And the 'Most-Visited Website' Award Goes To...

A recent survey, conducted by the portal Compete.com, has revealed a list of the 'Top 50 Websites' on the basis of their unique visitor numbers. The top ten domain names in this list are:

1. Yahoo.com
2. Google.com
3. eBay.com
4. MSN.com
5. Live.com
6. MySpace.com
7. AOL.com
8. Wikipedia.org
9. Mapquest.com
10. Microsoft.com
    

The survey took into account the period between September 2006 to September 2007 to calculate the visitor count of these sites. YouTube and Flickr are amongst the topmost gainers, as per the survey.

It has also been observed that sites offering peer-to-peer data sharing are gaining prominence in the lives of web users, as evidenced by the rise of YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia, Digg, et al.

An increasing number of sites are raking in traffic in millions, and are constantly expanding their network by adding new features to existing domains, or creating new domains altogether.

Google Despises Paid Links

Webmasters paying money to garner links will now have a tough time in keeping their link building campaigns on the right track. Google, the biggest player in the search marketing industry, has announced latest webmaster guidelines that clearly state its disposition on this matter.

Google analyses both quality and quantity of links pointing to a site during the process of indexing. However, it'll now take a tougher stand on links that have been paid for. This is because an increasing number of webmasters are simply trying to consolidate their optimisation campaign by paying money to irrelevant web sources.

Buying or selling links for PageRank can have a negative impact on your site, resulting in a loss of rankings on the search engine's result listings. However, you can still buy links for advertising purposes.

Such links should be easily identifiable, and this can be done through some simple tactics like:

• Use the rel=“nofollow” attribute for the link's <> tag, so that the search engine crawler does not follow the link back to its source of origin.

• Use a robots.txt file to redirect such links to an intermediate page that has been already blocked by search engines.

If you are a webmaster, just be a little more careful when building links. Try something original and do not try to manipulate search engines – you cannot be successful at it all the time.

Moments that Changed the Web Forever - IV

I know I cannot continue with this topic forever... it might have gotten a tad bit boring. So, for the last post in this series, I shall talk about the four most impacting moments in the Internet's history.

Internet Browsers – October, 1969
Way back in the year 1969, the concept of Internet was being pondered upon by Professor Len Kleinrock. The idea took off when he tried to use a dedicated phone line to link a mainframe computer at UCLA to one at the Stanford Research Institute. He managed to transfer two alphabets before the system crashed. The second attempt, however, bore results, and the concept of Internet browsers came into being.

Google – September, 1998
This can be easily described as a historic 'invention' in the online world. Stanford University students Sergey Brin and Larry Page met in the year 1995, and within a year, started working on the concept of links influencing search engine rankings. In September 1998, they opened the first Google office in a garage, and changed the web forever. Google was the company that brought in the idea of profit sharing through search engines. Today, it is considered to be one of the most influential web entities in the world.

Netscape – August, 1995
Netscape was the pioneering effort in the field of Internet browsers. After going public with its shares in 1995, it actually went on to prove that the web is a great place for all kinds of marketing activities. The legacy has been carried forward by a number of web entities, many of which even went defunct in the process. But, Netscape continues to stand tall and make new strides in the online marketplace.

The World Wide Web – December, 1990
What can be bigger than the Web itself? The greatest moment in the history of the web is the moment of its creation. In the year 1990, the world got its Christmas present in the form of the world's first web server. The brains behind this operation were that of Tim Berners Lee and Robert Cailliau of the CERN research lab in Geneva. The first-ever content posted on the web was the CERN phone directory.

Today, the World Wide Web impacts almost every aspect of our lives, both personal and professional. And yes, this blog is very much a part of the same web!

Moments that Changed the Web Forever – III

This topic is getting even more interesting now. As the World Wide Web started to grow, it also became a platform for the coming together of entities bound by some common thread.

Social Networking – March, 2003
It all started with Friendster. And, as the name clearly indicates, it was a site meant for 'friends'; a source of networking on the Internet. By the month of July 2003, the site was being used by more than a million people, who liked 'staying in touch' through a common, feasible platform.

Today, Friendster, the pioneer, has lost into oblivion; sidelined by stronger competitors. MySpace, Facebook, Orkut and the likes were started on the same lines and continue to dominate web users' mindsets with increased doses of interactivity and that personalised touch.

Amazon – July, 1995
Termed as the 'world's largest book store', Amazon started operations in the mid of 1995, headquartered in a garage in Bellevue, Washington. Jeff Bezos, the founder of this all-inclusive online store, has actually revolutionised e-commerce big time. Today, Amazon sells anything and everything through its global network of affiliate programmes.

Domain Names – June, 1983
The domain naming system came into place in the year 1983, resulting from the combined efforts of Paul Mockapetris, Craig Partridge and the late Jon Postel. These guys did a world of good for web users by replacing numerical Internet addresses with real domain names.

Just imagine if we had to memorise all kinds of 12-digit numbers in order to open a website! It would have been so taxing. But thankfully, all we need to do is, type the domain name of the site, and the server itself will decode it into numbers and open the required Internet address.


Today, we can't actually think of the web without all these 'facilities'. More in the next blog...

