Author

editor

Browsing

In the early days, people used crude methods to communicate.

However, the evolution of the internet has helped people to communicate even better. At the forefront of this breakthrough is mobile communication.

You can now communicate on the go using your mobile device. Also, people can use their mobile devices to know what is going on around them.

Different mobile trends would have a significant impact on the industry. Some of them are AI Personalisation, Enhanced Security, Cloud Technology, and so forth.

However, this article will focus on five of these trends.

AI Personalisation

Artificial intelligence is the branch of computer science that focuses on machines copying human behaviour to make intelligent decisions.

You need a large amount of data to be able to create an AI system that works. The breakthrough of AI in mobile apps came in 2011 when Apple launched Siri.

The integration of AI into mobile is done using sensors or chat boxes. Top companies use AI as a powerful tool to attract and retain customers.

One of the ways AI is driving mobile app personalisation is through reasoning. Mobile apps that use AI can reason out solutions to the problems of the users.

These solutions come when the machine learns from recurring patterns. Another way AI drive mobile personalisation is through AI-Powered Prediction.

The machine can predict the behaviour of the customer by tracing their history.

Different Form Factors

Mobile devices are getting better in form factor.

Top mobile companies put in a lot of work to produce different phone designs for their users.

Some of these companies are Samsung, Motorola, Apple, and more. In the 1990s, the form factor of mobile phones was the brick-like design.

Then it gradually shifted into “candy bar” designs in the early 2000s.

In the late 1990s, the first-ever mobile phone with the “slider” form factor was launched. This phone gained more popularity when it was used in the popular film — The Matrix.

Also, the flip phone was released in the late 1990s — The Motorola StarTAC. In 2019, Samsung and Huawei showcased their foldable phones.

The foldable form factor means users can now have a larger screen. Interestingly, these phones can still fit into the pockets of users because they are foldable.

Enhanced Security

Many workplaces now use mobile devices to improve the efficiency of work delivery. However, mobile devices pose different threats to the network security of the company.

Some of these threats are unsecured WI-FI, spyware, phishing scams, malicious mobile apps, and so forth. Companies can adopt different security solutions in their processes to combat these threats.

In fact, many online casinos like Platin Casino on Mobile are investing more in security measures to keep their consumer base safe and happy.

Enterprise Mobile Management Platforms is one of the security solutions companies can adopt. It allows the company to manage the real-time activities of employees and spot potential threats.

Email security is another solution. Email is the easiest way hackers can spread malware. To combat this, companies need to install advanced email security tools that will block these threats.

Increased Interest in AR

Another trend that is gaining attention is Augmented Reality technology.

This is because top companies like Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon, and Facebook now use the technology.

Mobile AR saw a major break when Apple and Google launched Apple ARKit 4 and Google ARCore.

The launch of these technologies in 2017 has helped developers to explore the AR market. Android users can use the Google AR Core while iPhone users can use the Apple ARKit 4.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies had to resort to work-from-home.

Also, businesses leveraged AR technologies to help solve the problems of their clients remotely. The AR technology now allows businesses to use Remote Assistance and Virtual Manuals.

IT Technicians can now give solutions to clients’ problems through on-screen directions. However, both parties need to use one app to have the same AR experience.

Increased Dependability on Cloud Technology

Cloud technology is another trend that is getting a buzz from many companies.

The technology allows companies to access files, share software, and house databases from powerful remote servers.

Local machines can access different information from these computers via the internet. Cloud computing provides more flexibility and ease of data management to companies.

Aside from that, it helps companies to reduce the cost of installing physical infrastructures.

Serverless Computing allows companies to develop and run applications in the cloud.

All the maintenance, scaling, and upgrading of the application is done by cloud service providers for a fee.

Cloud Gaming is another cloud technology that is gaining popularity. It helps gamers to enjoy their favourite games directly from the server.

Hybrid Cloud is also a cloud technology that allows companies to share data between their public and private cloud.

Conclusion

All in all, the internet is the bedrock of all these exciting trends. Companies are now embracing mobile communication because of the flexibility it offers.

AI can now be incorporated into mobile using sensors and chat boxes. One of the ways AI is driving mobile app personalisation is through reasoning.

Additionally, another mobile trend is the form factor. Cloud Technology and Augmented Reality are also gaining popularity among users.

With all these exciting trends, we can say mobile technology is here to stay.

Feature Image Credit: fauxels on Pexels.com

By Kingsley Felix

https://kraftysprouts.media

Kingsley Felix, 2 time African Blogger of the year (2015, 2016) is the founder of Krafty Sprouts Media, LLC, a small digital media publishing agency registered in Sheridan, Wyoming, USA. Based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria i make sure things run smoothly and effectively, an enthusiast in tech, animals, health, politics and many more… (yup the real jack of all trade, master of all 😀🤣)

Sourced from TX THE XPLORION

Sourced from wpbeginner

Do you want to get a Google featured snippet with your WordPress site?

Featured snippets are the highlighted results for a Google search. Users are more likely to click on a featured snippet than a plain search result.

In this article, we will show you how to get a Google featured snippet with your WordPress site without any technical knowledge.

Here is a quick overview of things we’ll cover in this article:

What are Google Featured Snippets?

Google featured snippets are highlighted results that’s shown at the top of the page above position one that’s why they’re also known as position 0.

In the featured snippet, Google may display a search result in the Answer box or highlight it using microdata from your website.

For example, if Google thinks that your website will answers user’s question adequately, then it will appear on top with relevant text displayed as the description.

Answer box

Similarly, Google also uses Schema.org metadata to fetch important information from websites and display them in search results at the top. For example, if you search for a local business, then their relevant business information will be at the top.

Local search results preview

Featured snippets can enhance product pages for your online store, better showcase your recipes, highlight your real estate listings, and more.

Product results with ratings and reviews

The enhanced search display of featured snippets improves your organic click-through rate and brings more free traffic to your website.

This is why all smart business owners optimize their website, so they can have maximum chances of appearing as featured snippets in Google search.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to get Google featured snippets for your WordPress posts and pages.

Getting Google Featured Snippet using All in One SEO

Google uses Schema.org metadata and their knowledge graph API to display different types of featured snippets.

Schema markup is a special vocabulary that you can use in your content’s HTML code to give search engines more context about your website and individual pages.

In the early days, this used to be hard for small businesses because it involved a lot of coding.

