What’s the ‘Cloud’ & is it the Future of Digital Content Storage? Waseem Saddique Marketing Investigates

The ‘Cloud’ is arguably the hottest trending topic in marketing at present, but what’s all the fuss about? Waseem Saddique Marketing Services investigates the ‘buzz’ behind the ‘Cloud’.

Waseem Saddique comments: “In a recent statement issued by Gartner Inc. the company predicted that 2013 will see one-third of consumers’ digital-content stored in the ‘Cloud’ system. However, a number of consumers have been left baffled as to what the ‘Cloud’ system is.”

What is the ‘Cloud?’

In order to explain the concept of the ‘Cloud’ here’s a simple analogy.

Previous technologies such as floppy disks, CD’s and even USB drives provided you with a physical piece of hardware on which you could store those important files, music and photographs.

The ‘Cloud’ removes the ‘physical hardware’ aspect so photos featured on Facebook, or movies streamed via ‘Love Film’ for instance, are not stored on the hard drive of a computer it’s stored somewhere else, the ‘Cloud’.

The simplest explanation given is that the Cloud is simply a form of Internet storage. A number of technology specialists would argue that it is more complex than that and of course it is, but based on the assumption we’re not all technologically savvy, this explanation will suffice.

In technological terms, the Cloud, otherwise known as cloud computing, refers to data that is hosted on or operates via an Internet server. A number of major digital marketing service providers have such servers in place including: Yahoo, Google, Facebook and Apple.

‘Cloud’ Benefits   

Arguably the greatest benefit of using ‘Cloud’-based services or ‘Cloud’ computing is that your data is not stored on one device, it’s accessible across multiple devices. You can access e-mails and other applications from any computer. Furthermore, with cloud storage facilities such as Google Drive, SugarSync and Dropbox, you have the capacity to store those important files.

Another great perk of ‘Cloud’ storage is the back-up it offers. Even if your computer hard drive crashes, all is not lost because your files are stored across various services, which are immediately accessible from another computer.

Waseem Saddique states: “The ‘Cloud’ is extremely beneficial for businesses that have huge amounts of data to store and based on the evidence the future of digital content storage is firmly heading in this direction.”

‘Cloud’ Caution

What makes the ‘Cloud’ so unique is that data is stored on the Internet, the drawback to that is that an online connection is required in order to access data. This would not be a complication with a physical piece of hardware such as a ‘USB pen’.

Waseem Saddique concludes: “The ‘Cloud’ also raises the question of security, given that it is an internet-based service. Consumers are understandably protective of their online digital content and whilst great strides are made to preserve privacy and security, caution should be taken when using the ‘Cloud’. It’s recommended that users have strong passwords.” 

Impacted by Google Panda Changes? Waseem Saddique Marketing Offers Recovery Tips

Waseem Saddique asserts: “The adverse effect on SEO rankings for many companies following the Google Panda changes initially wreaked havoc when implemented back in 2011. Many companies have had to resort to SEO ‘Panda Recovery’ measures in order to re-assert a high search engine ranking status.”

Whilst this has proven to be a nuisance, many SEO experts agree that the algorithm changes have been positive for the Search Ranking industry, as the changes targeted ‘low-quality sites’ in order to decrease their ranking status and raise the search engine positioning, of what Google Panda  determined to be, ‘high quality sites’.

Google statistics reveal that Panda changes affected approximately 12% of SEO rankings when it was first implemented. The most recent Panda algorithm changes, believed to have taken place in January 2013, reveal that alterations affected just 1.2% of English queries.

Waseem Saddique Marketing offers some essential tips for SEO Panda Recovery:

1.       Reduce the amount of Low Quality content on your website – As part of the recovery process the number one goal should be to eliminate auto-generated content from your website. This can be achieved by preventing the indexing and crawling of all low quality content, which will restrict Google Panda from downgrading the SEO ranking of your entire site.
2.             Unique is key – Google Panda thrives on unique, high quality content and penalises websites that simply copy articles from other sources. To avoid being punished by the Panda algorithm focus your efforts on publishing fresh, unique and captivating content on your site.
3.        Keep Advertising to a Minimum – Google’s Panda algorithm is adverse to websites with high advertising content. Reducing advert numbers not only pacifies the Panda algorithm, but also improves the user experience. Statistics, released by Hub Pages, reveals that 67% of web users would leave a site if it was saturated with advertisements.
4.       Increase Your Knowledge of Panda and Track Updates - Sites affected by Panda will experience massive changes, especially to page viewing figures. When evaluating Google Analytics it’s likely that you’ll find a substantial decrease in page viewing numbers. This represents clear evidence that your site has undergone a Panda evaluation.
5.       Establish Integrity – The more exclusive, high quality SEO content that you publish, the more likely your website will be to capture the attention of Google ‘crawlers’. This attention expands across backlinks; enhancing your website as a respected resource for providing top quality material for your target audience. Google Panda prefers sites that attract high audience viewing figures for all the correct reasons. 

Waseem Saddique states: “Some things to consider when evaluating your website include:

·         Do I find the information on the site factual, informative and reliable?

·         Does my site portray an element of expertise on the topic covered, highlighting professionalism?

·         Is my site worthy of recommendation to others and would I point my connections in the direction of the site for information?”

