What the Right Social Media Etiquette is

There's no stopping the phenomenal growth of social media right now. With active users on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ numbering in hundreds of millions, social media today has really become a force to reckon with. Marketers have really stood to gain from the popularity of social networking websites, which are bringing more leads for them. Companies that are active on Twitter are able to generate twice the amount of leads per month compared to those who are not. Facebook is providing B2B and B2C companies with new customers and one-third said that the world's leading social network was critical to their business.

Social media marketing allows businesses to reach out to their prospective customers. A social network may facilitate business interactions but this is not its primary function. Businesses need to realize that a social networking site is primarily created in order to allow its members to form communities and build new relationships. Even though a company is keen on achieving its objectives, it still needs to take to social media like a normal user.

SynapseIndia will now talk of the dos and don'ts pertaining to social media marketing that will help businesses in acquitting themselves in the right manner on the prominent community websites of today:

Dos

# Posting updates on a regular basis is a must for every organization. Out of sight is out of mind. Therefore, do not disappear for too long or your followers may forget you completely.

# Today's content, especially that featuring on social media, is no longer limited to written data. When you can grab user attention through pictures, videos and links, make sure that you do not lose out on this opportunity.

# Be extrovert in reaching out to people. A friend will have their own list of friends that one can try to interact with.

# Be prompt in responding to the comments and queries of your clients who must feel that you are concerned about them.

# Make your social media content searchable if you wish that it be optimized.

# Choose an ideal representative for your social media campaign who knows their employers in and out. Such a candidate shall succeed in successfully underlining the ideals and objectives of their organization. Our SynapseIndia Facebook representative has been assigned with a similar role.

# Your presence on social media shall have a purpose. In the absence of achievable goals, you will be no different from an average user. If a strategy is not working, look for an alternative.

Don'ts
# Your eagerness to talk highly of your products and services is justified but don't overdo it.

# Your perspective on an issue may not be shared by all and sundry. Every one has their own opinion that needs to be respected.

# Have the forbearance to respond to every kind of comments. Do not delete or ignore anything.

# There is no harm in disagreeing with someone. However, refrain from being impolite and your conduct will be appreciated by others who take notice of it.

Today, if an organization wishes to pursue its online objectives earnestly, it must have knowledge of social media etiquette.

PHP Usage Scaling Dizzying Heights

PHP has been consistently growing in popularity ever since it was first introduced in the mid 90s. A new report from Netcraft reveals that as of January 2013, as many as 244 million websites had been built through the use of PHP. This really is a staggering figure on considering that the Internet today consists of 630 million websites and nearly 40% of them owe their existence to PHP. It is not without any reason that PHP is preferred by so many web developers. SynapseIndia reviews this popularity as unprecedented. The following points will help readers understand why PHP development has become all the rage:

• First and foremost, PHP is open source, which means that the programming language can be used free of cost.
• All the leading content management systems of today like Drupal, Joomla and WordPress are based on PHP. CMS too is growing in popularity with most website owners preferring to update their content on their own. Consequently, PHP will continue to serve as the most dominant web development tool of all.
• Web developers know that they will be in the majority if they master PHP. Little wonder then that the number of PHP developers is on the rise.
• Prominent e-commerce engines like Magento, Zencart and osCommerce use PHP.
• Netcraft has discovered that Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, Magento, Zencart and osCommerce that all run on PHP have thus far been used in 32 million websites.
• The use of PHP is prominent amongst websites pertaining to industries like Business, Adult, Shopping, Technology, Entertainment, News, Social, Education, Games etc.
• The leading hosting providers that make use of PHP include Softlayer, GoDaddy, Hetzner, Rackspace, OVH, 1and1, HosGator, BlueHost, PEER 1 Hosting and Liquid Web.
• Facebook, one of the most popular social networking websites of our time, is completely based on PHP.   

PHP's Growth Thus Far

The first version of PHP i.e. PHP 1 came out in 1995. It allowed developers to create guestbooks and form-based applications. PHP 2 was released two years later and it had built-in support for other features. By the time a year passed by, 1% of the websites on the Internet had started running on this programming language. It was the third version that was pretty similar to the latest release that is currently in use nowadays. PHP 3 was released in the year 1998 and as its language was different from that of its predecessors, it attracted a lot of developers.

The year 2000 saw the arrival of PHP 4, which had a lot more to offer in terms of functionality. For instance, PHP 4 supported more number of web servers. Netcraft discovered that by September 2001, 1.8 million sites across the Internet were running on PHP. The most recent version of PHP i.e. PHP 5 came out in 2004 and remains the most major release till date.

PHP web development today has really become a force to reckon with and it is becoming stronger by the day.    

SynapseIndia @ Crunchbase

Facts and Figures Highlighting Significance of SEO

Of the different online activities, there is one that is prompting many an orgnization to seek professional assistance. Its significance is such that a lot of companies do not hesitate in shelling out a few extra bucks as they try to realize their online goals. The name of this all-important activity is search engine optimization and the facts and figures (compiled by SynapseIndia) concerning it are mentioned below:

• Blogging is an ideal way of pursuing search engine optimization.
• Last year, businesses spent 24% of their marketing budget on online marketing and 70% of this amount was spent on SEO and social media.
• SEO, blogging and social media are all inbound channels that cost less than outbound channels.
• B2B companies generate the maximum number of leads through search engine optimization. 59% B2B marketers say that SEO plays the most vital role in allowing them to achieve their lead generation goals. Little wonder then that 98% B2B marketers are planning to maintain or increase their search engine budget next year.
• Search engine optimization is also known to play the most influential role in B2C lead generation. 49% B2C marketers say that SEO, followed by social media and pay per click, has the maximum impact on their lead generation goals.

• In matters pertaining to search engine optimization, it is advisable to seek the help of experts. 21% marketers working with agencies were content with the results that they had achieved. Meanwhile, just 11% marketers said that they achieved their desired results by performing SEO-related activities in-house.
• Search engine optimization is in vogue and those who have mastered it are very much in demand these days. Search engine-related job postings have increased considerably and so have people who have mentioned 'SEO' in their LinkedIn profile. Still, search engine employes are not paid handsomely by their employers.
• New York and San Francisco boast of the maximum number of SEO-related job openings. Boston comes fifth, Austin is ranked eleven and Minneapolis stands twelfth.
• Search engine optimization is generally carried out with the aim to increase online traffic.
• B2B companies that implemented SEO programs last year increased their website traffic by 25% whereas those that weren't honest with their efforts saw the overall visits decline by 15%.
• The SEO industry is booming. The term currently appears in 863 million websites. Each month the acronym is used 9.1 million times in online searches. More than 60,000 account holders on Twitter mention it in their respective profiles. The term has also appeared in the title of 13 million blog posts thus far. Amazon.com has 2,700 books on this topic.
• PPC appears more frequently than SEO in the tweets that we see on Twitter every month (282,000 compared to 248,000) even though search-engine related searches and blog posts are more common than anything else.
• Search engine optimization is known to bring quality leads in, ones whose close rate is at par with that of direct traffic and greater than those of referrals, social media, paid search and outbound leads.                                                                                                                                 

If you have a liking for facts and figures, read SynapseIndia reviews dealing with similar topics. Some of these are mentioned below:
Tracking Pinterest Journey Through Facts and Figures
Blogging – A Key Constituent of Online Marketing