But that’s not the case anymore, thanks to plugins like All in One SEO for WordPress.

It is the best WordPress SEO plugin on the market that’s used by over 2 million websites. They help you easily optimize your website for higher search engine rankings.

AIOSEO automatically adds Schema.org support which helps you provide information for Google Knowledge Graph. It has full WooCommerce SEO support, local SEO, images, news, video optimization, and more.

First, you need to install and activate the All in One SEO for WordPress plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you’ll be asked to run the setup wizard. It is the easiest way to quickly select the best SEO settings for your website.

All in One SEO set up wizard

Need help with the setup? See our complete guide on how to install and set up All in One SEO for WordPress.

Now, if you have followed the setup wizard, the basic settings for your website to appear in featured snippets are already set.

But we’ll show you what they do and how to change them if you need to.

Setting up Knowledge Graph Information in WordPress

First, you need to visit All in One SEO » Search Appearance page and scroll down to the Knowledge Graph section.

Knowledge graph information

From here, you can tell the search engines who your website represents (i.e. An organization or an individual). After that, you can provide your business phone number, logo, and contact type information.

Don’t forget to click on the Save Changes button to store your settings.

Knowledge Graph information is used by search engines to display knowledge panels. These panels appear when someone searches for an organization or individual person.

Knowledge panels in Google Search

Adding Local Business Information to Featured Snippets

More than 40% of all searches on the internet have a local intent. Majority of these searches lead to sales as users are looking for directions and things to buy near them.

Many businesses and organizations have retail locations and offices that customers can visit.

You can add this information using All in One SEO and let search engines automatically display it in featured snippets.

Local search results preview

First, go to the All in One SEO » Local SEO page and activate the Local SEO feature.

Choose single or multiple locations

Upon activation, you can choose if your organization or business has multiple locations. If you do, then you can go ahead and start adding those locations otherwise you can scroll down to add your business information.

Business information

After that, switch to the Opening Hours tab to add your business hours.

Opening hours for your business

For more details, check out our article on how to add business hours in WordPress.

Finally, you need to connect and verify your business using Google My Business website. This gives you more control over your business’s appearance in Google search results and improves your chances appearing more often in featured snippets.

Add SEO Schema Markup in WordPress Posts / Pages

All in One SEO automatically adds the correct Schema markup for your content. However, you can review these settings and change them if needed.

Simply go to All in One SEO » Search Appeaerance page and switch to the content types tab. From here, you’ll see all your post types listed (posts, pages, products).

You need to click on the ‘Schema’ for a post type to change its default settings.

Default schema settings

What if you didn’t want to change schema type for all posts? Well, AIOSEO let’s you change Schema markup for individual posts, pages, and other post types as well.

Simply edit the post or page you want to change and scroll down to the AIOSEO settings box below the post editor.

Default schema settings

This feature is particularly useful for businesses that use Pages to sell products with or without using an Ecommerce plugins. You can then simply edit your product landing page and change its schema type to Product.

Changing any page schema to a product in WordPress

Another way to turn your search listing into a more enhanced featured snippet is by using Breadcrumb navigation.

Breadcrumb navigation tells users where they are on a website relative to the homepage. It is then displayed as a trail of links and would also appear in search results.

Breadcrumb navigation in search results

You can also display the breadcrumb navigation trail on your website. This allows users to go up and down, browse categories, and discover more products and content.

Breadcrumbs on a WooCommerce store product page

For search engines, All in One SEO automatically adds the required markup to your website’s HTML code. However, if you want to display breadcrumbs on your site too, then you can go to All in One SEO » General Settings page and switch to the Breadcrumbs tab.

Enable breadcrumbs display in All in One SEO

From here, you need to Enable Breadcrumbs and then use one of the available methods to display the links. For more details, check out our article on how to add breadcrumb navigation links in WordPress.

Get Site Links for WordPress in Google Search

Site Links are the additional links that Google may show below a particular search term. They usually appear for brand and website names, but they may appear for other types of searches as well.

Site Links

To get site links, you need to add your website to Google Search Console and submit your XML sitemap.

Add sitemap to Google Search Console

You can increase your chances of getting site links by creating a proper website structure. This includes adding all the important pages for your website and use categories to properly organize your website structure.

Appear in The Answer Box for Google Search

What’s better than ranking #1 for a keyword?

Ranking #0 in the answer box.

Answer boxes are the search results that appear on the top and Google considers them to be answering user’s search intent.

Answer box

Answer boxes have an average click-through rate of 32% which makes them highly lucrative. Particularly for keywords with a purchase intent Answer boxes can lead to sales and boost conversions.

The only way to appear in the answer boxes is to improve the quality of your content. Make sure it is comprehensive and answers users’ questions from different angles.

See our detailed tutorial on how to appear in the Google Answer boxes with your WordPress posts and pages.

We hope this tutorial helped you get featured snippets with your WordPress site. You may also want to see our guide on how to get more traffic to your website with proven tips, and our comparison of the best email marketing services.

Sourced from wpbeginner

By Thom Murtagh

Inbound marketing serves to attract potential customers by dazzling them with great online content, specifically tailored for them.

Compare this to outbound marketing — which often interrupts potential customers in ways they might not appreciate — such as telemarketing, cold calling and television or radio commercials.

But by providing people with valuable content they can consume at their leisure, you can not only generate leads, but you can also secure lifelong customers. This makes inbound marketing essential for gaining new customers and creating loyal brand ambassadors.

Let’s take a look at what comprises inbound marketing, how to effectively implement the four stages of a successful inbound marketing strategy and why this is such an important aspect of your overall marketing strategy.

What is Inbound Marketing?

At its core, inbound marketing provides potential and long-time customers with valuable content. You accomplish this by guiding consumers through the buyers’ journey, and you do it all without actually advertising or outright promoting your brand.

Inbound marketers work in collaboration with the company’s sales team to draft a profile of your desired target audience. This includes answering questions such as:

  • “Who is our ideal customer?”
  • “What kind of income levels do they have?”
  • “Which demographic do they belong to?”
  • “How does our product or service solve a problem they’re having?”

With these buyer personas in hand, you can then move to the next phase of crafting your strategy: following the four stages of inbound marketing methodology.

The 4 Stages of Inbound Methodology

Generally speaking, you can divide your inbound marketing strategy into four main stages:

1. Attract

The first step is catching the eye of potential customers. Ways to attract these consumers vary, but ultimately this is what generates your leads.

