Leveraging the Prowess of the Internet

Every single time one needs an opinion  on a buying decision, they refer to a search engine. Be it buying a cell  phone or selecting where you will have dinner tonight, almost of our decisions are affected by results that appear on search engines. In face almost 64.9 percent of internet users use search engines to look for a product. and 55 percent of the purchases made online are through the sites that are listed at the search engine with a higher ranking. The name that appear as the top results with a large share of the market pie. But how do some websites make it to the top while others lose? The answer is Search Engine Optimization or SEO which today is indispensable requirement for any business.

This makes the SEO a highly sought after industry. However, the technology used for SEO is one that can be grasped easily by individuals. This gives rise to a host of  freelancers who do internet marketing individually thus making it an unorganized sector.

The internet marketing industry is cluttered with a host of freelancers or home based businesses. The presence of these small players makes the industry a rather unorganized sector. 

Top 20 Distance Learning MBA Colleges in India

On the education floor, an MBA reigns supreme. The management education sector in India is booming and today there are 3,900 management schools with close to 3.5 lakhs seats. Even with a host of management colleges closing shop, the demand for good quality management education is still high. Amongst this crowd of MBA, hopefuls are hordes of professionals who are unable to leave their current jobs but still nurse a desire to peruse an MBA degree.

To aid the growth of such professionals, SiliconIndia presents the first edition of "Top 20 Colleges/Universities offering Distance MBA in India", 2012. Our objective is to arm professionals with extensive information that will facilitate their quest of identifying the best college/university to pursue distance management education from. Colleges have been ranked based on stringent parameters such as number of intakes, pass outs, quality of course materials, course duration and E-learning platforms among others. Mentioned ahead is the list of Top 20 MBA colleges with composite score based on weightage of parameters analyzed by our research team which conducted an online poll for students who have completed their distance management education.

We sincerely hope that our initiative will assist the future MBA aspirants' educational journey.

Top 20 Distance Learning MBA Colleges in India
Rank	Institute Name	City, State	Composite score(400)
1	Sikkim Manipal University	Gangtok, SK	347
2	ICFAI University	Tripura, TR	333
3	IGNOU	New Delhi, DL	327
4	Symbosis Centre for Distance Learning	Pune, MH	321
5	Annamalai University	Annamalainagar, TN	319
6	Osmania University	Hyderabad, AP	303
7	Anna University	Chennai, TN	296
8	Yashwantrao C. Maharashtra Open University	Nasik, MH	289
9	University of Mumbai	Mumbai,MH	273
10	Dr. B.R.Ambedkar Open University	Hyderabad, AP	259
11	Maulana Azad National Urdu University	Hyderabad,AP	240
12	Netaji Subhas Open University	Kolkata, WB	237
13	Delhi University	New Delhi, DL	232
14	Shivaji University	Kolhapur, MH	229
15	Maharishi Dayanand University	Rohtak, HR	221
16	Andhra University	Visakhapatnam, AP	217
17	Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University	Ahmedabad, GJ	203
18	SNDT – Women’s University	Mumbai,MH	200
19	Alagappa University	Karaikudi, TN	197
20	M.P. Bhoj (Open) University	Bhopal, MP	180

Hot Clicks -Branded apparel and footwear become a huge draw online

Electronics remains the largest category in Indian online space, but branded apparel and footwear have seen tremendous traction in recent times. According to the Internet and Mobile Association of India(IAMAI), the branded apparel category saw 5.39 million unique visitors in June compared to 4.40 million a year ago. But this pales in comparison to brands such as Samsung, Micromax and LG, which get nearly 9.5 million searches a month.

Footwear attracted 4.78 million visits, more than double the number last year. Now women are seen making multiple purchases with in the same month online says Richa Kar, CEO of Zimvame.com. The designer labels segment, on the other hand, registered a 21 % growth with 1.73 million online visits in June compared to 1.43 million visits last year. Overall, in the e-commerce space, the quarter saw maximum searches for services in categories such as health and education.

Online Healthcare Basics

Began with e- tickets, then moved on to paying bills and managing bank accounts and finally fashion. The buzzword on the internet is healthcare.

Good:You may procrastinate over making the trip to your doctor: but a service that is available on your phone or tablet on the touch of a button will keep you gripped even when you are on the way. Intuitive features are specially programmed to follow the same series of symptoms checking and analyzing that health experts follow to understand what the problem is. Each person has unique health needs, but once the problem is outlined, the cure is customized and relayed using interactive online tools like simulators and feedback forms that provide a personalized experience.

Not Good: There are an abundance of fraudulent websites. The only way you can tell on original from a fake is by painstaking research and cross-questioning the experts before they recommend any treatment. Online healthcare won't work well for injuries which require immediate care and also may not make sense doe persistent problems.

Quick Tip For weight management, one should log on twice a day, once before heading out of work and once again before bedtime.   

DIGITAL AD-VENT

Online Advertising is fact catching on and is growing at the expense of traditional media such us print, radio and cinema.

Recently read an article on digital marketing saying that companies prefers now on digital marketing for their products and offerings to reach their target end users. The digital medium offers an opportunity to reach a section of audience in an innovative and engaging manner. It has become a key pillar in media planning now a days. Multinational companies like Cola, PepsiCo too are betting on digital for effective communication with part of their target audience in India- mainly the youth. However, television and print have not lost their effectiveness.

While television continues to be the bedrock of marketing investments, non-television investments have witnessed a significant shift in the mix. For example, Pepsi T20 Football tournament city specific campaign,  then relaying on radio and digital to derive participation while television was dedicated to thematic campaign.

With companies waking up to the potential of the digital medium, online advertising in India is on upswing and growing at the cost of other  media such as print, radio and cinema. The trend that began before the current economic downturn has only strengthened in recent times despite the economic slowdown.

Digital advertising spends grew at an average of 45% annually over the past three years and predicts the trend will continue- a report by Madison-Pitch. A second report by Internet and Mobile Association of India(IAMAI) and research firm IMRB says that digital spends is like grow 54% in the next 12 months.The industry generated revenue of Rs.2851 crore in 2011/12, which will grow to Rs.4391 crore in 2012/13. The growth is attributed primarily to the sustained rise in mobile and internet users penetration in India.

Digital advertising growth has been provided to be a boon for home grown advertising network such as Tyroo, Komli Media and Tribal Fusion among others with buy and sell online space for a host of websites.

But the digital medium still has a long way to go. According to Santosh Padhi- co-founder of Taproot advertising, most advertisers are currently doing only basic communication through this medium " There is no big innovation that is taking place. There are not too many players doing cutting edge work in this space." Adding to that digital could emerge as the most dependable channel for advertisers in next three to five years.

According to analysts a dearth of talent in the digital industry is also a big obstacle which need to be tackled for the medium to sustain its rapid growth in the future.