Moments that Changed the Web Forever - II

Continuing with the interesting discussion on Moments that Changed the Web Forever, I would now like to talk about two of the other significant 'events' that changed the Online world over the years.

eBay – September, 1995
The concept of online shopping was initially quite far-fetched. But, in due course, every business – big and small – thought of cashing in on the frenzy to make millions through the web. eBay was the pioneer in this regard, as it fostered the creation of an online junkyard where you could dump and pick anything and everything.

As per reports, the first item auctioned on the site was a broken laser pointer that fetched $14.83. That was the September of 1995, and today, more than 12 years hence, eBay has carved a niche for itself, involving more than 60 million people in its functioning.

Wikipedia – January, 2001
Encyclopedia Britannica has been considered as the 'Bible' for knowledge seekers. With the introduction of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, everybody got a chance of showing off his/her 'expertise' in the subject of their choice.

This all-inclusive website allows you to add or edit entries on any topic. It does not matter if you are not well-versed with the same; all you need is factual accuracy and some grammatical and linguistic sense.

Created by American Internet entrepreneur Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia has an archive of more than seven million articles in more than ten different global languages. It will not be an understatement to say that it is considered as the 'online answer' to almost all our queries.

More in the next blog... Moments that Changed the Web Forever - III

Moments that Changed the Web Forever - I

The World Wide Web came online in the year 1990. Today, seventeen years hence, it is an indispensable part of our lives, at least in an urban scenario. Thousands of events have shaped the way this medium has been perceived by users. There have been quite a few 'Eureka!' moments that'll go down in the history of the web as moments that changed it forever, and probably, for the good.

I would like to take you back down memory lane, and chronicle ten of the most significant moments in web history, in ascending order of importance.
1) Yahoo
2) eBay
3) Wikipedia
4) Social Networking
5) Amazon
6) Domain Names
7) Internet Browsers
8) Google
9) Netscape
10) World Wide Web

Yahoo – February, 1994
'Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle', or Yahoo, was the brainchild of Stanford University students Jerry Yang and David Filo. It all started in the month of February 1994 when they posted a list of their favourite sites on the web. By April 1994, Yahoo came into existence, offering directory-style listings of important websites.

Eventually, it revamped itself time and again, developing into a web portal providing search, news, sports, entertainment, email, instant messaging, et al. Despite encountering stiff competition from numerous websites of the same era, Yahoo went on to expand its services and still continues to rule the online world.

The other important moments in this list will be talked about in consecutive blogs. Watch this space to know more about how the web became what it is today.

The Evolution of Online Marketing

The Internet was first introduced about 15 years ago. Back then, it was mainly used for email communication and data transfer, with most global entrepreneurs declaring it 'unfit' for marketing purposes.

The 'online marketplace' came into limelight, thanks to pioneering efforts from Netscape, one of the first Internet service providers in the world. The company presented remarkable strategies that could help foster web trade, raking in profits for buyers and sellers.

In the year 1995, Netscape floated its shares in the market, and this aroused public interest, with
advertisers making the most of this new advertising platform. In due course, the wide expanse, cost-effectiveness and easy accessibility of the Internet saw millions of businesses using this medium.

Today, more than half of the world's populace is hooked on to the web for information and entertainment related to an all-encompassing range of subjects. If you go by latest reports, Americans and Europeans surpass the others in terms of online purchases. This list will soon have new rank-holders, with the whole world preparing to join in the 'celebrations'.

One Big, Happy Internet Family

When we talk of the World Wide Web, the use of names like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft is inevitable. These three giant corporations are easily the most ubiquitous of the millions of entities entangled in this web. They are growing, and how! Whether it is a web portal, or software technologies, these companies have made acquisitions left, right and centre.

Shelving out billions every year, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have made sure that no other company manages to topple them from the top three positions they have held on to for ages now. Don't believe me? Check out this list of prominent acquisitions made by these three companies in the last decade.

Google
Founded by Stanford University students Larry Page and Sergey Brin in the year 1998.

• Picasa (2004)
• Stake in AOL (2005)
• YouTube (2006)
• Postini (2007)
• FeedBurner (2007)
  

Yahoo
Founded by Stanford University students Jerry Yang and David Filo in the year 1994.

• GeoCities (1999)
• Overture (2003)
• del.icio.us (2005)
• Flickr (2005)
• BuzzTracker (2007)
  

Microsoft
Founded by Harvard graduate Bill Gates in the year 1978.

• Vermeer Technologies (1996)
• Hotmail (1997)
• DesktopStandard Corporation (2006)
• Parlano (2007)
• Jellyfish.com (2007)
  

Apart from these acquisitions, these companies have, time and again, developed or founded their own web applications for users worldwide. It won't be an understatement to say that every second website or web programme available on the web is a part of this one big, happy Internet family!

The Web Begins Here...

The online marketing domain is my forte. I am Rupiz Media, a UK based service provider dealing with various facets of this ever-evolving work sphere. This blog is my means of communicating with all those entangled in the World Wide Web. I will share, discuss and propagate issues that impact the online marketplace, and consequently, my standing in the same.

Online marketing was considered implausible in the nascent stages of the Internet's advent. However, today, almost two decades hence, it generates billions and employs scores of professionals worldwide.

This blog will be my mouthpiece for all those who care to find out more about Search Engine Optimisation, Pay per Click Advertising, Email Marketing, Web Design and Development, Content Development, Software Development, et al.

Latest industry news and developments related will be all talked about in this blog as we set about demystifying the Web for you. Watch this space for more...