Your goal should be to use SEO-enhanced digital marketing content, such as blogs or infographics, or a strong social media presence to drive people to your website, where you can move them further down your sales funnel.

2. Convert

After attracting site visitors, you then need to convert these leads into prospects. You can accomplish this through form-fills, calls-to-action or gated material on your website’s landing pages.

3. Close

Once you’ve converted the leads into prospects, you need to then close the deals. A CRM can identify where each of the leads came from while also tracking the sale sizes, which helps you further hone your messaging.

4. Engage

Your work isn’t done after closing the deal. You still need to delight your customers in engaging ways to earn their brand loyalty and turn them into long-time buyers.

How Can Content Attract Customers?

Each stage of the inbound marketing methodology is important, as is the type of content used at each stage. The type of digital content you publish should relate to the particular inbound methodology stage you’re trying to reach. But most importantly, this content needs to be valuable.

Quality content is key.

Whether it’s in the form of digital ads, videos, blogging, social media or graphics, the content you use in your inbound marketing campaign needs to be entertaining, informative and valuable to your customers.

When your content meets these criteria, you build more brand awareness, credibility and trust, while also educating the audience about your solutions. This helps create demand and, ultimately, generates leads.

How to Create Valuable Content

You have many options for what kind of content you can create to attract or engage customers, so long as you make sure you’re providing something of substance for them.

In the Attract Stage, you can collect data from industry analysts and market research, and share this data in easily digestible and shareable content, such as an infographic or a listicle blog.

Depending on your industry, you might want to make this fun and lively if you have a B2C model. Or, on the other hand, consider utilizing your industry subject matter expertise and write long-form, serious thought leadership pieces.

For example, you can attract consumers with your digital content if they are specifically searching for particular answers to a question they typed into Google. If your piece of content, say a blog, uses search engine optimized (SEO) keywords and phrases specific to your target audience, Google will give your content a high rank on its search engine results page (SERP). This, in turn, attracts viewers to the blog on your website.

Similarly, a strong social media strategy can work to help keep customers engaged. The brand’s official social media accounts can listen for feedback, answer questions, conduct surveys and generally just interact with other users.

It’s important to keep in mind that the type of content you use throughout the four stages of your inbound marketing strategy should all work in tandem and flow from one stage to the next.

While it might require you spending some time to craft and implement your own strategy that’s best suited for your brand’s needs, inbound marketing remains a cost-effective and proven method of marketing.

By Thom Murtagh

Thom Murtagh is a Chicago-based copywriter and digital marketing specialist. He enjoys cooking, jamming out on the ukulele, and trying to keep pace with the never-ending deluge of new movies, shows, and books.

Sourced from Brafton

By Matt Moran

“Blogging is dead”. They said that back in 2007. And again in 2008… and 2009… and 2010.

Yet here we are, a decade later, and blogging is still a powerful inbound marketing medium and source of revenue for many.

Maybe the truth is this: blogging isn’t going anywhere – it’s just evolving.

To shed some light on the current state of blogging, we’ve compiled a list of the most important blogging statistics, trends, and facts.

These blogging stats will show you exactly what blogging looks like this year and provide useful insights you can use to inform your blogging strategy.

Key blogging statistics

Let’s start by taking a look at some of the most important blogging statistics.

1. There are at least half a billion blogs on the internet

500 million is a conservative ballpark estimate, given that there were 496 million blogs on Tumblr alone as of April last year. And that’s not even counting all the Wix, WordPress, and Blogger blogs on the internet.

Blogging Statistic 1

The takeaway: Yes, the blogging space is definitely saturated at this point, but there’s always room for more. It’s still possible to carve out your own space in the market if you find the right niche and consistently create high-quality content.

2. 77% of all internet users still read blogs

“Who even reads blogs anymore, am I right?” Nope. As it turns out, you’re very wrong.

77% of all internet users regularly read blogs – and some of them probably don’t even know it. A huge chunk of the informational content we consume while looking for information are blog posts, even if they don’t look like it.  How-to posts, listicles, and buying guides are just some of the many different formats that blog posts can take.

3. The top blogs make over $1m+ per year

If you were wondering if you can still make money blogging, here’s your answer. The top 0.6% of blogs generate 7 figures a year in revenue.

Don’t worry, I know what you’re thinking: what about the other 99.4%? Well, it’s not just the elite that makes money. The top 10% of bloggers also make over $10,000 per year. That might not be quite a full-time income, but it sure is a nice side-hustle. (Source: Hosting Tribunal)

4. 86% of content marketers use blog posts as part of their strategy

This makes blog posts the most popular content format amongst marketers. Perhaps surprisingly, email comes in at a distant second place at just 67%. (Source: SEMrush)

Blogging Statistic 4

5. Blogs are the #2 form of media used in content strategy

Blogs lost out on the top spot this year to video, but they’re still a very popular form of media amongst content marketers – and it’s no surprise why. Blog content is a powerful, cost-effective way to generate traffic and leads. (Source: HubSpot, 2020)

Blogging Statistic 5

Blogging marketing statistics

Wondering how blogging fits into your marketing strategy? Take a look at the marketing-related blogging stats below.

6. Businesses that blog generate twice the email traffic…

According to a HubSpot study of over 6,000 companies, those that blog get x2 the email traffic compared to those that don’t. Why? Simple: because blog emails contain content that customers want to read, and traditional emails don’t. (Source: HubSpot)

Blogging Statistic 6

7 … And 67% more monthly leads

Yup, companies with blogs produce 67% more leads each month than those without them. I think that statistic speaks for itself and proves if more proof be needed just how effective blogging is for lead generation. (Source: Demand Metric)

8. 97% of bloggers promote their blog posts on social media

Distribution is an important part of blog content success – and social media is the go-to distribution channel for bloggers. (Source: Statista)

Blogging Statistic 8

9. 61% of US consumers spend 3x as long consuming blog content than email content

Consumers still spend a lot more time reading blog content than they do emails – but that doesn’t mean you should neglect email marketing either. There’s room for both in your strategy. (Source: Social Media Today)

Blogging Statistic 9

10. Businesses with blogs get 97% more inbound links

And as we know, more inbound links means more ranking power. That’s why so many marketers create blog posts as part of their outreach strategy. (Source: HubSpot)

11. 1-2% is the average blog visit-to-lead conversion rate

In a survey by Databox, almost 25% of marketers said they had a lead-to-visit conversion rate somewhere between 1-2%. This is a good benchmark to compare your own blog conversion rates against.