Founded in 2007, Waseem Saddique Marketing Services has consistently provided small to medium enterprises as well as larger corporate firms with a range of digital marketing & online solutions.

Successfully Implement Your Business Marketing Strategy in 3 Steps

Waseem Saddique Marketing has learnt that a number of marketing strategies are failing as a result of poor planning. In a recent report issued by ‘Lionbridge’, 36% of business leaders admitted to adopting a ‘scatter-gun’ approach when it came to marketing strategy. This approach has seen an increase in the number of online marketing campaigns doomed to fail before they even begin.

In a bid to combat this trend, Waseem Saddique Marketing provides a few simple tips for implementing a successful marketing plan.

Waseem Saddique states: “The marketing plan is just as important as the marketing strategy itself. After all, the plan lays the foundation for an entire marketing campaign. If the foundation is not structured correctly, the strategy itself runs the risk of failing.”

Marketing commentators make the point that business leaders need to possess the ability to step back and evaluate the progress of a marketing campaign to ensure that the initial plan is being adhered to and that the company is heading in the right direction.

So what are the tactics for keeping your marketing strategy on track?

Step 1 – Evaluate and Monitor: Waseem Saddique comments: “This cannot be emphasised enough, the moment a business loses sight of the original marketing plan is the moment that strategies go astray.”

Keeping track of articles, social media, videos, blogs and adverts is a necessity and can be achieved through ‘Google Analytics’ and other such resources. Adopting this approach allows business leaders the freedom to evaluate which strategies are working and worth pursuing and which marketing tactics are worth eliminating.

Step 2 – Seek feedback: Request regular feedback and testimonials from clients as this will give your business a key insight into whether your marketing tactics are having the desired effect. Statistics from analytical tools only provide a partial assessment of the effectiveness of a marketing campaign. However, consumers will provide an honest evaluation of your campaign whether good or bad.

After all, it’s consumers that your business is reaching out to and they’re the people that truly determine whether your marketing approach is doing the job it’s supposed to be doing.

Step 3 - Always be planning: Planning doesn’t end at the beginning, marketing plans have to grow in order to incorporate new ideas and fresh tactics. Waseem Saddique states: “A marketing strategy is something more than a ‘once a year’ phase. Marketing campaigns will take different courses throughout the year, adapting for seasonal promotions and special offers etc…”

It’s important to plan constantly, but without navigating away from the roots of the initial marketing plan. A solid foundation allows business leaders to have a freedom and flexibility, which enables them to adjust a marketing strategy depending on trends.

The best marketing campaigns are ones that are executed on the foundation of a solid plan, ensuring greater longevity and overall success. Did you know? The CIM (Chartered Institute of Marketing) surveyed 40 businesses in 2012 as to whether their marketing plan had contributed to the overall success of an online marketing campaign. 79% of respondents implied that the plan was key to the campaign.   

Online Video Marketing a ‘Must-Have’ Marketing Strategy

Did you know? 85% of the UK’s internet users viewed online video content in March 2013 alone.

As one of the hottest trends to hit the internet in recent years, online video marketing is considered a ‘must-have’ tool in order to take your business to new heights. A recent ‘Infographic’ released by ‘Brainshark Incorporated’ quantifies, the relentless surge in popularity of online video marketing.

Waseem Saddique comments: “Online Video Marketing offers a unique edge to marketing a business. Many business owners say that an online marketing video allows them to ‘personify’ their business affectively humanising their company enabling them to reach potential consumers in a much more interactive and personal way.”

Online Video Marketing has not remained static, it’s not just a big hit now, it continues to thrive and grow to even higher heights. Towards the latter stages of 2012, ‘Social Media Examiner’ revealed that many marketers planned to increase their marketing efforts through the use of online video, setting aside investment funds to launch numerous online video campaigns during 2013.

According to a report released by the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), the result of increased investment into video marketing campaigns has led to a 12% increase in online video usage across B2B marketers at the start of 2013.

Waseem Saddique states: “If you’re business is considering using Online Video Marketing, the time for consideration is over, it’s time for action. Video marketing is trending phenomenally and shows no signs of slowing down.

Some key facts concerning Online Video Marketing:

#1 – 46% of UK consumers state that they would be more likely to source information about a product or service after viewing it on an online video.

#2 – Online Video Marketing is now recognised as the sixth most common content marketing strategy, with 70% of B2B and B2C marketers incorporating some form of video marketing into their overall marketing strategy.

3# - Online video database, YouTube, averages approximately 4 billion hits per day, with 61% of B2B and B2C marketers utilising YouTube to broaden the reach of their message and brand.

#4 - It’s estimated that mobile viewers will watch videos that are three times the length than those featured on PCs and laptops with predictions that the number of mobile viewers will reach 108 million by the end of 2013.

#5 – According to marketing experts, by 2014, online video could account for 50% of all internet traffic.

Waseem Saddique concludes: “Businesses should sit up and take notice of these statistics as online video will help them to reach a wider audience and increase marketing impact. Video offers longevity and holds the attention of consumers effectively.”

Founded in 2007, Waseem Saddique Marketing Services has consistently provided small to medium enterprises, as well as larger corporate firms, with a range of digital marketing & online solutions.