Mediastreet
Author

editor

Browsing
In News

Google Finally Discloses YouTube Ad Revenue And It’s Mind Boggling!

No Comments

By Karissa Bell.

We finally know how much Google is making from ads on YouTube.

Google took in more than $15 billion from YouTube ads in 2019, the company revealed. That number, nearly 10 percent of Alphabet’s total revenue, doesn’t include other sources of revenue from the video platform, including subscriptions.

Google disclosed the numbers, along with revenue for its growing cloud business, for the first time ahead of Alphabet’s fourth-quarter earnings call.

“I’m really pleased with our continued progress in Search and in building two of our newer growth areas — YouTube, already at $15 billion in annual ad revenue, and Cloud, which is now on a $10 billion revenue run rate,” CEO Sundar Pichai said in a statement.

The new disclosure, which included revenue totals going back to 2017, highlights just how quickly YouTube’s ad business has grown, with ad revenue nearly doubling since 2017 when the video platform took in $8.1 billion. Ad revenue in 2018 was $11.1 billion.

Up until now, Google has declined to break out YouTube’s revenue, which has been a source of much speculation.

Pichai also shed light on how YouTube’s subscription business is doing. The company now has more than 20 million subscribers to YouTube Premium and YouTube Music, and 2 million subscribers to YouTube TV. Overall, YouTube’s non-advertising revenue, which includes subscriptions and commerce, amounts to $3 billion.

The new stats also come as Google is facing increasing scrutiny over its ability to police its video platform for disinformation and other unsavory content. And Google, like Facebook, is facing an antitrust investigation.

By Karissa Bell

Sourced from Mashable India

Read More
By
In News

Branded content: It drives revenue for 88% of publishers (and other insights)

No Comments

By Keywee.

6 Things We Learned About Branded Content from our Storytelling Partners

1. It’s Ubiquitous

According to research done by Digiday, 88% of publishers are driving at least some of their revenue from branded content, making it the second most popular source of income after display advertising. eMarketer estimates that the market for branded content will be worth $20 billion in 2021.

Source: Digiday+

2. But Every Team Approaches It Differently

While many branded content teams react to RFPs, some teams take a different approach. In a recent interview with the Keywee team, Thrive Global’s Head of Branded Content told us that his team built a suite of content ideas that the sales team can sell directly to brands. With this proactive approach, the Thrive Global team is able to guide the cultural conversation with their branded content efforts while still meeting brand needs.

The team at The Studio at The Knot Worldwide also takes a more hands-on approach. Often, they’ll have their brand partners come in for multiple meetings: to look at their past work, meet the creative team, and brainstorm ideas together. After that process, the two teams will sit down together to write a brief.

3. Distribution is Informed by Content

Today, almost every branded content campaign is distributed on content distribution platforms in addition to the publisher’s website. Which channels, though, depends on the content.

The Guardian US creates a bespoke distribution plan for every piece of content, built around the intended audience and KPIs of the campaign. Similarly, Thrive Global chooses channels based on the format of the content, rather than trying to create content built to perform on any one channel. For most publishers, though, Facebook and Instagram are key channels for content distribution.

4. Content is Getting Shorter

Recently, there’s been an industry-wide focus on creating short-form content to meet consumers on the platforms where they spend most of their time. Branded content is no different; It’s now on marketers to create content that’s easily consumed on platforms without sacrificing impact.

According to Thrive Global’s head of branded content, “We’re all scrolling through social platforms. You need to think: what not only gets your thumb to stop, but what gets you to engage with a piece of content?”

5. But Brands Want More Reporting

As brands get more sophisticated, they expect more from branded content campaigns than just “brand lift.” That’s why the branded content team at The Guardian US starts every partnership by understanding the KPIs the brand is trying to achieve, and only then creates the content and distribution plan.

According to VP, Custom Content at The Knot Worldwide, more and more brand partners are asking for guarantees. This means less risk for the brand, and requires campaigns to be measurable and attributable. While this shift can be frustrating for creative teams, it has led to a much more efficient industry, with more oversight on how dollars are being spent. Now, “we’re not just thinking about what we’re making, but how it’s living and being delivered, too.”

