Tilak Education Society’s

S. K. College of Science and Commerce, Nerul

CLASS: TYBMM QUESTION BANK SEM: VI
DIGITAL MEDIA

MODULE 1

Q.1 What do you mean by Digital Media?

Digital media is digitized content that can be transmitted over the internet
or computer networks. This can include text, audio, video, and graphics.
This means that news from a TV network, newspaper, magazine, etc. that
is presented on a Web site or blog can fall into this category. Most digital
media are based on translating analog data into digital data. The Internet
began to grow when text was put onto the Internet instead of stored on
papers as it was previously. Soon after text was put onto computers
images followed, then came audio and video onto the Internet. Digital
media has come a long way in the few short years to become as we know
it today and it continues to grow.

How Digital Media Affected News Media

During World War II, Massachusetts Institute of Technology began a
project to develop a computer known as the Whirlwind. The Whirlwind
was the first computer that operated in real time and used a monitor for
visual purposes. Operating in real-time is a huge advantage that the
Internet provided for digital news.
Newspapers are unable to compete with the speed that digital news
releases their stories. Not only can the latest updates immediately be
found online, but you can also view various articles to gain a better
understanding and survey multiple points of view. This staggered the hold
newspapers had over their communities and began to disrupt their
monopoly. More sources for news sprouted up. Some question the
reliability of sources on the Internet. A lot more personal opinions,
amateur journalism, and biased articles can be found on the Internet.
Blogs are an attractive form of digital media. They truly helped push
consumer generated content throughout the Internet. Not only has the
Internet allowed consumers to contribute to the news, they are also
allowing them to personalize their news experience. A costumer does not
have to buy a whole newspaper to read the select number of articles that
interest them. Now they can go online and skip the other articles and skip
the payment. Although newspapers have adapted to the rise of digital
media by placing themselves online, being on the Internet does not
guarantee the companies to make money back on lost business. According
to the State of the News Media report, 75% of people are not willing to
pay for online news content. They are more likely to go back to searching
for free results. The report also states that 23% of people said that they
would pay five dollars a month for unrestricted access to a local
newspaper online. However, doubling the price a month drops the number
by 5%.
Mobile Devices and Digital Media
Internet use via mobile devices has made a large impact, especially over
the most recent years. Mobile devices have played a large role in the
digital media. A recent survey with Pew Internet and American Life
Project states that 47% of Americans get a form of news from their mobile
device. These usually include immediate search needs on the weather,
addresses, traffic, etc. More people are also using their cell phones to send
them updates from the Internet. Therefore, more people are using their cell
phones for more than their original intended purposes. This has further
broadened the ever growing field of digital technology. The numbers of
people using mobile devices is doubling by the months.

How Digital Media Affected the Entertainment Industry

Young adults are familiar with the rise of Napster in the late 1990’s and
how it affected the music industry and changed it forever. Music was, and
still is, obtainable for free over the internet. The music industry has
learned to benefit from the Internet and digital media, however it took
some readjusting. Now sites can charge customers on sites like Napster so
they can legally obtain the music they desire. Since digital media, it seems
that i-tunes and downloading music has become more popular than
purchasing CDs. Some up and coming bands attempt to use digital media
to their benefit and realize that their material can be accessed by the
world. They use the Internet as a tool in hopes of gaining a fan base.
The same goes for the movie industry. The movie industry has learned to
cope with pirating by forming online accounts where people can purchase
or rent movies instead of illegally downloading them. However, this does
not mean that the movie industry has made the transition easily. The
MPAA is battling against piracy constantly. The recent Writer’s Strike
was partially inspired by digital media. Writers demanded more
compensation for Internet downloads, streaming, straight-to-Internet
content, smart phones, and other on-demand online distribution methods.
Despite all the battling that is going on, the movie industry still realizes
the dawning of a new era.
The television industry has changed very similar to the movie industry.
With devices like TiVo, television viewers can now fast forward through
commercials. Television shows are being watched over the internet and
various clips posted to sites.
The rise of digital media has also allowed people to communicate with
others all over the world. Digital media has increased globalization by
making communication with people from other parts of the world very
easy. Video games can be played over the Internet with people from all
over the world. For example, an online video game like World of Warcraft
has over 10 million players. Some of the people that play WOW are from
across the globe.
Books began appearing on the Internet for free. Writer’s now have the
option of placing their books online to be purchased or read through e-
books. E-books are an electronic version of a printed book. Although the
device to read the print may cost a lot more than the book itself, ordering
more electric texts can be cheaper. It can be a lot more convenient than
buying or borrowing a book. E-books also have the ability to translate text
to other languages that the book is not published in.
Digital media has changed the flow of the entertainment industry
permanently. With the rise of digital media, more and more people in the
entertainment industry realize the importance of the Internet. Websites are
made to advertise the show. A website may contain celebrity biographies,
photo galleries, blogs, etc. The businesses refer to these sites also to
monitor the feedback.
 The Future of Digital Media
Last year the State of the News Media report predicted that 1,500
newsroom jobs would be lost at the end of the year making them 30%
smaller than they were in the year 2000. This shows that digital media in
the news continues to grow. Although traditional news media will most
likely never be fully extinguished they will need to further adapt to the
times. In order to make money, they will need to work with search engines
to fight against news sites provided for free and rely more on advertising.
Digital media has eliminated many cultural boundaries and will continue
to do so as other less developed countries begin to become more reliant on
technology. Digital media has provided instant communication between
people all over the world. Different forms of digital media make this
interaction easy and fun. Technology and the sharing of photographs on
the Internet have found ways past language barriers. Thanks to digital
media we are now entering a world that is culturally globalized.

Q2. What are the principles of Digital media?

1. Innovation
Innovation has become the most used and abused word in digital media
planning these days. Everybody wants to be innovative, and why not? The
important aspect to look at with innovation is to identify the platform for
doing so. The proposed idea could be a creative innovation or a media
innovation and there is huge difference in both. However, they are highly
interconnected.
Creative innovation as the name suggests is all about bringing new
formats of creative assets, or a new technology in existing forms. One of
the obvious problems in executing creative innovations is the feasibility of
implementation, especially when it involves new technology. The
capability of media owners in execution decides the fortune of the
‘innovation’.

