases. Search engines penalize websites that indulge in black hat SEO techniques by reducing their page rank for a long time. Be sure to ask your SEO firm to provide you with details of all methods they will be using as a part of their SEO campaign. If you are finding it hard to figure out some of the techniques, then consult someone who understands how search engine optimization works, to be on the safe side.

Black hat SEO techniques include building link-farms and doorway pages, which contain little or no original content, and are only created to game search engines. Keyword stuffing – the excessive use of high volume keywords on a web page - was one of the first techniques used by SEO experts to gain page rank. However, almost all major search engines now quickly detect such pages and penalize them.

Exchanging links with partner websites is good for search engine optimization, but don’t fall for shady link-exchange programs that are solely created for SEO purposes. The same is true for websites that offer to make thousands of directory submissions for your website. Search engines often reduce the page rank of websites that participate in such programs. Only submit your pages to popular and relevant directories.

Search engine ranking is the position your website shows up in the search results against a particular keyword or phrase. The higher your search engine ranking, the more traffic and visibility you will receive on the Internet. However, thousands of websites compete for the top positions on search engines such as Google and Bing. While there is no easy and quick method to earn a high rank on search engines, you can gradually climb to the top results by following a few simple SEO guidelines.

• Pick the right keywords: You can tell the search engines what you specialize in by using keywords that are relevant to your business. There are many online tools such as Google AdWords that can help you find keywords that funnel a lot of traffic and face low competition. To optimize your page for all major search engines you have to use your important keywords strategically a certain number of times. Most SEO experts suggest a keyword density of 3%. If the keyword density is below this, then it might be hard for search engines to gauge what the focus of your website is. However, on the other hand, if you use the keywords too often, it might be considered as keyword stuffing, which is a form of web-spamming.
• Get the right link-backs: Every page on the internet is assigned a page rank by the search engines. This rank is determined through an algorithm that takes into account the number and quality of back-links you are receiving from other websites. Make sure you are targeting popular and authentic websites for your link-building campaign. Try not to link-out to too many external websites as it can reduce your page rank to some extent.
• Search engine friendly design & content: The content on your pages should be readable and easy to navigate. Search engines dig original content, especially pages that have the right keyword density. So, make sure that the content on your website is properly linked, optimized for your top keywords, and visible to both search engines and people. Too much code on web pages can also make it difficult for search engines to read content. Even though meta-keywords are now ignored by Google, other search engines such as Bing still use them to categorize pages. Search engine algorithms give a lot of consideration to title tags, so be sure to create a unique and catchy title that also includes your most important keyword.

Twitter is an ideal social media tool for companies that are looking to interact with their customers at a personal level. Not only does Twitter provide an efficient way to promote your products, services and special offers, but you can also use it to enhance your brand image.

In many ways Twitter is better mass communication channel than Facebook. It empowers companies to communicate with multiple users simultaneously and is fast becoming the new place to find the latest news and information. By inviting users to initiate personalized conversations on your Twitter channel, you can easily gather feedback and even provide customer service.

Here are a few simple tips that can breathe life into your Twitter account:

Keep it active: Don’t abandon your twitter account after building the initial framework. Many companies make the blunder of not paying much attention to their twitter profile after launching it. Your Twitter channel can only make an impact and grow if you actively engage your clients and Tweet regularly. Be friendly and conversational in all of your communication on Twitter.

Think before you write: Be sure to proof read your Twitter messages not only for typos and grammar, but also for any politically incorrect implications. A mistake you make on Twitter can spread like forest fire if people start retweeting your message. You won’t be able to delete that message once it catches momentum.

Customize your profile: Make your Twitter page aesthetically pleasing and make sure that it matches the theme of your website. The users who come across your Twitter profile should be able to recognize your brand immediately. In addition to customizing your bio, you can also upload a logo and set a background for your page.

Use short urls & user-name: As there are only a limited number of characters available for each tweet, a long URL can occupy most of the space in your tweet. However, a number of websites allow you to create short URLs for free. You can also save additional space by picking a short user-name.

Encourage Retweets: You can benefit from viral marketing on twitter if people start retweeting your messages. So, try to craft your tweets in such a way that they are both interesting and newsworthy. Retweets can do wonders for your brand-building campaign.