At Keywee, we’ve seen branded content campaigns with goals around impressions, clicks, page views, video completion rates, and even lead generation.

Of course, at the end of the day, brands turn to publishers for their expertise. According to the Head of Gear Patrol Studios, “Obviously, clients are very tuned into performance metrics and targeting capabilities, and we definitely bring that to the table. But on top of that, we provide a compelling, beautiful story – that’s usually the primary reason people are working with us.”

6. Branded Content is 99% Communication

A branded content campaign is a partnership between a brand and a publisher, but it’s also a partnership between many internal teams. At Gear Patrol, the branded content team has its own content producers and editors, but still collaborates closely with editorial, video, design, and photography teams to execute on projects. This makes communication key to a successful campaign. According to the Head of Gear Patrol Studios, it’s all about process, communication, and empathy. Her team relies on Slack for real-time communication in addition to a healthy dose of working together in person.

By Keywee

Nicki Kornbluth, Keywee uses Natural Language Processing and AI to connect storytellers with their ideal audiences on Facebook. It works with hundreds of publishers to help them achieve their business goals efficiently and at scale. Website: https://keywee.co/

Sourced from WNIP What’s New in Publishing

Read More
By
In News

Is WordPress Best for SEO? [+10 Features That Make WordPress a Viable Option for SEO-Friendly Websites]

No Comments

Sourced from WebFX

Did you know that WordPress powers 35% of websites?

As a dominant force in the website building community, you may be checking out this platform to see if it’s the right place to create a search engine optimization (SEO)-friendly website for your business, which leads to the question: Is WordPress best for SEO?

Maybe — and we’ll explain why.

Keep reading to learn whether WordPress is SEO-friendly and about WordPress alternatives. If you’re looking to develop a website fast, call us today at 888-601-5359 or contact us online to speak with a strategist about our 30-day web design service, RainmakerFX.

Is WordPress best for SEO?

Maybe.

As a website builder, WordPress has an abundance of features to offer your business if you decide to build your website through it. Whether WordPress is best for SEO depends on what you’re looking to do with your website and how you want it designed.

Is WordPress SEO-friendly?

Many people ask, “Is WordPress SEO friendly?” to which the answer is yes. WordPress is an excellent option if you don’t have experience creating a site and want it to rank well in search results.

Why is WordPress SEO friendly?

WordPress offers numerous SEO-friendly features, some that come with every WordPress site and some that you can add via WordPress SEO plugins, that make WordPress a viable option for your business.

First, let’s look at the core features that come with every WordPress site:

Core SEO-friendly WordPress features

Numerous elements make WordPress websites great for SEO.

When you create your WordPress site, you’ll get these core SEO-friendly features:

Optimized title tags and headings

One of the most critical components of SEO are your title tags (which appear in search results) and headings (which appear on your page). Google uses these elements to help determine your site’s relevancy in search results.

With WordPress, you can create optimized title tags and headings that use your core keywords.

WordPress allows you to set up your optimized title tags and headings without any coding knowledge. You can choose what fits best for your page without having to go into the backend of your site. This feature makes it easy for you to make these elements SEO-friendly.

Proper HTML markup

WordPress enables you to create HTML pages that search engines understand easily.

Your page structure features paragraphs of text, links to content, and headings. With HTML markup, WordPress makes it easy to structure your site so both users and search engine crawlers can read your site.

Custom link structure

WordPress lets you create custom URLs, or permalinks, on your website that include your keywords. This customization feature makes it easy for you to write URLs that fit your page’s content and keyword targeting.

For example, if you wrote a blog post about how to build credit, you could create a URL like “www.website.com/blog/how-to-build-credit.” This URL shows readers and search engines that your page is relevant to the keyword “how to build credit.”

WordPress allows you to create the URL you want. You’ll help your site rank better in relevant search results by customizing your URLs to fit your page and keyword targeting.

Optimized images

Images play a critical role in keeping leads on your site. Users don’t want to see blocks of text, and that’s why visual content gets 94% more views than text-only content.