Media innovation is all about finding new ways of using the media space
or creating a new media space altogether. We have seen how the media
space has evolved, for it to be used for advertising purpose. Therefore, its
very hard to differentiate ‘innovation’ from what it would have been an
organic evolution of the space. For example, if you had run advertising in
mobile apps five years back, we would have called it innovative, but today
it’s a standard part of any mobile media plan. Creative and media services
need to and are blending very fast with each other, which is essential for
bringing about a true innovation.
Innovation suffers from another major bottleneck while selling the idea
and that is resistance from advertisers. Digital media is always being
looked at as a highly measurable media, and this measurability extends to
‘innovation’ before even executing it. Usually clients ask about the
projected numbers as a result of the proposed idea, how it will achieve
results that are quantifiable, what are the benchmarks, etc. First of all, if
it’s an innovation, how can there be any benchmarks? Secondly, if clients
have the appetite for innovation, then they should not be afraid to try it in
absence of any benchmarks.
Innovation leads to impact. While we question the reasonability of clients’
doubts, another problem with executing innovations is the lack of
farsightedness on agencies’ parts in the proposed idea. Advertisers always
want to see some actionable results through the innovation and they are
not doing it for the sake of doing it. Agencies will need to support the idea
with scalability so that the overall media/marketing objectives are always
in sight while ideating and execution. Most of the creative ideas fail
purely because of the scalability issue. The long-term impact of the
innovation on brand has to be kept in mind and should be visible as a
result of the execution. It could be difficult to measure the impact in
purely quantifiable terms but there are some soft parameters that can be
deployed to gauge response and effect of the execution.
2. Integration
The importance of integration within digital media and with traditional
media is ever increasing. With increasing media fragmentation, as it
becomes harder for clients and agencies to choose an apt media, the need
for integration is inevitable. The media needs to work harder and
integration is a huge help to the cause. We have seen some real good
examples of integrated marketing from across categories such as outdoor
hoardings carrying a short code for SMS, tickers scrolling on TVCs to
send SMSs or participate in online contests, print ads with QR codes to be
scanned, so on and so forth. Integration remains the most favourite
question of today’s marketer and agencies need to deliver what we call
‘integrated media plans’, which calls for a different kind of talent within
the partner agencies and most agencies are moving towards it.

3. Investment
Investment in digital media has always been in debate and its not only
about how much a brand should be investing in digital vis-à-vis other
traditional media, but also about how much should be invested within
digital media itself given the choices of display, SEM, mobile, and social
media advertising. More choices signify more confusion in choosing the
right option. While there is no exact formula of how much should be
invested, there are some principles that digital can adopt from traditional
media. For example, SOV (share of voice) can be translated to SOI (share
of impressions) in digital media, especially SEM and display. Secondly,
the ROI of digital media will always be the forefront of measurability for
this medium. This has resulted in a number of metrics that can be used
while buying digital media other than purely CPM or CPT viz. CPC, CPL,
CPA, and now even CPF (cost per fan). We will talk more about ROI in
the next section.
 4. Insights
Rich customer insights have always been a very strong point for digital
media both pre and post planning. It will continue to enjoy that status for
years to come. No other medium can compete with digital when it comes
to real consumer data. Whether it is the total number of search queries on
Google about a brand as pre-planning insights or the number of repeat and
late visitors on brand website post-execution kind of insights, both have
equal importance. Web analytics post executions provide quite useful
insights on how users behaved after interacting with the ads. Insights help
the media planner to know the ROI of each media vehicle used in the
digital media plan. These are also helpful in building benchmarks for
future planning such as help in building a media mix of various digital
media viz. display, search, mobile and social, etc. How much of what
vehicle to be used can be answered if these insights are accumulated over
time?

5. Involvement
Involvement from all stakeholders while planning for digital media is an
absolute necessity nowadays. Digital media is more of a mind-set than
anything else, and this needs to be shared jointly by the creative agency,
media agency, PR agency, and the advertiser. These partners can no
longer work in isolation in order to execute an effective digital media
initiative. I still remember those days when clients used to brief the
agencies and then left everything to them for delivering an effective
campaign plan.
All partners need to learn the art of complementing each other with their
respective skill sets. The boundaries of responsibility and accountability
are blurring, and are blurring rapidly. Lack of support by one partner
might result in the failure of the entire initiative or a campaign.

6. Interactivity
Interactivity was and will continue to be the differentiator for digital
media from the rest of the media, although the ‘type’ of interactivity is
changing as expected. We have witnessed discussions are not only about
the ‘click’ but also the ‘touch’, especially for tablets and touch phones.
Marketers and agencies are preparing themselves to deliver the interactive
experiences across devices such as PCs, mobiles, tablets, and now even
GPS/navigation devices. Given this scenario, content needs to be device
agnostic and it calls for an effective content strategy and interactivity
needs to be delivered across owned, earned, and paid media.

Q3. Discuss the difference between Traditional and Digital media.

Digital marketing isn’t simply another channel for sharing advertising. It’s
not like you craft ads like companies have for generations, then share the
ads across different channels, such as radio, TV, and print. And, while you
may change the execution of your ad across media, you fundamentally
kept the message the same and use similar main elements in your ads
regardless of channel.
Digital isn’t a channel. It’s a totally different way of looking at the world
and engaging with your audience.
 Traditional Media
One-way conversation
Closed system
Opaque
Mass marketing
About ME
Professional content
Polished content
Paid Platform
Metric: Reach/ frequency
Actors/ Celebrities
Economic decision-making
Controlled communication
Pre-produced/ scheduled
Top-down strategy
Formal language
Passive involvement
Poor analytics
Paid

Digital Media
Two-way conversation
Open system
Transparent
One-on-one marketing
About you
Brand and User-generated Content
Authentic content
Free Platform
Metric: Engagement
Actors: Users/ Influencers
Community decision-making
Unstructured communication
Real-time creation
Bottom-up strategy
Informal language
Active involvement
Deep Analytics
Paid, Owned, Earned

MODULE 2
Q.4 What are Search Engines

A search engine is a web-based tool that enables users to locate

information on the World Wide Web. Popular examples of search engines
are Google, Yahoo!, and MSN Search. Search engines utilize automated
software applications (referred to as robots, bots, or spiders) that travel
along the Web, following links from page to page, site to site. The
information gathered by the spiders is used to create a searchable index of
the Web.
 How do search engines work?

Search engines have three primary functions:

1. Crawl: Scour the Internet for content, looking over the

code/content for each URL they find.

2. Index: Store and organize the content found during the crawling
process. Once a page is in the index, it’s in the running to be
displayed as a result to relevant queries.

3. Rank: Provide the pieces of content that will best answer a

searcher's query, which means that results are ordered by most
relevant to least relevant.

What is search engine crawling?

