Entries by Mridu Sinha

If you saw us in office, you would know that Ajay and I disagree more than agree. And it’s definitely something that we both enjoy doing – disagreeing with each other.

My first reaction to his previous blog email was that his title sounded too definitive. Are emails really all good? I immediately started writing some of the disadvantages of emails.

The topmost negative on my list was the fact that emails, many a times, can convey the wrong message. Sometimes it becomes difficult to assess the tone of the sender based on an email. A boss finding a subordinate being rude or a subordinate thinking that a boss is being curt – extremely common. And this holds true for both professional and personal emails.

I think with emails, and this is something Ajay missed out on, certain etiquettes have to be followed. This may not apply to the case of informal emails, but official emails must always follow a certain uniform style.

Having said all that, as I looked at my list of negatives, I realized most of what I was saying was just arguing for the sake of it. And really, apart from this one thing, emails do make things extremely easy. So then I agree with Ajay?

Well, as soon as I am done uploading this blog, I will send out a one-line email asking Ajay to read this space! A one-line email is bound to make him apprehensive, and then he would definitely agree with that negative I pointed out!

The things one has to do, just to prove a point! Happy emailing, people!

There were a very few interesting questions raised in a previous blog “The Difference Between Friends, Acquaintances and Strangers” and I would just like to put forth my opinions (because these might not really be answers) to those ponderings.  If I may say so, I do think my friend is a little paranoid about strangers but maybe that is because strangers are scarier offline than online. 

No, I don’t think we overlook anonymity online but I do think we have started to become comfortable with it, especially when it comes to Internet marketing.  For a minute, let us compare this online/offline situation to a telephone conversation.  I am guessing that when phones first came into the picture, many people were uncomfortable with a faceless voice floating to them from the other side of the line.  These days we take for granted the telephone and this headless voice.  Is that not similar to the Internet situation? Perhaps, the thing is that we are beginning to have faith in the medium more that the person who is on the other end of the line. 

But I do not think we need to look at it as, black or white, believe/disbelieve, friend/stranger.  To say all blogs are credible would be naïve because blogs by definition are opinions and not all content writers  tell the truth all the time.  And all of us know how opinions work.  So, I would say, more than a question of credibility, it is about the relationship you build with other bloggers on a blog over time. 

For the most part it might be easier to trust a person sitting opposite you than a faceless person online, but that doesn’t always have to be the case.  I do think that to an extent we have started to accept anonymity, if not trust it blindly.  We look at it as a part and parcel of the Internet.  And credibility is something that may or may not trail behind.

Recently there was a blog posted here questioning the place that grammar takes in a blog. Yes, I’ve been there too.  Reading through blogs that are structurally and grammatically totally off.  It is a rather frustrating experience and for the most part I do agree with our blog posting.  But then again, not entirely.  I think we need to look at the bigger picture to understand why this happens.

Yes, we content writers do take these things seriously because it is so natural for us. But perhaps the thing is that it is natural Only for people like us?  After all content creation is only part of the story. Let’s take a few steps back and look at how blogging started. Blogging by definition is for those who want to express an opinion without having to worry about ‘formal writing’.  I completely agree that blogs are a form of communication but the question we need to ask ourselves is: Is it also a form of communication for English speakers? 

The Internet, for a number of reasons, is laden in English.  This works perfectly for people like us, but there are plenty of others who do want to express an opinion or make a point but might not be comfortable with the English language and its rules as much. 

I guess it comes down to the fact that the Internet is an open board and the blogosphere is where all this open communication happens.  So as difficult as it might be to understand some of these writings and as absolutely frustrating it might be to see the English language murdered, we would just have to deal with it.  So I do disagree with the claim that this lack of structure and grammar usage is an offshoot of ignorance.  It is more like being unskilled in English.  It’s a rather common problem.

“When you are writing for a website, I’d suggest you keep your eyes open. But when you are writing for the screen, it’s advisable to close your eyes every now and then.”

That’s what was written on the first and only slide of Ajay’s PowerPoint Presentation. Yes, there was no room for PowerPoint because the session purely centered around interaction. He showed us a few clips from films he felt were well-written, and shared his own experiences while writing both fiction and documentaries. A few film clips his session with those words. And given that he has experience with writing for both the screens, none of us hesitated a moment before taking his word.

But that’s not even the best part of the three-hour session. That’s right. There was more – much to our surprise. We were in for a surprise when we were asked to actually write a 1-minute scene. And what a task that was. All our notions about being writers crumbled with that one activity.

At the outset, writing for films and writing for websites may seems polar opposites to many, but that’s not really the case. There are definitively many similarities. For instance, a screen writer’s work is developed and given final shape by creative technicians like cinematographers and editors. The same holds true for a content writer who is reliant on the technical expertise and creativity of a web designer and a web developer for the work to take a unique and attractive shape. So then what is the difference?