WordPress makes it easy for you to add visuals to your site and create engaging pages.

This platform also allows you to add alt text to your images, which is great if the pictures don’t load or if a visually impaired person visits your website. Alt text also helps search engines understand your images.

When you ask the question, “Is WordPress SEO friendly,” you’ll find that there are numerous features, like optimized images, that help make your WordPress site friendly for search engines and users.

Easy-to-use content tool

An essential part of SEO is content creation.

To help you drive traffic to your site and increase dwell time on your pages, WordPress lets you create content and publish it straight from their platform. It makes it easy for you to publish high-quality content that informs and delights your audience.

Add-on SEO-friendly WordPress features

In addition to the core SEO-friendly features that come with your site, you also can add SEO-friendly elements to your site. To make the most of WordPress SEO, you can add the following components to your website to create a more SEO-friendly website.

Optimized site themes

When you ask, “Is WordPress best for SEO?” many people will tell you it’s a great option to create an SEO-friendly website because of the themes. WordPress offers pre-built themes for your site that are friendly for search engines.

Regardless of the theme you choose, you’ll get a website that has the right HTML markup for you to appear in relevant search results. These quality themes allow you to create a professional-looking site that is optimized to appear in search results.

When you have a high-quality site, people are more likely to interact with your page and check out your content. With optimized site themes from WordPress, you can create a website that increases engagement and dwell time.

SEO plugins

Plugins play a critical role in developing an SEO-friendly website. WordPress offers numerous plugins that help you create a functional website that works best for your business. To make WordPress best for SEO, install a WordPress SEO plugin on your site.

You only need to add one WordPress SEO plugin for your site, but you have multiple options. You’ll want to weigh your options to see which one works best for your business.

Here are a few popular WordPress SEO plugins:

  • Yoast SEO: With Yoast SEO, you get everything you need to ensure your website is SEO friendly. Yoast SEO provides you with a breakdown of your site’s on-page SEO so you can understand how your site functions better. You’ll get features like keyword optimizations, elimination of duplicate content, and more.
  • All in One SEO Pack: This WordPress SEO plugin offers valuable features for helping your site be more SEO-friendly. With this plugin, you’ll get XML sitemap and Google Analytics support, plus title tag optimization. You’ll get numerous features that help optimize your site for SEO.
  • SEOPress: SEOPress is another option for making your WordPress site more SEO-friendly. With this plugin, you can add structured data, improve social sharing, and more. It’s a great all-in-one plugin that helps your site rank better in search results.

You have numerous options for SEO plugins that will help your site perform better in search results. By adding these plugins, you’ll create an SEO-friendly website that drives more traffic to your business.

Fast loading sites

Your audience doesn’t want to wait for your website to load. If it takes too long to load, they’ll leave your site and visit a competitor instead. A slow-loading website hurts your rankings in search results, so you must create a website that loads quickly and efficiently.

With WordPress, you can build a site that loads fast.

It can be a tricky task to build a fast-loading WordPress site. If you follow best practices, like picking a high-quality theme and having good hosting, you’ll help your business create a fast website.

Optimized for mobile

When you ask, “Is WordPress best for SEO,” you’ll find it has numerous opportunities to make your site better for search engines. One of the most critical features WordPress offers is mobile-friendliness.

You won’t rank in search results if you don’t have a mobile-friendly website.

WordPress lets you choose mobile-friendly themes that adapt to different types of devices. Additionally, you can use plugins, like Jetpack, that allow you to create a mobile site that loads even faster for your audience.

Security

If you invest the time and effort to select a WordPress SEO plugin, choose a high-quality theme, and build an SEO friendly website, you must secure it. Without a secure site, you increase the risk of getting hacked or having your site perceived as spammy.

An unsecured site will lead to lower rankings, especially if Google removes you from its index.

WordPress on its own is relatively secure, but it’s a bigger target for hackers because it’s so widely known. To help secure your site further, you can install plugins. Jetpack, for example, is a two-for-one plugin that makes your website mobile-friendly and secures it.

Additionally, you can follow best practices for securing your WordPress site.