Crawling is the discovery process in which search engines send out a team
of robots (known as crawlers or spiders) to find new and updated content.
Content can vary — it could be a webpage, an image, a video, a PDF, etc.
— but regardless of the format, content is discovered by links.
Q5. What is SEO? State its importance.

SEO stands for ‘Search Engine Optimization’. It’s the practice of

optimizing your web pages to make them reach a high position in the
search results of Google or other search engines. SEO focuses on
improving the rankings in the organic – aka non paid – search results. If
you have a website and you want to get more traffic, it should be part of
your marketing efforts.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SEO

 Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the key tool for the website
owners to get more traffic to the website. Optimization of a website
is crucial to get traffic and maintain the level over the search
engine. The main aim of the search engine optimization is to get
 more traffic from diverse sources and to get repetitive visitors.
 SEO plays a crucial role in online business websites as well as other
interactive sites. With regular update of content on website, SEO
helps to get more traffic. There are other ways like link exchange
and subscribe to RSS Feed that are more crucial parts under SEO
work.
 Based on the specific keywords SEO can generate good traffic and
ultimately affect the revenue for e-commerce site. You can see
many e-commerce sites which are getting success with SEO to get
more traffic. The exchanging of link and made directory can
enhance the traffic towards the site.
 It is crucial to maintain the position on the search engines like
Google, yahoo and others. The SEO ranking can be monitored by
Alexa and other ranking site to monitor the position over the search
engine. You can monitor your website by getting the rank to know
the status of your website.
 A Search Engine Optimizer needs to look for the new keywords and
work on specific key words to get new traffic. Many SEO tools are
useful to get article or text submission automatically. A Search
Engine Optimizer must be aware about the latest tools to get
submitting text over free article directories.
 Practicing website optimization with ethics is more important.
There are many Search Engine Optimizers which are using
shortcuts to get the better result but ultimately they are trapping
under crawler.
 The ultimate goal for the website owner and SEO is to get the
traffic and appears in first five pages of the search engine and
maintain the positing online and also to get the repetitive users on
their website.
Every business and service websites need SEO to keep their position in
the Google or other search engine. It is SEO’s responsibilities to keep
website as front runner in search engines.

Q6. What are the types of Search engines?

Crawlers
These types of search engines use a "spider" or a "crawler" to search the
Internet. The crawler digs through individual web pages, pulls out
keywords and then adds the pages to the search engine's
database. Google and Yahoo are examples of crawler search engines.
The advantage of crawlers are:

 They contain a huge amount of pages.

 Ease of use.

 Familiarity. Most people who search the Internet are familiar with
Google.

There are several disadvantages to crawlers:

 Sometimes, it's just too much information.

  It is easy to trick the crawler. Websites have hidden data that can
be manipulated to make the page appear like it's something it's not.
So, that search result for Descartes might actually take you to a porn
site.

 Page rank can be manipulated. While search engine companies

frown on the practice, there are ways to improve where your page
appears on the list of results.

Directories
Directories are human powered search engines. A website is submitted to
the directory and must be approved for inclusion by editorial staff. Open
Directory Project and the Internet Public Library are examples of
directories.
Advantages:

 Each page is reviewed for relevance and content before being

included. This means no more surprise porn sites.
 Less results sometimes means finding what you need quicker.

Disadvantages:

 Unfamiliar design and format.

 Delay in creation of a website and it's inclusion in the directory.

 May have trouble with more obscure searches.

Hybrids
Hybrids are a mix of crawlers and directories. Sometimes, you have a
choice when you search whether to search the Web or a directory. Other
times, you may receive both human powered results and crawler results
for the same search. In this case, the human results are usually listed
first.

Meta
Meta search engines are ones that search several other search engines at
once and combines the results into one list. While you get more results
with meta search engines, the relevancy and quality of the results may
sometimes suffer. Dogpile and Clusty are examples of meta search
engines.
Q7. What is Search engine algorithms
If you ask Google what an algorithm is, you’ll discover that the engine
itself (and pretty much everyone else) defines it as “a process or set of
rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations,
especially by a computer.”
 An Algorithm of Algorithms

 URLs
 Content
 Internal links
 External links
 Images
 Speed
As we witnessed with our dinner algorithm, each of these areas is divided
further using different formulas and, in fact, different sub-algorithms.
It might be better if we think of it not as an algorithm, but as algorithms.

When we’re thinking of “Google’s algorithm” what we’re actually

referring to is a massive collection of algorithms and formulas, each set to
fulfil one specific function and gathered together by a lead or, dare I say,
“core” algorithm to place the results.

So, we have:

 Algorithms like Panda to assist Google in judging, filtering,

penalizing and rewarding content based on specific characteristics
and that algorithm likely included a myriad of other algorithms
within in.
 The Penguin algorithm to judge links and address spam there. But
this algorithm certainly requires data from other pre-existing
algorithms that are responsible for valuing links and likely some
new algorithms tasked with understanding common link spam
characteristics so the larger Penguin algorithm could do its job.
 Task-specific algorithms.
 Organizing algorithms.
 Algorithms responsible for collecting all the data and putting it into
a context that produces the desired result, a SERP that users will
find useful.
So there we have it. That’s how search algorithms work at their core.

MODULE 3
Q8. What do you mean by Social Media?
Social media refers to websites and applications that are designed to allow
people to share content quickly, efficiently, and in real-time. Many people
define social media as apps on their smartphone or tablet, but the truth is,
this communication tool started with computers. This misconception
stems from the fact that most social media users access their tools via
apps.
The ability to share photos, opinions, events, etc. in real-time has
transformed the way we live and, also, the way we do business. Retailers
who use social media as an integral part of their marketing strategy
usually see measurable results. But the key to successful social media is to
not treat it as an extra appendage but to treat it with the same care, respect,
 and attention you do all of your marketing efforts.

The following list of common features of a social media site. If you're

questioning whether a particular site could be classified as social or not,
try looking for at least one of these features.