Blogging Statistic 11

General blogging statistics

Here are some general blogging statistics that shed light on important questions about blogging monetization, growth, frequency, and more.

12. Only 1 in 3 bloggers monetize their blogs

That means the vast majority (2/3rds) of all blogs out there don’t generate any revenue. These not-for-profit blogs are likely mostly personal blogs run by hobbyists, rather than business blogs. (Source: Hosting Tribunal)

13. Affiliate marketing is the top blog monetization strategy

Amongst bloggers that do monetize, affiliate marketing is the most popular way of making money. The Amazon affiliate program is particularly popular and allows bloggers to earn affiliate revenue when readers click through their links before purchasing items on Amazon. (Source: First Site Guide)

Blogging Statistic 13

14. WordPress is the fastest growing blogging platform

Tumblr technically is the most popular blogging platform, given that there are over 470 million blog accounts registered on their platform, but as Tumblr is technically a microblogging platform and more akin to a social media platform than a website builder, it’s better suited to hobbyists than serious bloggers. Amongst business blogs, WordPress remains the gold-standard. (Source: W3techs)

15. There are roughly 70 million new WordPress blog posts published each month

…and 77 million new comments. And that’s just on WordPress. The total number of blogs across platforms is anyone’s guess, but Worldometers provides a running live estimate based on a formula that factors in WordPress market share and historical trends. As of the time of writing, there have already been 6.4 million blog posts published today.

Blogging Statistic 15

16. Content quality is the most important blog success-factor

Making sure you’re writing top-notch content is the number one most important thing you can do to make sure your blog is a success. (Source: GrowthBadger)

Blogging Statistic 16

17. 22% of bloggers post 2-3 times per week

If you’re wondering how often you should be publishing new blog posts, 2-3 times a week might be a good place to start. More bloggers post 2-3 times per week than any other frequency. (Source: First Site Guide)

Blogging Statistic 17

Blogging ranking & SEO statistics

For many bloggers, the goal of each post is to rank at the top of the search results pages for their target keywords. But to do that, you need to nail your on-page SEO. Here are some blogging ranking/SEO stats that’ll help you to do that.

18. 95% of all blog traffic goes to page-1 results

If your post isn’t landing on page 1 for your target keyword, it might as well not exist as far as organic search traffic is concerned. The vast majority of searchers won’t go past the first page to find the content they’re looking for. (Source: Brafton)

19. The ideal blog post length (for SEO) is 2,100 – 2,400 words

According to data gathered by HubSpot. In other words, blog posts that are in this word count range stand the best chance of ranking well on the SERPs. Earlier data from Backlinko found that the average length of a page-1 blog post was 1890 words.

20. 83% of bloggers still do keyword research

If you thought keywords were no longer relevant, think again. While optimizing your blog posts around a specific keyword might be less important as Google’s algorithm has got better at assessing search intent, it’s still important. And that’s why the vast majority of bloggers still do keyword research to come up with topic ideas for their posts. (Source: Orbitmedia.com)

21. Most experts think marketers should target 2-5 keywords in each blog post

Don’t just optimize your posts around one keyword. Think about variations of your keyword that your readers are likely to search for and include a handful of them throughout your content. The more keywords you rank for, the more opportunities for traffic your post will get. (Source: Databox)

Blogging Statistic 21

22.  Most blogs ranking on page-1 of Google include the target keyword in their title tag

The title tag has long been considered one of the most important on-page SEO elements, and that still holds true today, as proven by this stat from Backlinko.

Blogging Statistic 22

If you want to learn more, be sure to check out our dedicated article on SEO statistics.

Blog content statistics

The blog content statistics below provide useful insight that’ll help you to create high-quality posts that get more clicks, shares, and engagement.

23. The average blog post length is 1269 words

2,100+ words might be best for SEO purposes, but the majority of blog posts out there are still shorter than that. The average length was 1269 words as of 2020, which is still more than 50% higher than it was 6 years ago.

Blogging Statistic 23

Why the increase? Well, one clear trend over the last few years has been a shift towards long-form content. Google seems to like content that covers a given topic in-depth over thin content. (Source: Orbit Media)

24. It takes 2-3 hours, on average, to write a blog post

This is how long most respondents in a survey by Databox said they spent creating blog posts. The same respondents said it takes over 8 hours to produce video content. This makes blogging significantly less time consuming than other inbound marketing content creation.

25. Blog posts that include an image every 75-100 words generate twice the shares

Nobody likes boring walls of text. Visual elements like images and videos enrich your blog posts, help to keep your audience’s attention and make your content much more shareable. Make sure you’re using them in your posts. (Source: HubSpot)

26. Blog post headlines that are 6-13 words long drive the most traffic

Aim to keep the word count of your headlines somewhere in this range to maximize your traffic potential. (Source: OptinMonster)

27. Consumers spend 88% more time on pages that include video content

Dwell time is one of the most important metrics you can use to measure the success of a blog. The longer your readers hang around on your post, the greater chance you have of ranking in the search engine results pages for your target keywords.

And one way you can boost your blog post dwell time is to add in video or audio content. 88% of consumers will spend more time on your page if it includes video content, and 45% of bloggers who include audio in their posts achieve better results.

28. “How-to” posts are the most popular blog content format

77% of respondents in an Orbit Media survey said they’d published how-to articles in the last 12 months. This makes it by far the most popular type of content amongst bloggers. (Source: Orbit Media)

Blogging Statistic 28

Blogging traffic statistics

Wondering how to drive more traffic to your blog? Check out these blogging traffic statistics.

29. Businesses that publish 16+ posts/month generate 3.5x more traffic

The upshot of this is clear: more posts means more traffic. Aim to publish at least 3 posts per week if your content calendar allows and watch as your traffic goes through the roof. (Source: HubSpot)

30. Compounding blog posts generate 38% of all blog traffic

This is despite the fact that only 10% of all blog posts are compounding blog posts. What are compounding posts, you ask?

Well, in a nutshell, they’re posts that generate traffic that grows over time. They’re the opposite of ‘decaying posts’, which are posts that generate traffic that peaks when first published but then declines over time (like news stories and posts about passing trends).