Is WordPress my only option for an SEO-friendly website?

As you can see, WordPress offers the capability for you to create a site that works great with SEO. From WordPress SEO plugins to optimized title tags, you’ll get nearly everything you need with WordPress to create a website that ranks in search results.

But is WordPress your only option for an SEO-friendly website?

No! There are many alternatives you can use to create an SEO-friendly website.

One of the best alternatives to WordPress is partnering with a web design company. When you hire a web design company, you can get a completely custom website that meets your exact needs.

Two of the biggest pitfalls of WordPress is the lack of full customization and that you must do all the work yourself. If you’re too busy to build your site, it becomes a problem. Additionally, a lack of customization stops you from standing out from your competition.

With a web design company, you can worry about running your business while your company builds your fully customized site.

When you investigate web design companies, opt for ones that have SEO experience.

A beautifully designed website will go to waste if people can’t find it in the search results. You want to partner with a web design company that knows how to create SEO-friendly web designs for your audience.

If you don’t choose a web design company with SEO experience, you can end up with a slow website or a website that loses your previous SEO gains. Before you commit to any web design company, make sure they have experience with SEO!

The right web design company will help you build a custom site, secure it, and continually optimize it to rank in search results. It’s a great alternative to WordPress.

Build your dream, SEO-friendly website today

So, is WordPress best for SEO? It’s possible. It depends on what you need, how you want to build your site, and if you want to do it on your own. While it’s a viable option for building your dream website, you’ll get more from partnering with a web design and SEO professional.

At WebFX, we’ve designed over 1000 websites and won over 50 awards for our designs, so you can feel confident that we’ll help you build the website of your dreams. As your partner, we can even create a site for you in 30 days with our RainmakerFX program.

To start building your dream website, contact us online or call us today at 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist and check out our free web design calculator to help you estimate how much your website will cost!

Sourced from WebFX

Read More
By
In News

What Brands Can Learn From the VSCO Girl: 5 Tips for Engaging Gen Z

No Comments

By Allison Roy.

Allison Roy, senior digital consultant, content and influencer at Capgemini DCX, shares insights on reaching Gen Z

If 2019 was the Year of the Pig in the Chinese Zodiac, it was also the Year of the VSCO Girl in U.S. retail. The first subset of Gen Z to demonstrate its spending power, the VSCO girl trend is giving brands valuable marketing insights into the 25-and-under age demographic.

OK BUT WAIT — WHAT IS A VSCO GIRL?

You wouldn’t be alone in wondering. Google’s 2019 “Year in Search” trends revealed that “What is a VSCO girl” was the second most searched inquiry of the year next to “What is Area 51?” The VSCO (pronounced VIS-co) girl is an allusion to VSCO , a photo editing and sharing app known for its sun-drenched, beachy filters. The VSCO girl concept surfaced on TikTok in the form of memes that mocked the stereotypical VSCO girl uniform of oversize Ts, hair scrunchies, Mario Badescu facial spray, reusable straws, minimal makeup and the coup de grâce — Birkenstocks with socks.

VSCO girls are laid-back in how they dress, but not when it comes to sustainability and brand loyalty. The companies they support share strong ties to environmentalism, or at least the fantasy of being outdoors. Search “VSCO girl starter pack,” and you’ll find checkered Vans, a penny board, Birkenstocks, Hydro Flask water bottles, scrunchies, Pura Vida Bracelets, Fjallraven backpacks — and even Crocs — on the list.

This surge in popularity is impacting these brands’ bottom lines in a big way. According to data from retail analytics firm Edited, checkered Vans were stocked 20 percent more by U.S. retailers within the first 6 months of 2019, while Pura Vida bracelets were stocked 118 percent more by U.S. retailers within the same time frame. Back from the brink of financial ruin, Crocs became an unexpected hit with teen consumers who like to personalize their clogs with Jibbitz shoe charms. The company was listed as the 13th most popular footwear brand among teen girls in a 2019 Piper Jaffray survey, up from 30th in 2017.