 Personal user accounts: If a site allows visitors to create their own

accounts that they can log into, then that's a good first sign it might
be used for some kind of user-based interaction — perhaps social
interaction. Although it's possible to share information or interact
with others online anonymously, having to create some kind of user
account first is more of a common, standard thing.
 Profile pages: Since social media is all about communication, a
profile page is often necessary to help represent an individual and
give them a space to create their own personal brand. It often
includes information about the individual user, like a profile photo,
bio, website, feed of recent posts, recommendations, recent activity
and more.
 Friends, followers, groups, hashtags and so on: Individuals use
their accounts to connect with other users. They can also use them
to subscribe to certain forms of information.
 Newsfeeds: When users connect with other users on social media,
they're basically saying, "I want to get information from these
people." That information is updated for them in real-time via their
news feed.
 Personalization: Social media sites usually give users the
flexibility to configure their user settings, customize their profiles to
look a specific way, organize their friends or followers, manage the
information they see in their news feeds and even give feedback on
what they do or don't want to see.
 Notifications: Any site or app that notifies users about specific
information is definitely playing the social media game. Users have
total control over these notifications and can choose to receive the
types of notifications that they want.
 Information updating, saving or posting: If a site or an app
allows you to post absolutely anything, with or without a user
account, then it's social! It could be a simple text-based message, a
photo upload, a YouTube video, a link to an article or anything else.
 Like buttons and comment sections: Two of the most common
ways we interact on social media are via buttons that represent a
'like' plus comment sections where we can share our thoughts.
 Review, rating or voting systems: Besides liking and commenting,
lots of social media sites and apps rely on the collective effort of the
community to review, rate and vote on information that they know
about or have used. Think of your favourite shopping sites or movie
review sites that use this social media feature.

Q9. What are the issues with Social Media?

Social media isn't all just fun and games with your friends, celebrities you
admire, and brands you follow. There are lots of common problems that
most major social media platforms haven't totally solved, despite their
effort to do so.
  Spam: Social media makes it easy for spammers — both real
people and bots — to bombard other people with content. If you
have a Twitter account, you've probably experienced a few spambot
follows or interactions. Likewise, if you run a WordPress blog, you
may have gotten a spam comment or two caught by your spam
filter.
 Cyberbullying/Cyberstalking: Children and teenagers are
especially susceptible to cyberbullying because they take more risks
when it comes to posting on social media. And now that we all
interact on social media via our mobile devices, most major
platforms make it possible to share our locations, opening up the
doors for cyber stalkers to target us.
 Self-image manipulation: What a user posts about themselves on
social media only represents a small portion of their life. While
followers may see someone who's happy and living it up via their
posts on social media in such a way that makes them feel boring or
inadequate by comparison, the truth is that users have the power to
completely control what parts they do and don't want to broadcast
on social media to manipulate their own self-image.
 Information overload: It's not unusual to have over 200 Facebook
friends or follow over 1,000 Twitter accounts. With so many
accounts to follow and so many people posting new content, it's
almost impossible to keep up.
 Fake news: Fake news websites promote links to their own totally
false news stories on social media in order to drive traffic to them.
Many users have no idea that they're fake in the first place.
 Privacy/Security: Many social media platforms still get hacked
from time to time despite having good security measures in place.
Some also don't offer all the privacy options that users need to keep
their information as private as they want them to be.

Q10. Give the influence of Hashtags and trend tools on twitter.

Back in 2007 when Twitter first became popular, users would

connect tweets through keywords. Users tweeting about the same topic or
trend could get in contact with one another and connect over their
common keyword. This haphazard system led Twitter to update their site
to make these hashtags and keywords clickable, allowing any trends to
really take off. Now any registered user can click hashtags, read the latest
corresponding news, and contribute to the conversation. Since then,
various sites like Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Facebook have
adapted their sites to better accommodate the all-mighty hashtag.
how does one USE the hashtag?
 Almost all social media sites have an “explore” or “trending now”
page that shows popular hashtags and correlating movements that
are trending in that moment. Join in on these movements and attach
these hashtags to your venture’s social media posts. It’s a great way
to build followers or join a hashtag community to expand your
connections.
 General rule of thumb: Instagram and Pinterest invite generous
usage of hashtags, but Twitter and Facebook function better with 1-
2 hashtags per post. Using 2 or more hashtags on Instagram can
generate about 41% more interaction, and 1-2 hashtags can
expect 21% more engagement on tweets. Finding the right hashtags
 to attach to your venture’s post means a better chance these trend
followers will see your posts!
 When looking to collect donations for a cause know it is crucial to
provide a direct link to the donation page (where #donate comes
into play). Good World created the #donate campaign and became
the world’s only technology for hashtag donations on Facebook,
Twitter, and the web. Non-profits, influencers, and brands can raise
money directly on social media for thousands of great causes
(recognized by Forbes, Fast Company, and the Wall Street Journal).
 Come up your own hashtags to generate your own followers or start
a movement! Used in conjunction with more popular trending
hashtags, you would be surprised how many followers you can
attract!

How to use hashtags on Twitter?

Hash tagging on Twitter can have a major impact when it comes to your
follower count by using general and non-specific hashtags. If you hashtag
general words, like #creative, or events, like #TIFF, that are going on, it is
more likely that your tweet will reach beyond your follower list.

Twitter hashtags encourage people to take part in conversations with the

same topic and people engage with one another even if they are not
following each other. While hash tagging on Twitter can definitely help
your social media presence, using long and wordy hashtags, like
#bestcoffeeshopintheworld, in a Tweet can damage your presence as
hashtags are supposed to make things easier to find and engage with
others. In addition to long hashtags, using too many hashtags in one post
can also be harming to your social media presence. If your tweet is filled
with more hashtags than content, it will come off to your followers as
desperate and it certainly dilutes the message you are trying to convey.

Q11. What is a blog? State its benefits.

Definition of blog
A blog (shortening of “weblog”) is an online journal or
informational website displaying information in the reverse
chronological order, with the latest posts appearing first. It is a
platform where a writer or even a group of writers share their views
on an individual subject.
What is the purpose of a blog?
There are many reasons to start a blog for personal use and only a
handful of strong ones for business blogging. Blogging for business,
projects, or anything else that might bring you money has a very
straightforward purpose – to rank your website higher in Google
SERPs, a.k.a. increase your visibility.
As a business, you rely on consumers to keep buying your products
and services. As a new business, you rely on blogging to help you
get to these consumers and grab their attention. Without blogging,
your website would remain invisible, whereas running a blog makes
you searchable and competitive.
So, the main purpose of a blog is to connect you to the relevant
audience. Another one is to boost your traffic and send quality leads
to your website.
The more frequent and better your blog posts are, the higher the
chances for your website to get discovered and visited by your
target audience. Which means, a blog is an effective lead generation
tool. Add a great call to action (CTA), and it will convert your
website traffic into high-quality leads. But a blog also allows you to
showcase your authority and build a brand.
When you use your niche knowledge for creating informative and
engaging posts, it builds trust with your audience. Great blogging
makes your business looks more credible, which is especially
important if your brand is still young and fairly unknown. It
ensures presence and authority at the same time.
Blog structure
The appearance of blogs changed over time, and nowadays blogs
include different items. But, most blogs include some standard
features and structure. Here are common features that a typical
blog will include:
 Header with the menu or navigation bar
 Main content area with highlighted or latest blog posts
 Sidebar with social profiles, favourite content, or call-to-
action
 Footer with relevant links like a disclaimer, privacy policy,
contact page, etc.