Blogging Statistic 30

Aim to create content around ‘evergreen topics’ that are likely to appeal to your audience and for years to come and you should see more traffic over the long term. (Source: HubSpot)

31. The use of promotional techniques to drive blog traffic is up 93% over the past year

It’s getting harder and harder to generate organic traffic, and bloggers/marketers are increasingly reliant on paid ads to drive traffic to their content. (Source: OptinMonster)

Blogging challenges statistics

While blogging might not be dead yet, the industry is nonetheless facing challenges. Here are some statistics that show the main hurdles brands, marketers, and independent bloggers face in getting their posts off the ground this year.

32. The average reader spends just 37 seconds reading a blog post

What does this mean? It means you need to work harder at grabbing your reader’s attention right off the bat. The average blog reader has a short attention span. Make sure you’re hooking them in in your introduction and keep them engaged with great content so that they stick around. (Source: NewsCred)

33. Around 27% of US internet users use ad blocking software

That number’s been growing steadily year on year. What does it mean for bloggers? Well, if you generate an income from traditional ad networks, you might want to start looking for new revenue streams. More future-proof monetization strategies include affiliate revenue and sponsored content. (Source: Statista)

34. 92.42% of keywords get less than ten monthly searches

Finding low-competition, high search-volume keywords is getting harder and harder as the blogging space becomes increasingly saturated. (Source: Ahrefs)

35. The average top-ranking blog post is 2+ years old

Blogging (and content marketing more generally) has always been a long-term game. It takes a while for your posts to gain traction and start ranking, as this stat proves. The average blog post ranking in the top 10 results is 2+ years old. If you’re looking for fast results and want to drive website traffic quickly, blogging might not be the right way to go. (Source: Ahrefs)

36. Around 74% of marketers think videos are better than blog posts for lead generation

One trend we’ve seen over the last few years is a ‘pivot to video’. Marketers are increasingly prioritizing video content to generate leads over blog posts – but that doesn’t mean blogs don’t have a place in your strategy.

While video content is great, it typically costs more and takes longer to make than blog content. Plus, it’s not ideal longer in every situation. Some readers (think busy commuters or people in the workplace) are more likely to want to skim a blog post than watch a video.

Final thoughts

There you have it – 36 enlightening blogging statistics, facts, and trends. We hope you were able to draw some useful insights from them!

If you take away just one thing from this article, let it be this: blogging is still a viable marketing method and way to make money as long as you put in the effort.

Focus on creating high-quality content that your readers will love and the traffic will take care of itself.

By Matt Moran

Sourced from STARTUP BONSAI

Sourced from Boss Magazine

As we move into the digital era, YouTube marketing is becoming the prime factor of success for any business or brand promotion. YouTube offers a platform to publish valuable video…

As we move into the digital era, YouTube marketing is becoming the prime factor of success for any business or brand promotion. YouTube offers a platform to publish valuable video content that has the power to bring in millions of subscribers across the world. However, it requires consistency and a unique marketing strategy.

Most brands focus on finding the best sites to buy YouTube views. This will help to boost your channel on YouTube. However, to increase the engagement rate and build a loyal subscriber list, it is essential to focus on developing an excellent strategy. Look at the five best ways to boost your business through YouTube and start increasing engagement and subscribers on your channel.

Customize your YouTube Channel

Visual brand identity plays a crucial role in growing your business on YouTube. Therefore, customize your YouTube channel to attract more subscribers. Pay attention to the following tips for creating an optimized YouTube channel –

  • Profile and cover photo – always use your brand logo as the profile photo. Headshots work well for independent video bloggers. Similarly, create an appealing cover photo for your channel. The cover photo or YouTube Art should provide the audience a clear idea about what the channel is all about.
  • Channel description – it is also known as the ‘YouTube About Page’. This is where your viewers can learn more about you and your business. Create an informative bio. Tell your audience what your brand is all about and the type of content you publish on your channel.
  • Video titles and descriptions – create compelling video titles and use industry-specific keywords to help your video rank higher in search results. You can also add information about your website, business catalogue, and much more in the description box.

Create Trending Videos

Trending videos are the best ways to increase engagement rate on YouTube. Your audience can view the trending videos on the YouTube homepage under the ‘Trending Tab’. These videos reflect popular culture and provide an opportunity to make your videos go viral on YouTube.

While buying YouTube subscribers will help you boost your content on YouTube, viral videos will help to create significant exposure for your brand. Besides following the trend, your content should also be valuable or informative.

Include Interactive Call-To-Actions

Call-to-actions are an excellent way to increase engagement on YouTube. Set clear and concise key actions to encourage people to like, share and subscribe to your YouTube channel. For example, create an entertaining video that will hook your audience. Use end screens, annotations, YouTube cards and ask your viewers to subscribe to your channel for more updates.

Another powerful way to get more subscribers is to run giveaway campaigns to increase audience participation. Add your website link in the description and ask your subscribers to check your brand collection. This will bring more traffic to your website. Thus, helping you boost your business through YouTube.

Collaborate with Other YouTubers

Collaborative videos are most popular among content creators. It is an excellent way to find your target audience and increase your YouTube subscribers. Moreover, it also provides social proof for your YouTube channel.

Partner with well-known content creators on YouTube who are relevant to your niche and brand. It is not necessary to limit yourself to one YouTuber. You can create promotional videos, talk shows, tutorials, and challenge videos with other YouTubers. This will generate excitement among your audience. Thus increasing video views and engagement rate.

Go Live on YouTube

YouTube Live broadcast is the perfect way to interact with your audience in real-time. Most brands and businesses get tremendous traffic and result from YouTube live streams. Here you can answer questions, tell your story, and share updates about upcoming events or sales.

You can also share valuable information about your brand or host a talk show with your industry experts or influencers to keep your audience engaged. It is an effective way to build trust and credibility with your audience that will boost your business.

Conclusion

YouTube marketing is a continuous learning process. As you use the features and create more videos, you will get better at optimizing your channel to gain more subscribers. Most businesses and brands buy YouTube subscribers to boost their content. But you must also focus on the quality and execution of your videos.

Be consistent, collaborate with others and interact with your audience. Follow the above steps to increase engagement on your YouTube channel. The more engagement you create, the more subscribers you’ll get. And over time, you’ll be able to boost your business through YouTube.

Sourced from Boss Magazine

By Tracey Wallace

Know what to look for before you hire your next content marketer.