The opening lines of the presentation hold the answer to that question. The hardest part of the exercise is definitely to write and visualize the final output. A content writer for a website has to keep the final output in mind, but the detailing required when writing for the screen is incomparable.

The session was interesting, to say the least. And at the risk of being repetitive (because enough people have said this, in the office, and surely through blogs) – in addition to being a great learning, the sessions were also a great break from our routine rigmarole!

I was delighted the day I heard that we are getting a new coffee machine here.  I remember it had been suggested time and again because going downstairs to get a fresh cup of coffee or tea became quite a hassle.  Especially when you are busy trying to work out issues with other busy print design experts and content writers, taking that kind of break seems like such a waste of time.  The other option was to go and make a cup of tea or coffee yourself but that too is time consuming and really quite a hassle.

So yesterday when the coffee machine was installed in the pantry the buzz of excitement was totally understandable.  Being able to get hot, fresh cup of coffee is really quite a good piece of news. 

Now for the taste test. Hmm… I would say it is passable. Maybe it is the price we have to pay for any time coffee!  But anyway, at the end of the day, as long as I can have my cup of coffee steaming and sweet, when I want it, I am a happy girl!

Does online article marketing work? Does it create an appeal if you write hundreds and thousands of articles to magnetize relevant targeted traffic to your online business? Should you put in some time to write articles and publish them in online article directories and web site? The answer is Yes. The Internet has grown and become a great way for users and searchers to obtain required information. When someone needs an information, they make a search for it on search. The search results are different web sites that contain articles and other information on the subject they requested. As an Internet-based business or site you need these articles to attract people to your specific site to improve search engine marketing. Articles get good clients and relevant traffic to your site, and traffic results in sales.

Make sure your articles are well-written and expressed. Writing articles and then optimizing them for what you want to �sell� is another very important factor. Your writings and your words must catch the attention of a visitor at the very first glance. Unless readers are convinced and trust that they can count on your site, it is not going to work. Articles need to be very precise and educational to make sure that they results in never ending repeated clients and customers.

Article writing is an imperative part of any search engine marketing. It is a way for the webmaster to convey information and convince users about their company. To keep your clients coming back over and over again, it is important that you write well researched informative articles.

SEO is all about making a web site popular in search engines and help you convert the visitor of your web site to a prospect and inturn convert the prospect to a customer. Search engine marketing tips are a great source to help you in getting high ranks in search engine results. In this highly competitive arena, what takes you to victory is the seo strategy that you implement for your web site to sell your products.

Listed below are some of the search engine marketing tips that can certainly to gain you more business:

1. Decide your target audience--You don�t want to be fixed in a situation where you do not even know whom you want to sell your product to.

2. Learn all that needs to be known for the search engine marketing of your site--Surely you will not want to implement any policy or strategy that you in the first place do not understand properly.

3. Pay per click advertisement is a great source to make your site reach out to the maximum number of online visitors.

4. Content management is another search engine marketing tip that can boost your business prospects immensely.

5. You must realize that there are many things that can be done for optimizing your site for search engine marketing. However it is vital for you to find out the best method for optimizing your site.

6. Online visitors always look for instant gratification. You have to make sure that you have a great website with incredible design and content that is very easily accessible to visitors.

7. What you need for promoting your site on the web is a vigorous search engine marketing strategy. The professionals are qualified and trained to do whatever is required for making your site popular in the web.

Here at red:rain solutions, we provide professional and dedicated resources for all your SEO needs.

Web Designing and Search Engine Optimization goes on a parallel basis. Most of the time web designers and web promoters have certain conflicts, like non usages of frames etc. A web promoter and a web designer must work together in order to bring good business on a web site and get high ranks on search engines. The controversy arises when a website designer completes his work, and then a search engine optimizer reviews and ask for major changes. To avoid clashes, the web designer can design their work with a focus on few SEO tips:

1. First and foremost is the structure of a website. A website must not be build in frames and even if it is mandatory to use frames or i-frames, then it must not be used on links and text part of the pages.
2. Images used should be less in numbers giving more space for text and they should be small in sizes. Bigger images should be sliced in small ones.
3. While using the images, don't forget to put their height and width in the code.
4. Do not use too much plug-ins because all users may not be having this installed on their machines.
5. Try to implement the design in stylesheets if feasible, and try to use as less tables as possible.
6. Do not put complete page in one table rather put header in a different table, body in another table and footer on another one. This helps in faster download of pages.

Focusing on the above points a website designing company can end up in designing a search engine friendly website.