There really is no doubting the impact of Information Technology on our lives. And a significant example of this is the application of ecommerce in business. Conducting business transactions has been changed to a great extent. Just what are ecommerce or e-commerce solutions? Ecommerce or e-commerce is the purchasing or selling of goods or services as well as the transfer of funds in any way by means of electronic communications in inter-company and intra-company business dealings. Moreover, ecommerce solution is also a key to conduct business by means of technology through the internet. There are actually four types of ecommerce existing today and these are the following: business to consumer ecommerce, business to business ecommerce, consumer to business ecommerce and the consumer to consumer ecommerce.

The business to consumer ecommerce involves businesses selling products and services to various individual customers. This kind of ecommerce is also known as online trading and auctions. On the other hand, the business to business ecommerce involves the transactions commencing between companies in which they sell to other businesses. This type of ecommerce also includes a transfer of well thought-out messages with other business partners over private networks or internet in order to create and transform business processes. Moreover, the business to business ecommerce is deemed toward the improvement as well as the simplification of the various business processes inside a company. This type of ecommerce is also geared toward the maximization of the efficiency when it comes to the many transactions that a company engages into. Likewise, the business to business ecommerce is designed to achieve a quicker and flawless transaction that is controlled. Aside from that, business to business ecommerce is also effective in maintaining limited inventory as well as efficient enough to perform product refill and many more.

The consumer to business ecommerce is actually considered an unusual internet trend. Examples for this type of ecommerce are those individuals who for example are looking for hotels but have limited budget. What they do is that they place an ad on the internet saying that they are looking for a hotel at a rate that are just within their budget and then they also place their contact numbers or email addresses if ever some hotels are interested. This example simply shows the marvelous capability of the internet to bring people together and create a cyber market wherein various people can transact their business.

On the other hand, the consumer to consumer ecommerce is considered to be the internet’s equivalent of an advertising market. This is where individual web users are allowed to put their ad for other consumers to react to. The advantage of this type of ecommerce is that people are able to save on advertising and then their ads are much faster and are easily reached by an unlimited number of customers like themselves.

About the Author
For comments and suggestions about the article kindly visit www.webplacements.com

Jinky C. Mesias is a lover of simple things and of nature. She spends most of her time reading and writing poetry.

“Have a Coke and a Smile”

Did reading that make you feel warm and fuzzy?

Did you imagine yourself as one of those happy people
in a Coca Cola ad sharing a cool, refreshing Coke and
some laughs with friends?

If so, then you’ve just made the Coca Cola people a few more dollars. Not directly, but indirectly – through
branding.

Branding is image building. You can brand a person (yourself), product (soda), or service (dentist). Many
large companies use image branding to keep their
name in front of consumers and to create a positive image.
They hope that when you’re ready to buy their product,
you’ll think of them first.

Branding can be very powerful. Just look at this example:

“Ask for . . . the little purple pill.”

Now I’m not going to mention the drug company that
sells the “little purple pill” but if you’ve seen their commercials, you know how attractive they make these
pills seem.

In fact, they’ve done such a good job of branding this drug that people are going into their doctor’s office asking for
it – whether they need it or not!

Most small entrepreneurs need to “direct market” their products, meaning they must use their small advertising budgets to “sell directly” to the consumer. They don’t do image branding because it’s seen as a luxury they can’t afford. But is it?

Have you ever thought of combining a little image branding along with your direct sales approach?

Let’s say you’ve written some great direct marketing sales copy for your “brand X” widget and people are buying it. Then your competitor comes out with the exact same widget but sells it as “Fancy Brand X”.

Fancy Brand X also uses great copy to make sales, but in addition, it’s being touted as “the brand you can trust.”

After a while, Fancy Brand X begins to sell more and more until they are number one in your category. While your
plain jane brand X widget barely gets noticed. What’s the difference?

Fancy Brand X had an image created for it that was promoted along with every sale. What is the public going to remember? Your no-name brand X or “the brand you can trust.”

Creating an image for your product or service and combining it with a powerful direct sales message, may just be a wise investment after all.

About the Author
Donna Monday
Copyright 2005
Find it Quick in a Click
www.1MinuteSolutions.com

The Google Sandbox is a term applied to the phenomenon experienced by many new websites that delays the sites inclusion within the main Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS) of Google. Often new websites can find themselves confined to the ‘Sandbox’ for 6-9 months, during which time traffic to the site is severely compromised. The Google Sandbox is therefore usually seen as a frustrating inevitability by webmasters and one for which there is no quick easy solution.

My recent observations however have led me to believe that the time your website spends in the Google Sandbox should be seen as a golden opportunity rather than a frustrating inevitability.