Are you looking to hire an expert content marketer, but struggling to sort through the masses of marketers who say they have the writing chops? You’re not alone.

“Everyone — and I mean EVERYONE — thinks they’re a writer,” says Rebecca Reynoso, senior editor at G2.

A lot of marketers are writers, but there is a big difference between a great copywriter and a great content marketer –– and it’s one that isn’t discussed as often as it should be.

Copywriting is what you see earning people massive following on LinkedIn and Twitter –– and it’s even what is most often featured in marketing educational series. For instance, in the popular newsletter Harry’s Marketing Examples, you’ll see several rewritten website headlines claiming to help increase conversion. And they probably do just that. But that is not content marketing. That is copywriting.

So, what is content marketing and what skills should you be looking for in the person you hire? Let’s get that clear.

The difference between content marketing and copywriting

A lot of content marketers are also fantastic copywriters, and the reverse is true too. A lot of expert copywriters are admirable content marketers. But, just because there is a crossover doesn’t mean the two are one in the same.

Content marketers build a content strategy for a brand, and then put together the plan and oversee the execution of that plan to realize the overall strategy. The plan includes content research, content briefs, content writing, content editing, SEO optimization, graphic design, and finally, content distribution.

Copywriters are often helpful in the writing portion of the plan (though copywriters historically have written shorter form content than is typically needed for search-optimized blog posts these days) and in the content-distribution section of the plan. After all, copywriters know how to tell a story and engage an audience. And there’s no better place to do that right now for a audience than social media platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter.

The top skills expert content marketers have mastered

If you’re looking for a true expert in content marketing, you’ll want someone who is also a great copywriter. But that’s not where his or her skills end. Here are the eight main skills great content marketers have mastered, and how they help your business grow.

1. Content strategy

The ability to formulate and present a clear and coherent content strategy is a must-have for expert content marketers. Many content marketers can execute on a strategy, but not all of them can do the research necessary to put together a long-term strategy, detail the waterfall method in which that strategy will be executed (thus creating a plan) and have the ability to present that plan to founders or executives for sign off.

This is a skill senior content marketers hone over time, and if you’re looking for an expert, you’ll want to ask questions in the interview that help you understand if they’ve been able to do this successfully.

2. Project management

The second most crucial skill for an expert content marketer is project-management ability. Many organizations are content-first, but they don’t necessarily realize it. That is to say, successful organizations often repurpose content from the blog, case studies and more for their ads, email marketing, sales-enablement material, etc.

This allows content to not only be measured on SEO success, which is a really good thing because SEO can take six months or more to begin to work.

Content-first organizations need a strong content strategy that takes the full funnel into account, and they need a strong project manager who can report clearly on when content will be ready and help the team autonomously create expert content for every single stage of the funnel.

Related: 5 Ways to Improve Your Startup’s Project Management

3. SEO basics

Having a clear content strategy and great project-management skills doesn’t rid you of the requirement to understand the fundamentals of SEO. A great content-marketing strategy will build organic search traffic over time, helping to reduce CAC and build brand awareness and brand trust.

Now, your expert content marketer doesn’t need to know the technical bits of SEO (or how to implement them), but he or she should have a clear enough understanding of Google’s algorithm to build a content strategy that has you ranking for relevant terms, and that allows him or her to optimize content before it goes live.

Ask him or her about the content marketing tools he or she uses specifically for SEO. The answer shouldn’t be “None.”

4. Creative production management

Every single piece of content that is produced, whether it’s for your blog or for your sales team, will require graphic design. After all, you want to put your best foot forward with your content, and great design helps create brand cohesion across all of your assets.

Similar to the project-management experience mentioned above, expert content marketers have experience managing a creative production pipeline to ensure blog hero images are delivered on time and that PDFs are being designed as needed for further down the funnel.

5. Copywriting

Here we are back at copywriting –– it is a crucial content-marketing skill. Great copywriting will accomplish the following:

  • Increase the click through from organic search results to website.
  • Grow your branded audience on social media platforms.
  • Make presentations far more appealing and likely to get approval.

Great content marketers have honed this skill over time, but don’t think that all expert content marketers have massive social followings. That’s simply not true.

Many content marketers have spent more time focused on headline A/B testing on highly trafficked pages, for instance, to increase conversions. Or, they have been focused further down the funnel helping email marketers with great copywriting to increase retention. Social media is the top of the funnel –– and that’s not always the best place to focus for growing revenue.

6. Editing

Expert content marketers are also great editors. This doesn’t necessarily mean they prescribe to a certain stylebook, though. Instead, it means that they know how to edit a story for clarity, for readability and for the brand’s style.

Don’t worry –– there are plenty of content-marketing tools on the market that can help with spelling and grammar. While that is a nice-to-have for expert content marketers, that skill is quickly being outsourced to the bots.

7. Blog writing

Great content marketers likely rose to their position through fantastic writing and editing on blogs of their own. It is true that it takes far more than a blog and a dream to become an expert content marketer, but all content-marketing experts should be able to pump out great blog content –– even if they manage a team of folks who typically do that for them these days.

Check their clips. Make sure they can write, source and credit properly. Otherwise, you’re risking your brand reputation.

8. Analytics and tracking

Finally, expert content marketers don’t just publish and pray. They distribute, and they measure. And they aren’t only measuring traffic to the website. Expert content marketers are skilled at understanding website behaviour, running content-specific CRO tests and measuring the impact of organic search traffic all the way through the funnel to conversion.

Experts won’t just hand you a blog post to publish. They will build an entire strategy, execution plan and analytics dashboard to keep you up to date on what is working, where and why.

By Tracey Wallace

Sourced from Entrepreneur Europe

Sourced from Business Insider

Accurate data, better understanding of customer behaviour and compelling creatives all combine to improve outcomes

  • Sunny Kataria, Head Of Commercial Verticals, OLX Advertising India writes a few benefits of using location-based advertising in digital world.
  • He shares how geo-located ads convey hyper contextual data that’s meaningful to its target audience. Smartphones are now ubiquitous; therefore, increasing ad spend is now directed at the digital media.

 

With the growing popularity of smartphones and digital devices, location-based advertising is coming into its own as a way to reach target customers. The pandemic resulted in an exponential growth of internet users, as the world got digitised at a speed not seen before. The total active internet population is likely to touch 900 million by 2025, from 622 million last year, as per a report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India. People are buying online, booking appointments online, and doing a host of commercial activities online. The buyer’s journey is also becoming more digitised, and so digitisation of physical location presents a big zone of opportunity. Retailers and sellers can target huge segments of population that are nearby at a given time, leading to significant store visits.