While VSCO girls are merely a subculture within Gen Z, their social media behavior, shopping habits, and favorite influencers provide a valuable marketing template for proactive brands interested in connecting with a new generation of consumers. Here are five things they can learn from Gen Z’s “It” girl.

  1. CONTENT FIRST, MARKETING SECOND.

Now is the time to invest in a content marketing strategy if you haven’t already. Create helpful, inspirational, aesthetically pleasing content designed to engage your audience first and promote products second. For example, Pura Vida Bracelets leans on a team of VSCO girl influencers to create travel content in aspirational locales like Banff, Alberta, Canada and Breckenridge, Colo. The brand plans event-filled influencer getaways with the goal of creating social-friendly imagery that will perform well on Instagram and its e-commerce site. This approach results in a wealth of non-promotional visual content that earns high engagement on social as well as compelling product photography that will drive conversions on product display pages.

Content marketing includes paid social advertising. A recent study from Kantar Millward Brown suggests that although Gen Z is the most advertising-resistant generation to date, 56 percent are more responsive to ads that tell an interesting story while 72 percent prefer ads that are funny.

Target Corp. must have read that study. Last November, Target promoted an 11-minute YouTube video that followed actress Angela Kinsey and Emma Chamberlain, the influencer credited for establishing the VSCO girl aesthetic, as they browsed the store aisle by aisle. The video received more than 27 million views compared to Target’s average of 200,000 views per video. A quick scroll through the comments section revealed that the overall sentiment was overwhelmingly positive, an indication that companies have to approach advertising with a creative lens if they hope to win Gen Z’s attention.

  1. TREAT INFLUENCER PARTNERSHIPS AS AN EXTENSION OF YOUR CONTENT STRATEGY.

Once a buzzy new marketing tactic, influencer marketing is no longer optional. Brands that are successful with Millennial and Gen Z consumers know that influencers are a crucial element in any digital marketing strategy, take Hollister, for example. After a rough patch in 2017, Hollister became Abercrombie & Fitch’s fastest-growing brand when it updated its product assortment and marketing materials to fit the wholesome, outdoorsy VSCO girl aesthetic. Hollister’s strategy included partnerships with several VSCO girl influencers like Emma Chamberlain, Amanda Pavillard and Ellie Thumann who consistently promote the brand on YouTube and Instagram. As of October 2019, Hollister added $313 million to the company’s top line since 2016 at an average annual rate of 8.2 percent.

Gen Z may have the power to rebuild brands, but it also has the power to destroy them. VSCO girls’ “less is more” approach to makeup might be the reason investment bank and securities firm Piper Jaffray reported a 21 percent decrease in cosmetic spending among female teens year over year last fall. Quick to respond in Gen Z’s trend toward skin care and away from color cosmetics, Sephora collaborated with nine Gen Z YouTubers to create shoppable content on the Sephora web site and aspirational social media content via an influencer trip to the Great Smoky Mountains. Each influencer was contracted to include a step-by-step demonstration of Sephora Collection’s skin-care products within their YouTube video.

Sephora’s agile response to Gen Z consumer behavior is the perfect example of knowing your audience well enough to deliver content they actually want.

Allison Roy

Allison Roy, senior digital consultant, Content + Influencer at Capgemini DCX.  Courtesy Image.

  1. STAND FOR SOMETHING.

It’s abundantly clear that VSCO girls care about sustainability. Their soft spot for Hydro Flask water bottles, reusable straws and “Save the turtles” stickers are setting the stage for a consumer demographic that will choose eco-conscious brands over the competition. According to AdWeek, 72 percent of Gen Z shoppers pay more for products or services from brands associated with social or environmental causes.

It’s notable that Estée Lauder’s investor fact sheet includes goals to commit to net zero emissions by 2020, and to make 70 to 100 percent of its packaging recyclable, refillable or reusable by 2025. Incorporate cause marketing into your strategy or risk being left in the dust.

  1. DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF A GOOD DEAL.

Gen Z consumers are price-driven shoppers. Born roughly between 1996 and 2010, the Gen Zs with spending power are old enough to remember the recession — and their purchasing behavior reflects this. When deciding where to shop, 60 percent of Gen Z consumers say their primary motivator is the price.