Into the Sandbox

Many webmasters respond to their websites confinement to the Sandbox by spending endless hours forever checking the listings in Googles results pages for any sign of their website. Not only is this a waste of precious time but also serves only to increase the frustration caused by the Sandbox. Other webmasters more sensibly focus their time and effort improving the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) of their website in order to improve its rankings within other search engines such as MSN, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves and others. Although these may not be as widely used as the Google search engine, they don’t have the same aging delay of the Sandbox that Google does. Therefore, achieving good listings in these search engines early in a websites life can at least generate some traffic and hopefully some sales whilst confined to the Sandbox.

Earlier this year the Tsunami disaster in Asia forced me to change the name of my web development business from Tsunami-Site-Design to Pixelwave Design. I had to register a new domain name, build a new website and start from scratch with my web promotion. The new site was an ideal candidate for confinement to the Google Sandbox, and sure enough after an initial day or two of good rankings the new site couldn’t be found in a Google search for any of my keywords. A search for the business name did bring the new site up in first place though so I was safe in the knowledge that my site was contained within the Google database but the lack of inclusion for my keywords suggested that my site had been confined to the Sandbox. The inclusion of my own personal site within the Google Sandbox gave me a great opportunity to monitor and track its progress.

The first thing I noticed was the high frequency with which a Googlebot spidered the pages of my site. The Googlebots were visiting a few times everyday and visiting all the pages of the site. It struck me that if Google had gone to the trouble of writing and implementing the ‘Sandbox’ filter as part of their algorithm and regularly spidering the sites within the Sandbox then the Sandbox wasn’t simply an area into which new sites get put in order to delay their inclusion in the SERPS. Instead it can be considered as a probationary period for new websites during which Google pays close attention to the sites development.

This means that as far as Google is concerned, your websites time in the Sandbox may well be one of the most important times in its development. Rather than seeing this time as a frustrating inevitability you should see it as an opportunity to really show Google how your website can shine. The Google Sandbox should be a time to make the most of all the attention your site is getting from Google and show the search engine what it wants to see.

The Steps to Success

Now that we have decided that Google is actually paying your site a good deal of attention whilst it is in the Sandbox it is time to see how we can make the most of this Golden Opportunity.

The first thing to do is plan ahead and get your site into the Sandbox as soon as possible, so attracting this attention from Google. Don’t wait until your website is built in all its glory before registering a domain name and uploading your site. Instead make sure the first thing you do is register your domain name, set up a hosting account and go live with one or two pages explaining what your site is about and what can be expected from it as it develops.

Next get the Googlebot to visit these embryonic pages so that Google is aware of the new site as soon as possible. There is no need to submit your site manually or repeatedly to search engines, a couple of inbound links (IBL’s) from other sites that are regularly spidered will be sufficient to get the Googlebot calling. Once the robots have paid an initial visit they will return.

You may be lucky and find that your site gets straight into the main SERPS, but if it is a new domain name and new site then it is likely that before long you will find your new creation in the Sandbox where it will receive a great deal of attention from the Googlebot. Now is the time to be proactive with your website development, don’t sit back patiently waiting to be released from the Sandbox, instead make the most of your time in there and show Google the potential of your website.

Content is King

The first thing you need to do is continue the development of your website. Regularly add new pages packed full of relevant content to your site. As far as search engines are concerned, ‘content is king’. Search Engines exist to provide their users with links to content relevant to their search criteria, therefore they are always on the lookout for websites that contain plenty of good quality, regularly updated relevant content. Of course, good quality, relevant content will also be beneficial to your websites human visitors, which at the end of the day is your number one priority. Add plenty of new, relevant content of interest to real visitors and the Googlebot will thank you for it.

There are numerous ways to generate inbound links and I have covered these in previous articles. However, things rarely stand still for long in the world of Search Engine Optimisation and latest research seems to suggest that simply getting huge amounts of IBL’s whilst in the Sandbox may no longer be sufficient. It now seems that the rate of accumulation of IBL’s may be important. Google is now thought to pay attention to the rate of accumulation of IBL’s and expects to see them develop in what it considers a natural, organic manner. This means that suddenly gaining a huge number of inbound links may be frowned upon by Google. Instead your linking strategy should be a sustained effort aimed at gaining new IBL’s from relevant websites over a long period of time.

Summary

Although the Google Sandbox is still a frustrating inevitability and there is no quick fix way to limit the amount of time a website spends confined to it, patiently sitting by waiting for this confinement to end is a waste of what could be a golden opportunity. Google pays a lot of attention to sites in the Sandbox making confinement to the Sandbox an ideal time to really let your website shine. During this time give Google what it wants to see; regularly updated relevant content, lots of new pages and a sustained increase in the number of inbound links. Not only could this improve your sites ranking within the SERPS once its confinement to the Sandbox is over, but it will pay dividends for your site in general by providing its visitors with the information they require.

About the Author
Alan Cole runs Pixelwave a small web design and search engine optimisation business offering professional web services with friendly, jargon-free advice. www.pixelwave.co.uk