More and more customers have learnt to swipe-search their shopping due to the pandemic. The purchase journey for a huge number of netizens now starts digitally. This has caused retailers to rethink how they can drive traffic to their stores, exciting the customer with interesting offers, in safe, healthy and convenient ways. Location is one of the biggest conveniences that can be offered. Location-based advertising targets consumers who may reach the store immediately to check out the advertised product so that they may buy their products conveniently, or as part of their routine outing for work or home tasks. This route of engagement is now part of an omni-channel strategy, to create more sales conversions.

Geo-located ads convey hyper contextual data that’s meaningful to its target audience. Smartphones are now ubiquitous; therefore, increasing ad spend is now directed at the digital media. The Asia Pacific Advertising Trends 2021 report, by market advisory Media Partners Asia (MPA), says that ad spend on digital media will overtake that on television by 2024. The same report says that the internet, which was a major beneficiary of the lockdown, will continue to grow steadily and expand its share of advertising from 36.6 per cent in 2021 to 40.1 per cent in 2025.

Many retailers have already taken the path of geotagging their marketing pitches, and are able to trigger sales when customers are nearby. Google, Facebook and Instagram have been leveraging location-based services, syncing it brilliantly towards brand and consumer advantage. For instance, Facebook provides users with the advantage of searching nearby locations and places that friends have visited, along with letting others know when they check-in to a place; Instagram has a useful geotagging feature that collates content and elevates brand experiences. The Foursquare app provides personalised recommendations of places to go near a user’s current location based on the user’s browsing and check-in history.

AI is trained to use location data to reach out to geotagged customers. Accurate data, better understanding of customer behaviour and compelling creatives all combine to improve outcomes. Many people will likely visit a store, just a block away, that has an attractive offer. It’s so convenient and the information is useful.

Since location-based advertising involves knowledge of location data and customer behaviour, advertisers are able to tap into customer habits and shopping patterns more effectively. Such data helps to attract more repeat customers and to reach out to new customers. It has proved effective through the retail journey, from discovery to the purchase. Customer experience can be improved by offering deals that increase value. Location based services offer huge convenience to the customer too. For instance, if I am looking for an overcoat in the sweltering heat of summer, I can just geosearch a retail outlet selling winter clothes in summer instead of expending energy hopping around from one retail outlet to the other.

Brands can avail the advantages of geofencing target consumers based on their real-time location, to reach consumers who may be attending a particular event, with geolocation advertising. Such geofencing may be leveraged by retailers, restaurants or automobile dealers to drive footfalls into their stores. Similarly, geo-conquesting targets customers who are physically in or around the competitor’s place. This is used to pull away the competitor’s traffic by offering more attractive deals. Such information helps to build agile capabilities.

Given that it’s the era of hyper-personalisation, brands, across hospitality, clothing, financial services and auto industries, will use more and more of such data ecosystems to improve customer journeys, positioning businesses to play the winning game.

Feature Image Credit: Unsplash

Sourced from Business Insider

By Michael J. Collins

Marketing is deeply in flux as rapid acceleration of digitalization and technological advancement continues to unfurl. To better predict the future of marketing requires learning from the past and accepting that the only thing that’s constant is change. The past year, in particular, has been remarkable, albeit disruptive, which has contributed significantly to the transformation to come.

For example, while Facebook advertising didn’t exist ten years ago Facebook generated $26.17 billion in revenue in Q1 of 2021 alone, mainly from advertising – which equals over $100 billion in ad dollars a year. This gets me thinking about where we invested ad dollars a decade ago.  While this is just one example of a major shift, it’s imperative to be prepared for the new technologies and marketing practices that will certainly emerge and shape our business model as we know it.

I anticipate a variety of changes as we look to the future of marketing, but here are some of the ways I expect marketing to evolve over the next few years.

Original and interactive content will rule.

People crave originality, creativity and authenticity in content a lot more now than they used to, but there is stiff competition for share of voice. According to Microsoft data the average human attention span is now only eight seconds, which is shorter than that of a goldfish.

Digital fatigue is real, and consumers are becoming much more selective about the type of content they digest. Businesses and brands will need to invest more in original and unique content and tap into a higher level of creativity to retain and keep their audiences happy and engaged.

Additionally, original content helps gain mentions from media and influencers, which in turn, can drive additional brand visibility and increased website traffic. There’s no question that producing high-quality original content can be challenging.  It requires tons of research, time, and effort; however, if you think about the exceptional benefits that you will get from your content and the impact on your brand you already know that it’s worth the investment.

The role of influencers in marketing will continue to evolve.

Influencer marketing has garnered a lot of interest over the last few years.  In fact, over the last three years, Google searches for “influencer marketing” has increased by 1500%.  This goes to prove that the future of influencer marketing is bursting with opportunities.

We know that influencer marketing is here to stay.  But what does the future of influencer marketing hold?  Just like all other marketing strategies, it’s bound to change with new technologies and trends. As modern consumers become more and more averse to traditional advertising, influencer marketing emerges as a promising advertising channel.

In particular, I predict that micro-influencers will play an increasingly important role. While micro-influencers may have fewer followers, they offer a more personal connection with their audience and an opportunity for much higher engagement.

Events will remain a mix of hybrid for some time.

I predicted earlier this year in a LinkedIn article outlining marketing predictions for a post-covid 2021 that many companies would make a move towards more in-person meetings by 2022. A global survey of event planners found that 30% said they would execute virtual-only events in 2021, versus 42% who said a hybrid approach would be their strategy.

At CFA Institute during the pandemic we found that our digital events were able to achieve high levels of engagement while broadening our reach beyond those who traditionally attended our in-person conferences.

I predict that moving forward, the combination of in-person and virtual elements, especially those that prioritize interactivity, will help businesses continue to deepen connections with their audiences. Brands that figure out how to include hybrid into their event marketing strategies through additional content development will stand out and have higher retention rates.

Audio platforms will continue to emerge as a solution to ease digital and video fatigue.   Digital fatigue also encompasses Zoom fatigue, which today’s marketers are no stranger to. Luckily, the rise of audio has offered marketers and event planners globally a new way of hosting online events.