Are bloggers getting paid?

Bloggers do earn money, but this is not a get-rich-quick kind of
profession.
Before you can start monetizing your blog, you need to build both
your Google SERPs ranking and your niche influence. And that
takes plenty of time and quality content. Money-making
opportunities won’t present themselves until you’ve gained some
credibility in the field. So, get down to business.
 Here’s how you can make good money as a top-ranked niche
blogger:
 Selling ad space on your blog privately or via Google AdSense.
 Becoming an affiliate partner privately or through ad
networks.
 Selling your own digital products such as eBooks and
tutorials.
 Selling memberships for access to exclusive content or advice.
 Using your blog as a content marketing tool for your business.
If you’re starting a blog as a way to market and boost your existing
business, you probably won’t be selling ad space or memberships.
But you can create and start offering exclusive digital products such
as eBooks, guides, or online courses as a lead capturing tool in
exchange for visitors’ email addresses. That way, you’ll nudge them
one step further down your sales funnel.

MODULE 4
Q.12 What are the various Web analysis tools?

Web servers powering millions of websites across the globe

generate large amount of log data on daily basis. Often webmasters
use these log files to fix or optimize their websites. Unfortunately,
most of the log data generated by servers are quite cryptic for an
average user. Interpreting it correctly requires working knowledge
of logging syntax used by the popular web software. Thankfully
there are numerous good, reliable and robust log analysis tools that
can help you read and analyse your log data generated on your web
server quite easily. These tools are powerful enough to parse
popular log file formats quite efficiently.

AWStats - This free log analysis tool is not only flexible but also
enjoys a large community base comprising of thousands and
thousands of users benefiting from its array of features. You can not
only analyze regular web server log files through this software but
can also parse FTP log files and mail log files. This makes it an all-
in-one log file analysis solution. It not only generates reports in a
streamlined format but also lets you export the vital analyzed log
data in different file formats for offline analysis. You can run this
log analysis tool on almost every popular platform

Analog - This is one of the lightest and powerful log file analysis
tool. You can run it on almost every operating system. This
multilingual analysis tool can prepare reports in over two dozen
popular languages. It also supports plugins to enrich the reports
giving you more effective information to analyze micro events
happening on your web server. It has a rich set of reporting options
giving you both graphical and statistical information about
important traffic trends of the website. Since it is open source, you
can easily modify this log analyzer to suit your business
requirements.

Deep Log Analyzer - This powerful log analysis tool can easily
parse log files generated by IIS as well as Apache web server. It has
a nice interface with tons of customizable options to generate
custom reports from the raw data. Apart from a rich set of reporting
modules, it also lets you export the parsed data in both HTML and
Excel format. It also supports script execution for automated report
generation. Webmasters can also generate reports which primarily
focus on search engine optimization. It has a nice interface which
makes this tool quite user-friendly

Log Parser - This unique log analysis tool not only parses regular
web server log files, but also analyzes several other types of event
log files generated by Windows operating system. In fact, with the
help of additional helper software, you can make this flexible tool
parse almost any kind of log file data. This tool is best for offsite log
analysis where the amount of raw data is huge. The application
itself has a small footprint on memory and runs smoothly without
any glitch. It can easily parse and analyze different types of XML
and CSV files containing raw server log data.

BareTail - This flexible log file analysis engine can parse and
present the information in real time as the events occur on your
web server. You can connect to a remote web server and can see the
parsed log reports as they're generated on the server. You can also
upload a huge amount of raw data for parsing within this powerful
analysis engine. Similarly, skipping to a specific point within a very
large report is instantaneous. If required, you can also view
multiple log files simultaneously and that too in real time from
different web servers. I'd highly recommend this tools

SmarterStats - The free edition of this unique log analysis

software is powerful enough to analyze web server log files of small
to medium websites. Apart from regular log file parsing, it also
supports several SEO features to help you attain a better presence
on major search engines. The interface is clean and obvious with
helpful prompts and hints. It can parse both Windows and
Unix/Linux based web server log files seamlessly. You can also
integrate several 3rd party software with this tool for additional
features. You can also use this tool on your smartphones and
 tablets.

WebLog Expert - This handy log file analysis software can

generate reports in HTML, PDF and CSV formats. The last format
can be used to archive a huge volume of report data. Its parsing
engine is quite fast and generates long reports in fairly quick time
without consuming much system resources. This tool can parse
compressed log files generated by popular web servers. It also lets
you create website profiles to segregate reporting data on a per-site
basis. Its minimal and clean interface keeps things simple and easy
that helps you customize the reports as per your needs.

Webalizer - This lightning-fast log file analyzer can give bulky

tools a run for their money. It supports parsing of different formats
of popular log files. Power users can use its command line
directives to generate reports without any delay. Due to its
multilingual support, users from across the globe can generate log
reports in their preferred language. There's no limit on the size of
the raw log file you can use with this tool. You can even rotate the
raw data to generate similar reports in a round robin fashion across
multiple days. It has a DNS lookup capability to include relevant
data

Q.13. What is web analytic. Explain its process

Web Analytics is the methodological study of online/offline patterns and

trends. It is a technique that you can employ to collect, measure, report,
and analyse your website data. It is normally carried out to analyse the
performance of a website and optimize its web usage.
We use web analytics to track key metrics and analyse visitors’ activity
and traffic flow. It is a tactical approach to collect data and generate
reports.

Importance of Web Analytics

We need Web Analytics to assess the success rate of a website and its
associated business. Using Web Analytics, we can −

 Assess web content problems so that they can be rectified

 Have a clear perspective of website trends
 Monitor web traffic and user flow
 Demonstrate goals acquisition
 Figure out potential keywords
 Identify segments for improvement
 Find out referring sources
 Web Analytics Process

The primary objective of carrying out Web Analytics is to optimize the

website in order to provide better user experience. It provides a data-
driven report to measure visitors’ flow throughout the website.
Take a look at the following illustration. It depicts the process of web
analytics.
 Set the business goals.
 To track the goal achievement, set the Key Performance
Indicators (KPI).
 Collect correct and suitable data.
 To extract insights, Analyze data.
 Based on assumptions learned from the data analysis, Test
alternatives.
 Based on either data analysis or website testing, Implement
insights.