It’s no surprise that VSCO girls are fiercely loyal to brands like Brandy Melville, an early-Aughts-inspired clothing brand with an average price point of $30, and Pura Vida Bracelets, a philanthropic accessory company that aggressively messages promo codes and sales in its e-mail marketing. Brands that shy away from promotions should rethink this approach if they hope to convert Gen Z consumers.

  1. THE IN-STORE EXPERIENCE IS BACK.

Shopping and thrifting hauls are a common theme among VSCO girl video content. Check out the YouTube channels of the influencers mentioned above and you’ll find footage of them shopping in their favorite stores, wandering the aisles of Target, and showing off their newest vintage finds. This isn’t just a trend among young influencers, this is how Gen Z likes to shop.

From the threat of global warming to that paper due Thursday, Gen Z is stressed out — and they’re blowing off steam the old-fashioned way: in brick-and-mortars. A new perspective on the concept of “retail therapy,” 81 percent of Gen Z consumers say they prefer to shop in stores for mental health reasons, according to a survey by A.T. Kearney. Brands must cultivate a positive customer experience in-store to earn the loyalty of younger shoppers.

ENGAGING GEN Z IN 2020

In order to win Gen Z’s loyalty, brands need to connect the dots above. Work with compelling influencers to create inspirational content across all digital channels. Tell your audience how you’re changing the world for the better — and at an approachable price point, no less! Give them an in-store experience that keeps them coming back, and you’ve earned your way into the good graces of America’s newest consumers.

Feature Image Credit: The VSCO girl’s social media behavior, shopping habits, and favorite influencers provide a valuable marketing template for brands interested in connecting with a new generation of customers in 2020. Shutterstock / View Apart

By Allison Roy

Allison Roy is a senior digital marketing consultant at Capgemini, Digital Customer Experience Practice. She helps brands tell impactful stories through digital media and expand their reach through influencer marketing. Allison has provided strategic content marketing advice to business-to-consumer brands like Intermix, Havaianas, True Religion, Wilton, Radio Flyer and more.

Sourced from WWD

Read More
By
In News

PostcardMania Offers Triggered Direct Mail

No Comments

By

Brands that use direct mail as well as email can send triggered postal campaigns, thanks to a new integration between PostcardMania and Zapier.

The service is available to users of over 238 CRMs and marketing platforms, including Salesforce, Hubspot, Pipedrive and Acuity Scheduling, PostcardMania says.

Brands can add trigger-based direct mail to marketing pipelines and funnels on an ongoing basis, the company says.

Zapier allows users without technical skills to connect unrelated web applications such as their chosen CRM and PostcardMania’s API, it adds.

Presumably, a triggered direct mail campaign would work best when done in tandem with a triggered email effort.

In one potential use cited by PostcardMania, a local gym can send a triggered postcard to someone who signed up for a free one-day trial pass, saying, “John, here is your 1-day trial pass to your local gym. Thanks for signing up!”

Such businesses can send such personalized postcards for $0.55 to all new leads added to their CRM, regardless of low numbers. This would have been impossible in the past, the firm claims.

By

Sourced from MediaPost

Read More
By
In News

Why SEO Should Be The Foundation Of Any Small Business’s Digital Marketing Strategy

No Comments

By Scott Keever.

In my line of work, I’m often asked, “What is this SEO thing I’ve been hearing a lot about, and why should I care about it?” These days, businesses already have to worry about website design and social media, so most business owners may not even be aware that search engine optimization (SEO) is a thing. If this sounds like you, then this guide might be of some help.

What is SEO?

Simply put, SEO is the process of optimizing your website in order to get organic or unpaid traffic from search engines like Google or Bing. It increases both the quality and the quantity of traffic to your site.

This means making changes to your website’s content and design that will make it rank highly on different search engine results pages. But why should you care about your website being the top result on Google? Why is generating organic traffic better than paying for ads?