This past year Clubhouse, an exclusive invitation-only social networking platform, has emerged as a voice leader. Just like a conference call, Clubhouse provides a conversation room and once the conversation is over, the room is closed. The platform offers a sense of authenticity and real-time conversation, a breath of fresh air among those who embrace this emerging channel.

In addition, live podcast events are a great way to deepen relationships with customers, expand audiences and strengthen brand loyalty.  The audio nature of podcasts offer a unique and more intimate user experience, far removed from the visual cues that we’re accustomed to.

The rise of audio options will continue to emerge in the future since listening stimulates a different part of the brain that makes us visualize concepts, creating an entirely different experience from watching on a desktop or smartphone.

It’s hard to know what other technology will emerge, but I’m eager and excited to see what the future of marketing holds.

Feature Image Credit: Shutterstock

By Michael J. Collins

Sourced from Linkedin

By Joe Wituschek

Apple’s App Tracking Transparency is doing what it’s supposed to do and people are mad about it.

Brian Bowman really hates Apple’s App Tracking Transparency.

The CEO of Consumer Acquisition, a social ad agency, sat down recently for an interview with Gamesbeat (part of Venture Beat) that touched on the effects that Apple’s new App Tracking Transparency feature was having on the advertising industry. When Gamesbeat asked Bowman what life after Apple’s IDFA changes is like so far, the CEO said that some clients are seeing revenue being impacted as much as 40%.

“Well, we’re not post-IDFA yet. We’re still in transition. It’s what I expected. There’s a loss of a portion of revenue, depending on how people are evolving. I don’t expect the full impact to be felt until the end of July. The rollout of 14.6 has been slow. It’s obviously picking up. Apple intentionally delayed app tracking transparency until 14.6. Certain clients are down 30% to 40% percent in revenue. Others are feeling less of an impact. It’s a mess.”

Bowman had even stronger words when asked about Apple’s stance that its new anti-tracking measures were a step forward for user privacy, calling it “absurd.”

“If people actually cared about privacy, then anything tied to Edward Snowden would have been a big deal. The government reading my emails and listening to my phone calls. People look at it like this. I’m not doing anything inappropriate. I’m a normal person. I don’t care. The whole question is upside down. It’s not a question of privacy. It’s a question of personalization. Apple has done a phenomenal job of PR. They don’t offer privacy. What they’re doing is centralizing and curating data. You have to use their app store. You have to use their payment gateway. They understand your voice, your fingerprint, and your health data. They understand the way you purchase. That’s not privacy. Apple is defining privacy by saying they get all the data and therefore it’s private. It’s absurd.”

While it’s not surprising to hear an advertising executive lambast Apple for hurting an advertising method, the simple fact is that advertising companies enjoyed the luxury of collection plenty of user data without people’s knowledge for years.

However “absurd” it may be, App Tracking Transparency is a great step forward for user privacy and a win for Apple’s continued efforts in the area. It gives each and every user a choice on what they want to do with their data.

Feature Image Credit: Christine Romero-Chan / iMore

By Joe Wituschek

Sourced from iMore

By Chris Kuenne

Brands must focus more on the ‘why’ than the ‘what’

Over the next five years, the global marketing industry is forecasted to grow by 19%. By 2026 brands are expected to spend $66 billion annually on data, technology and new analytical approaches to convert shoppers into buyers, up from $27 billion in 2021.

This conversion funnel obsession has inadvertently confounded brand marketer’s single most important goal: creating enduring relationships with their best consumers. Think about the barrage of re-marketing campaigns that hit you when you considered buying cowboy boots: weeks of banner ads and emails trying to convince you to buy Justin, Lucchese and Corral cowboy boots in black, brown or tan.

For loyal consumers, this modern junk mail and digital harassment likely turned them off, as these brands demonstrated how little they really understood their best customer.

The key to building loyal relationships with a brand’s most valuable customers is to understand how their motivations and preferences drive brand choice, usage and lifetime value. Put simply, companies have been investing in data that reveals what people are doing or might do next, but not why they are doing it.

As digital marketing shifts from conversion craziness to relationship building, how can companies access and operationalize the data upon which true relationships are built?

Look at TikTok’s business model

To start, they can look at online dating and TikTok.

A swipe right on a dating profile is simply much more reflective of who these consumers are.

In the online dating ecosystem, individuals reveal deep insights through their clickstreams. Depending on the particular app or dating site, those looking for a match reveal everything from their sexual orientation to their political views. With this high-resolution data, a dating app could ascertain, for example, that when a 28-year-old woman increased her age preference for the men she was interested in by five years and included those who had previously been married after a series of flops with men her own age, that she was not only motivated to date older men but also likely looking for a more serious relationship.

TikTok is similar. Its business model is to keep users engaged for as many hours as possible by serving increasingly relevant content based on preferences discerned from the videos they watch. TikTok builds out user profiles rooted in viewer preferences directly revealed from high-resolution behaviours, often delivering content users wouldn’t have found just by following their friends.

Acknowledge the power behind the swipe

It isn’t that online dating apps and websites and TikTok aren’t making decisions based on clicks, like other brands are. But their personalized recommendation models are trained on clickstream data that explicitly underpins the preferences and motivations they are seeking to understand, in a way that a click on an ad for cowboy boots on Instagram does not.

A swipe right on a dating profile is simply much more reflective of who these consumers are. This allows these companies to effectively predict what their audience wants next, building deeper customer relationships and a more loyal, more profitable customer base.

So how can credit card marketers or home goods retailers, whose businesses are not based on high-resolution behavioral data like Tinder and TikTok, make the leap to discern preferences and motivations?

Just as an online dating website uses every swipe and match to extrapolate composite profiles, digital marketers in industries from financial services to consumer technology can build deeper customer relationships through emerging methodologies that quantitatively define personas. These techniques combine survey, behavioral and transactional data with advanced analytics to discover clusters based on how consumers’ underlying motivations and preferences drive their economic behavior (brand choice, frequency, price sensitivity, etc.).

Systematically understanding consumers’ motivations and preferences at scale will allow all digital marketers to make the next big leap toward greater personal relevance, more enduring customer loyalty and enhanced customer lifetime value.

Feature Image Credit: Bloomberg/Getty Images

By Chris Kuenne

Chris Kuenne is chairman and CEO of Rosemark.

Sourced from ADWEEK