Web Analytics is an ongoing process that helps in attracting more traffic

to a site and thereby, increasing the Return on Investment.
Web Analytics - Google Analytics
Analytics Tools offer an insight into the performance of your website,
visitors’ behaviour, and data flow. These tools are inexpensive and easy
to use. Sometimes, they are even free.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a freemium analytic tool that provides a detailed

statistics of the web traffic. It is used by more than 60% of website
owners.

Q14. What is page tagging

 Page tag is a tool that allows you to mark or categorize a page or
groups of pages on your website. Page tags allow you to identify,
with greater ease and in more business-relevant terms, what your
website visitors are accessing. You can then use the information as
a more intuitive way to segment, build lead score models, and
report on web page performance.

Think of a page tag as a bucket that has a particular theme to it.

Page tag values are the items within that bucket that fit that theme.
Much like in a department store, you may have a section for socks,
but within that section you will find racks for different brands and
styles (white, low-cut, black, and so on), some more valuable to you
than others, and they are labelled accordingly.

You may create a Possible Prospect Type tag and that might contain
values of Enterprise, Small Business, and Reseller, each value being
associated with a particular page or pages. Or a High Value Web
Content tag might include values of Contact Us Pages, Pricing
Pages, and Product Whitepapers. Or you could just mark the pages
that dealt with pricing with a Pricing Pages tag. See more page tag
examples.

Page tagging relies on your organization's site map. The site map is
a hierarchy of your organization’s landing pages and tracked pages
that have been visited at least once. Only pages in the site map can
be tagged with your page tags. The site map updates automatically
based on a schedule you can manage. Whenever the site map
updates, pages that have been visited since the last update are
included in the site map. Learn more about scheduling site map
updates.

Page tagging runs daily and only pages with visits can be tagged.
However, when a page is added to or removed from a page tag
depends on your site map update schedule.

MODULE 5
Q15. What do you mean by a website? Explain its features.

A website is a collection of publicly accessible, interlinked Web

pages that share a single domain name. Websites can be created
and maintained by an individual, group, business or organization to
serve a variety of purposes. Together, all publicly accessible
websites constitute the World Wide Web.
A website is also known as a web presence.

The first thing you must do is secure a good, catchy URL. Make sure
it makes sense for your business, doesn't have quirky spelling and is
available on social platforms, too. Panabee can help you get creative
if your business name is taken, and Name Vine is a great resource
for seeing what's available.
Once you've set up your domain, it's time to build out the site and
make some big decisions. Here are 10 must-haves for your website
that will ensure your customers have a positive experience on the
site, improve your company's digital footprint and increase
engagement with your brand.

1. A Logical Roadmap

Sure, a website should be aesthetically pleasing, but it's more

important for it to be useful. Before you even pick a server or type
an HTML tag, you should map out how you'd like the website to
work. This is important both for user experience and for SEO, since
Google considers the content and structure of a site when it ranks
for search. So, map out and mock up a design for the site — what
designers call "wireframing" — and run it by a few friends to make
sure it makes sense and is intuitive. "If they can understand the
logic, so will the people visiting your website ... and Google bots
when ranking it!" says Pete Mills of web design consultancy Calls9.

2. Crucial Business Information

"The biggest failure that people have is that they try to build the
website they want, not necessarily the website they need," says
designer Josh Frankel. Take a restaurant, for example — Frankel
says "everyone wants music and this giant 'about' page," but they
neglect the basic things like the menu, contact information and
directions.
Keep text to a minimum when it comes to your mission statement,
because you should be writing things so people can skim — we all
have short attention spans. One helpful tip for conveying your
mission is to compare your business to something else, like
how MeUndies.com is marketed as "Warby Parker for undies" to
align itself with the eyewear manufacturer's keen curation and by-
mail convenience. Don't underestimate brevity — one or two
sentences can be really powerful, says Frankel.
Depending on your business, you should have a few things on your
website that fall into the realm of "information." We know
restaurants need a menu and a list of locations (ideally with
directions or a map), but every industry has its necessary items. If
you're an etailer, you need product images (and they need to
be good pictures). If you work in the service industry and have a
business that relies heavily on customer service and referrals, put
some testimonials on your site. For example, a wedding planner
could have one of her recent brides write about her experience with
the business. A web designer should include screenshots or link out
to previous work. A hair salon could have client testimonials about
a stylist's skills and promptness. Tailor your site so that it offers the
information users are likely to be looking for.

3. Contact Information

We can't stress enough that most crucial business detail is contact

information— which is why it has its own section. Mills exclaims,
"How many times do you visit a website and think 'how hard is to
contact this company?' Have a number, email, address and a
contact form easily accessible and visible," he says. It makes a
difference because there's nothing more frustrating than being
unable to get in touch with a needed business or service.
When you put an email address or a phone number on the site,
don't upload this information as part of an image — the number or
address should be able to be clicked on or copied right from the site
in order to place the call or send an email conveniently and quickly.
Most smartphones these days have the ability to do "click to call" on
the web, so make the process as easy as possible for users.
Don't want your phone ringing off the hook? Just use an email
address, but be sure you answer emails in a timely manner. And
please, get an email address for your domain. Using Gmail — or
worse, an AOL email address — isn't professional, and that's what
you're striving to be. If you like Gmail's interface, you can
use Google Apps to set up custom email addresses through Gmail —
it's free for up to 10 email addresses.

4. Clear Navigation

A map is useless without a legend and a website is useless without

clear navigation. Make sure you use easy-to-understand and logical
names for the various pages of your site — contact, about, FAQ, etc.
Being clever or cryptic will just be a turnoff for users.
When developing your navigation strategy, you should consider a
call to action. What is it that you want people to do on your site?
Place an order? Email for a quote? Become a member? Come to
your brick-and-mortar store? Call to speak with a customer service
rep? Make your goals clear and obvious.

"Put yourself in the shoes of who's coming to your site," says

Frankel. "What are they trying to get done? Think about the goal of
your potential customer." Pepper the site with action items to help
customer easily do what you want them to do. Birch box has done a
good job of this, encouraging users to "learn more" and directing
them to claim a gifted Birch box, since it's a popular gift item and
gifts are likely to be first-time visitors.

5. Security

If you're selling anything online, you need to put some effort into
securing your site with an SSL certificate. The SSL will encrypt
communications between you and your clients (i.e. a credit card
number, Social Security number), which will allay their fears of
providing such information, since there's so much identity theft on
the web. VeriSign, Trustee, Entrust and Geo Trust are good options
to explore.