The Internet’s Librarians

Imagine that you are one of the librarians for the most complete repository of knowledge and data that humanity has ever created. Imagine that millions of people come to you every day looking for information on a specific subject—for example, on Nietzsche or the Oscars or how to cook the perfect steak.

In order to help each person find the information they are looking for in a fast, efficient manner, you will need to know a bit about what each book in your library is about. You also need to arrange all the books according to some type of system—perhaps alphabetically, year of publication or by topic or keywords.

Search engines act like the internet’s librarians. They try to match the user’s search terms with the most relevant information in their database, and we need to understand how they do this in order to understand why SEO is so important.

How Search Engines Work

Search engines work in three steps. First, they send crawlers through all available content on the internet—webpages, images, audio, video and so on. Crawlers are bots that send snapshots of all accessible content back to the search engine’s servers.

Next, the information is organized into a searchable list. This huge list is called a search index and can serve as the basis for a raw keyword search. But good search engines like Google and Bing go one step further.

These search engines rank all the pieces of content relevant to a searcher’s query, using an algorithm to order the generated list from most relevant to least relevant. These algorithms are always changing, with Google, in particular, making constant adjustments.

Search engines that consistently deliver relevant results gain repeat users. These loyal users learn to depend on that search engine above all others. Recent data shows that Google and Bing make up almost 85% of all internet searches. This indicates a high level of user trust in these search engines.

Getting Ranked

Recent market share statistics show that most people begin their online experiences through a search engine. That’s why it is important for your website to rank highly on search engines: A high rank indicates high relevance, and high relevance brings trust in your brand and your website.

Google determines its ranking through a mix of hundreds of different ranking signals, but three have remained consistent: quality on-page content that satisfies the searcher, links pointing back to your site, and RankBrain, which uses artificial intelligence to simulate a human “gut feel” approach to interpret difficult searches.

Content Marketing

Google and Bing employ metrics such as clicks, page views and time on page to measure the levels of user engagement throughout your website, which indicate how satisfied users are with the information they find on your site.

The more quality—and, therefore, more relevant—content you have on your site, the higher your pages are more likely to be ranked by the search engines. Good content makes satisfied users!

Links To Your Site

Another way search engines measure a website’s relevance is by external sites that link to it. The quality of the backlinks is just as important as quantity, as search engines will ban sites that attempt to spam backlinks.

A better way to build backlinks is to build relationships with the community. Fans and other satisfied users will link back to your website when they write about it and mention it on social media. This builds organic backlinks that are far more valuable than a hundred spam links generated by bots. Quality content is more likely to be shared.

SEO Versus Paid Ads

So, why use SEO instead of other methods of increasing traffic, such as paid ads? After all, Google itself offers a paid AdWords system where advertisers bid on keywords.

It helps to return to the library metaphor we used earlier. Imagine a book’s publisher launching a multi-million-dollar marketing campaign to increase awareness of a new book about, let’s say, building birdhouses. There are television ads and radio spots, print ads in newspapers and Google AdWords for the keyword “how to build birdhouses.”

These campaigns may boost sales of the book temporarily, but eventually marketing campaigns end, and the next clueless nest box enthusiast will have to go down to the local library and ask a librarian to recommend a book on building birdhouses. This librarian will most likely recommend a book that has satisfied previous birdhouse queries before, whether it was a bestseller when it was first released or not.

That’s the beauty of SEO and why it is the foundation of any small business marketing plan. It may take some upfront time and investment to set up properly, with quality content and a network of organic backlinks. But a well-designed website that follows the principles of SEO will continue to generate a steady stream of organic leads and traffic for your business, for free.

Feature Image Credit: Getty

By Scott Keever.

Founder and CEO of Scott Keever SEO; a full-service digital agency who specializes in results-based ROI. Read Scott Keever’s full executive profile here.

Sourced from Forbes

Read More
By
In News

Social Media ROI: How to Measure Your Social Marketing

No Comments

By

Want to improve the return on investment (ROI) of your social media marketing? Are you measuring the right things?

To explore everything you need to know about measuring ROI, I interview Christopher Penn on the Social Media Marketing Podcast.

