Search Engine Marketing

Jeez Colin, could you have picked a more boring topic to blog about?! (no offence meant ;) )

In Laymans terms, search engine marketing is the practise of making sure your particular website is near the top of list when someone searches through or for a particular brand you produce.

This form of marketing is mostly due to the large increase in websites over the years. Generally whatever youre looking/searching for.. whether it be a shopping website, a social network or general info.. the most popular websites for your needs will always appear near the top of the list.

This is generally down to you having the most optimised website or paying the right people the right amount!! To Quote Forrest.. "And that's all ive got to say about that".

P.D.E (public displays of emotion)

In general, im ok with them... Among family, among friends sure... But when people resort to splashing their private feelings all over a social network such as Facebook i just cant abide by it.

Have a big of dignity, show some self respect but NOOOOO.. tell the whole of Facebook youre devastated your boyfriend/girlfriend broke up with you... It's embarrassing to see someone piss and moan about something like that because in general you know it's just a cry for sympathy. Im sure there are people out their who might feel better venting their feelings in that manner but at the same time, that's what your close family and friends are for... Out of the 700 friends how many of those people would you truely call friends?! and yet you choose to tell them exactly how youre feeling?! The pits. I guess it's just the voyeuristic nature of society these days.. Everyone has to know exactly what's going on with everyone... excuse me for being old fashioned.

P.D.E (public displays of emotion)

Why advertise online?

In one word..... Exposure!!!!

Maximum Exposure actually. In the advent of the age of T'internet it makes total sense to advertise online. Everyone from 11 years olds to Multi-National conglomerates are now using the internet, hence if your business is being advertised properly, it's going to get noticed.

In the backdrop of this global recession, and harsh economic conditions, the cost of online advertising is also greatly reduced in comparison to traditional advertising due to its targeting nature of consumers.

Also with the internet now being as global as it is, it can reach a much greater and wider audience hence maximising its profits.

You can also reach an increased target audience advertising online due to the more specific nature of the information you provide to companies like Google's AdWords.

In a nutshell, in this day and age, the benefits of online advertising FAR outweigh the disavantages.

Bail Out Fiasco

What could be a more prudent and current topic of the day to write about than the absolute MESS of a country we've been left to inhabit. As 100, 000 protestors descend on the capital to vent their feelings of disgust and anger at the betrayal of the people charged with looking after our economy, i sit here in thought. For the first time in my life i actually feel true despair. Not the kind of despair one would feel getting the knock back off a girl you liked, or a huge pimple surfacing like a moon crater the night before your debs. No, real terrifying despair. Watching and listening carefully to Pat Kennys Frontline programme in the early hours of Tuesday morning a huge, foreboding cloud gathered in my mind as if it had scrambled my future in my mind. In reality, at the minute, i dont have a future.. Not in Ireland anyway. This bailout(LOAN) is going to be the heaviest of millstones around, not just my generation, but a number of generations necks for decades to come. At this point, im questioning what exactly IS the point of hanging around for much longer. The politicians of this country have destroyed our futures with near malevolent levels of incompetency over a 13 year period. A once golden period in our country followed by the blackest of blacks. A line in the film The Dark Knight has never seemed so appropriate. "You either die a hero, or love long enough to see yourself become the villain". Well this corrupt, incompetent Fianna Fail government has certainly lived up to the second half of that quote.

Social Networking/Social Media

The 21st century is a consistently changing and progressive world, and at the forefront of social behaviours within all age groups is the embracing of social networking. The use of the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Bebo and Myspace from people of all ages has been quite the phenomenon. It all began over 15 years ago in 1994 with the introduction of Theglobe.com and has since jettisoned into a worldwide takeover with Facebook leading from the front with over 500 million active users.

It's definitely one of the stranger phenomenons of our time. Personally I thoroughly enjoy the expierience of interacting with my friends over a site like Facebook as you can keep in contact people you wouldnt ordinarily see a lot of the time. There are drawbacks to it of course what with cyber bullying recently in the news. Also if you think back to between 10 and 15 years ago, kids of my age back then were out playing football on the streets, we were so active.. nowadays most young people are hooked up to the internet like its an IV drip. In saying that, that's the way things are these days. Everything is so internet driven, its nearly impossible to avoid it. In my opinion though, the pro's far outweigh the cons. The chance to keep in contact with family and friends, and not only that but make new ones too, is such an advantage. In my opinion, Facebook, Twitter et all are here to stay.

Online PR

To be totally honest, Online PR is a weird subject for me in that when I first attempted it i'd missed a couple of classes, and by a couple I mean about 47... I was totally lost. I was like a 4 year old attempting algebra!!! This year round, ive been to the majority of classes and it's actually been a huge eye opener... I actually enjoy it!! My only problem is that out of logistics and linguistics, I tend to sway to the later.. hence I complicate things in my mind way more than I actually have to. An example of this would be the recent exam..... Instead of looking at the exam paper and simplifying what Colin wanted me to do... I'd created a monster in my mind... it was only about 40 minutes into it when i'd copped on what he actually wanted me to do, and by then it was too late!!! Essentially, i really enjoy the module... its just all about keeping things simple.