6. Social Media Integration

Twitter. Facebook. Tumblr. YouTube. Pinterest. Google+. LinkedIn.

Instagram. Foursquare. There are a lot of social platforms out
there, and you should promote your presence on them on your
website, because social media is critical part of marketing your
business. Though not a traditional business, digital savvy Team
Coco does a great job promoting its many social channels on the
 website.
Integrating these platforms into your website will help boost your
SEO, improve your business' footprint on the social web and build
your following across numerous social platforms. Is it worth it to
maintain a presence on so many social platforms? Yes — as long as
you actually maintain your content, you'll keep your brand top-of-
mind and keep users engaged. "Social media is not going to leave us
anytime soon and its worth the investment in time — it does make a
difference," says Mills

Q16. What is a Homepage

The homepage or home page is the name of the main page of

a website where visitors can find hyperlinks to other pages on the
site. By default, the homepage on all web servers is index.html,
however, can also be index.htm, index.php, or whatever the
developer decides.

A browser home is a default document displayed when you first

open your browser. It can be configured to display a specific
website in the browser's preferences. For example, you may
have Google as your browser's home to open a search when you
first open the browser. If you were to search for "Computer Help"
from your browser's home and clicked the Computer Hope link, you
would be directed to our website homepage.
Q17. List down the requirements of a good homepage design.

A well designed website is a pleasure to use. It captures the

attention of users, conveys the information that they might need
and convinces them to connect with the service. A website also
reflects the attitude the company has towards its customers and
whether they are able to keep up with the times.
In this article, we will look at 10 principles that are required for
making a website good from the design perspective.

1. Reduce User’s Cognitive Effort

Make the webpage obvious. It should not require detailed
explanations for it to work. Keep the navigation structure of the
website intuitive and visible.
2. Don’t Waste User’s Time With Trifles
When you need a user to sign up for a service, keep the process as
simple as possible. 3-4 steps on a single page is usually the limit in
terms of the number of steps a user is willing to put up with to sign
up for your service. In case more steps are required, arrange them
sequentially in one page itself.
3. Attempt to Focus a Visitor’s Attention
If your website is selling a product on sale for a limited period, use
the design of the webpage to focus the user’s attention to it. Do not
use a pop-up style banner to convey the message.
4. Showcase the Website’s Features Effectively
If your site offers 9 divisions that provide access to other pages,
make sure that all 9 major headers are easily visible. By doing this
you will be able to effectively showcase all that you have to offer.
5. Write Effective Content
Try to write the content on your website in simple language that is
 broken down category-wise and which has headers that are easy for
a user to scan through.
6. Don’t Complicate Things
Users typically visit a website to access information and not for the
design. In fact, they search for the information despite the design.
Try to simplify this process by keeping things as simple as possible.
7. Use Your White Space Effectively
Making use of the space on your website doesn’t mean cluttering it
with things. In most cases it is a battle to keep things as simple as
possible. Using the white space in your website to differentiate
categories is an effective design strategy.
8. Communicate Effectively
When using your website as a visual communication tool,
remember to check the content and design for the essentials that
need to be communicated and the clarity with which it is
communicated. Further, keep the visual cues to the point to
enhance distinctiveness and to provide emphasis.
9. Use Familiar Formats
Little things like placing the search box in places where users would
expect it, using familiar terms like sign-up and log-in and placing
the major links in familiar places will help in reducing the user’s
learning curve for your website.
10. TETO
This stands for Test Early, Test Often. This is an oft overlooked
aspect of the website development lifecycle. Testing early with users
makes the difference in sticking to schedule and delivering the
product that satisfies your client’s requirements.

MODULE 6
Q.18 What do you mean by content writing?

Content writing is a form of online writing which is closely linked to web

marketing campaigns. This means creating the writing which appears on
websites that are designed to sell or promote a specific product. Content
writers work according to the brief provided by a client. This brief will
define their task and any SEO related requirements, such as keyword
density. The job of the Content Writer is to turn this brief into a finished
product which becomes part of the target webpage. Content is distinct
from journalism or conventional copywriting in that it is designed to
achieve prominence on the web, and must be tailored for this purpose.
Content writing is almost always related to SEO marketing campaigns. It
will involve writing tightly focused texts that include a set of keywords or
phrases that have been researched by marketers. High quality content will
ensure that these keywords appear in the right density. The text will also
be fluently written, clear and able to promote the product being described.
The quality of the content produced also needs to be high. Poor quality
content is less likely to achieve a high search engine ranking, meaning that
the webpage in question will not be read by a large number of potential
customers. The skills required for content writing are varied. They include
the ability to write fluently and persuasively on a range of subjects while
integrating keywords without losing readability.
Q.19 What do you mean by Hemmingway App.?
 The Hemingway App is an editor that highlights and corrects
grammar, fluency, and sentence structure in order to help your
writing read and look better.
The Hemingway App is just one of many resources out there
designed to not only improve your writing as you have it but also
teach you how to write better and produce tighter, neater prose in
your books
Q.20 How will you use Hemmingway Editor?

How to Use the Hemingway Editor:

STEP #1 – When you visit the Hemingway Editor website, you
have the option to paste your writing directly onto the website, or
you can download the desktop version to use anytime.
STEP #2 – Paste your writing into the app editor directly from the
writing software you’re using to complete your manuscript, like in
the example from my own work below.

STEP #3 – Determine whether or not to take the advice

highlighted in the various colours.
This can be the hardest part of using the Hemingway editor. You
can’t take every suggestion because then you may lose your own
writing voice.
Knowing what each colour means in the editor will help you decide
what advice to take, and what to leave for stylistic purposes.

Q21. What are the benefits of Hemmingway?

Before we get into the real review, let’s touch on the benefits
of the Hemingway App in order to help you understand exactly
what this writing program has to offer.

#1 – It’s very simple to use

The Hemingway editor is not a difficult editing tool to use. In

fact, it’s as easy as copying and pasting – because that’s
literally all you have to do.

#2 – It creates better-sounding writing

A lot of what makes the Hemingway app unique is that its

purpose is to help your writing read more fluidly.

One of the main issues with many people’s writing is that it

often sounds choppy.

The smoothness of writing is a coveted skill not many possess

naturally and therefore the Hemingway app editor makes it
easy to see where your flow is falling short.

Once you know what to watch out for and what habits you tend
to fall into, you can correct them going forward and have
 smoother, easier-to-read prose.

#3 – Anyone can use it

If you have the ability to write, copy, and paste, you can use
the Hemingway app editor.

Because this editor works by giving you suggestions within

your writing, you’ll have to be able to read and decipher what
each piece of advice means as well.

But as long as you can copy and paste your work as well as
understand the tips the app is giving you, you can use this.

#4 – It’s cheap or free

Although you can purchase a desktop version of the

Hemingway app editor, it’s also completely free to use on their
website.

You can just go to Hemingwayapp.com and paste your writing

in the space where their writing is

#5 – You get better the more you use it

As I’ve mentioned above, this is a great app to use whenever

you want to check your writing for major grammatical and
spelling errors, but you can also use this as a learning tool.

Whenever you input copy for the app to edit, make note of
results that pop up time and time again. This will show you
where your weakest points are and it also allows you to gauge
how much you’re improving whenever you use it.

MODULE 7
Q22. What do you mean by cyber law?

Cyber law is the part of the overall legal system that deals with the
Internet, cyberspace, and their respective legal issues. Cyber law
covers a fairly broad area, encompassing several subtopics including
freedom of expression, access to and usage of the Internet, and
online privacy. Generically, cyber law is referred to as the Law of the
Internet.

Why are cyber laws needed?

Like any law, a cyber-law is created to help protect people and

organizations on the Internet from malicious people on the Internet
and help maintain order. If someone breaks a cyber-law or rule, it
allows another person or organization to take action against that
person or have them sentenced to a punishment

What happens if you break a cyber law?

 There are different forms of punishment depending on the type of
cyber law you broke, who you offended, where you broke the law, and
where you live. In many situations, breaking the rules on a website
result in your account becoming suspended or banned and your IP
addressed blocked. To determine the consequences of your action for
minor offenses, we recommend reviewing the companies terms of
service or rules.If you've committed a more serious offense such as
hacking, attacking another person or website, or causing another
person or company distress, additional action may be taken against
you.

Q.23 Give the advantages of the IT Act 2000.

The IT Act 2000 attempts to change outdated laws and provides

ways to deal with cybercrimes. We need such laws so that people
can perform purchase transactions over the Net through credit
cards without fear of misuse. The Act offers the much-needed legal
framework so that information is not denied legal effect, validity or
enforceability, solely on the ground that it is in the form of
electronic records.

In view of the growth in transactions and communications carried

out through electronic records, the Act seeks to empower
government departments to accept filing, creating and retention of
official documents in the digital format. The Act has also proposed
a legal framework for the authentication and origin of electronic
records / communications through digital signature.
* From the perspective of e-commerce in India, the IT Act 2000
and its provisions contain many positive aspects. Firstly, the
implications of these provisions for the e-businesses would be that
email would now be a valid and legal form of communication in our
country that can be duly produced and approved in a court of law.
* Companies shall now be able to carry out electronic commerce
using the legal infrastructure provided by the Act.
* Digital signatures have been given legal validity and sanction in
the Act.
* The Act throws open the doors for the entry of corporate
companies in the business of being Certifying Authorities for
issuing Digital Signatures Certificates.
* The Act now allows Government to issue notification on the web
thus heralding e-governance.
* The Act enables the companies to file any form, application or any
other document with any office, authority, body or agency owned or
controlled by the appropriate Government in electronic form by
means of such electronic form as may be prescribed by the
 appropriate Government.
* The IT Act also addresses the important issues of security, which
are so critical to the success of electronic transactions. The Act has
given a legal definition to the concept of secure digital signatures
that would be required to have been passed through a system of a
security procedure, as stipulated by the Government at a later date.
* Under the IT Act, 2000, it shall now be possible for corporates to
have a statutory remedy in case if anyone breaks into their
computer systems or network and cause loss.

Q.24 What do you mean by a copyright?

Copyright is a form of intellectual property protection provided by

the laws of the United States. Copyright protection is available for
original works of authorship that are fixed in a tangible form,
whether published or unpublished. The categories of works that can
be protected by copyright laws include paintings, literary works,
live performances, photographs, movies, and software.

This article provides a brief overview of what copyright is, the rights
of the copyright owner, how to register a copyright, and the
importance of including a copyright notice on your work.
The primary goal of copyright law is to protect the time, effort, and
creativity of the work's creator. As such, the Copyright Act gives the
copyright owner certain exclusive rights, including the right to:

Reproduce the work

Prepare "derivative works" (other works based on the original
work)
Distribute copies of the work by sale, lease, or other transfer of
ownership
Perform the work publicly
Display the work publicly

q.25 What do you mean by Digital Ethics?

Digital Ethics is the study of how to manage oneself ethically,

professionally and in a clinically sound manner via online and
digital mediums. Every psychologist who uses the Internet or a cell
phone (which amounts to nearly all of us) must look at issues, such
as:
 What can my clients find out about me online?
 Is it ethical for me to Google my clients?
 What if I find out information about my clients that is
clinically significant?
 Should I be Facebook friends with my clients?
 How do I handle clients’ Friend requests on Facebook, or
follows on Twitter?
In addition to these issues, there are the questions of how to handle
bad Yelp or other online reviews; what digital or online
correspondence belongs in the clinical records; how to keep secure
records in the digital era.
The best way to explore these questions is to start doing research.
Curious about what your clients can find out about you online?
Conduct a search on yourself, using several different search
terms, such as: “Dr. John Smith, Notown, State” or “Dr. Smith,
psychologist” and so on. You may be surprised at what you find.
Be wise about Googling your clients. If you find something
about them that is important, and they had not told you, this may
alter the course of therapy. You may be in a position where your
choices are to tell the client you Googled them (which they may or
may not mind), or to try and separate what they tell you from what
you found out elsewhere. Some therapists Google their clients for
safety reasons, before the first session. Consider your own motives
and consider consultation before searching for your clients.
Your clients may very well Google you! And they are not –
nor should they be – restricted from doing so in any way. Many
clients first find, and later research, their therapists online. Know
what clients can find out about you online, and be prepared to
answer questions on what is out there. We suggest setting up a
Google Alert) with the various searches on your name, so you can
be alerted when there is new information published online about
you.
A negative online review can be damaging for your career. If
you get one, the best thing to do is encourage your colleagues
(never your clients, because soliciting testimonials from clients is
unethical) to post positive reviews of you, to balance it out. Most
people understand that there may be a person unsatisfied with a
business, and that does not mean the business is bad overall.
Embarking on Facebook friendships with clients should be
handled with care. We recommend placing clients on “Limited
Profile” or creating a separate professional Facebook Page for your
clinical and other professional work. Other practitioners simply do
not interact with clients on social networking sites; you can choose
any policy that is ethical and makes sense for you.