Christopher is the chief data scientist at Trust Insights. He also hosts the In-Ear Insights podcast. His latest book is AI For Marketers.

Christopher explains how ROI differs from return on ad spend (ROAS) and shares how to calculate ROI properly.

Click HERE to listen to the Podcast

By

Sourced from Social Media Examiner

Read More
By
In News

Microsoft will never win the search engine wars by forcing people to use Bing

No Comments

By

Bing is known as the default search engine for Windows, and not much else. Microsoft’s solution? To forcibly install a Bing search extension in Chrome for Office 365 ProPlus users.

The company says that this is designed for enterprise and business users to find relevant workplace information directly from the browser address bar, but we all know Microsoft is desperate to get more people using its search engine. It sounds harmless, but here’s why forcing people to use Bing won’t help Microsoft in the long run.

Bing has a bad track record

Marketing jargon aside, the idea that Microsoft has with this is simple. By forcing enterprises and businesses with Office 365 Pro Plus to use Bing, the overall share and usage of the search engine might increase. However, there’s one problem. As it stands, Bing doesn’t have a good track record, and people might not want to use it at all, even if forced to it.

A report by TechCrunch in January of 2019 found that, at one point, Bing was providing really problematic search results. The search engine was providing users with child pornography, and other derogatory content. An earlier report from How-To Geek in 2018 also revealed that Bing was suggesting racist imagery, particularly in relation to searches regarding those of the Islamic and Jewish faiths. That publication also found that Bing was suggesting some conspiracy theories when searching for figures like former First Lady Michelle Obama.

Oh, and then there was the time the first result for “Google Chrome” was bringing up a malware site. Not a good look.

These issues have all since been corrected, but are particularly jarring. How can a search engine have been this bad? And why would someone even bother using a search engine with a reputation this bad?

Bing still has problems that need to be addressed

Fast forward to today, Bing still has a few problems that need to be addressed, and where Microsoft should put some extra attention towards, instead of forcing Bing down people’s throats. These include both search relevance and design — the two core areas of any search engine.

First of all, there is a search relevance. In our testing, searching for Digital Trends on Google and Bing provide two different results. On Bing, we get a look at some older Digital Trends articles, which at the time of this writing, were older stories from 4, 6, and 3 hours ago. Compared that to Google, and articles are more relevant pulled from a most recent time frame.

Google is even smart enough to show the Digital Trends Twitter feed, and provide the searcher with more relevant information. Google also suggests some competitors to Digital Trends, such as CNET or The Verge, to help users find alternative news and information. There’s even a topic page for what we write about, and information about our Editor in Chief, Jeremy Kaplan. None of these are on Bing.

microsoft bing focing wont win search engine wars bingvs google

Then, there’s the search page design. Google recently switched up its design for the good. Compared to Bing, its user interface features website icons similar to what you get when you “favorite” a website. There’s also added extra header text at the top of a result to help identify websites, and stop misinformation. Google explained in a series of tweets that its changes are designed to help the user “better understand where information is coming from, more easily scan results & decide what to explore.”

When put up against Bing, the difference is substantial. Google is clearly more user-friendly than Bing, and users are able to find more relevant information at a quicker pace. Microsoft has a lot to learn in this department.

Take care of the basics

In short, Microsoft needs to fix up Bing before it starts forcing people to use it. The good news is that Microsoft recently proved that it can do this. The company recently relaunched its Microsoft Edge browser, which has received great buzz and attention online. That’s all because Microsoft slowed down, fixed the problems, and did it right.

Similarly, Microsoft has to make moves to better position Bing as a search engine for us common people. It needs to make us see that Bing a solid alternative to Google and not just a copy cat.

We’ve seen attempts this with programs like Microsoft Rewards, which rewards users with “points” for searching on Bing, that can be redeemed for gift cards. Microsoft has even made terrific strides on the Bing experience over the past few years with a “collections” feature to collect, group and save search results, and an election experience designed to help fight misinformation.

Here’s the kicker: Bing could be a great option for businesses. When the main Bing is combined with Microsoft Search, you’re able to sign in with both work and personal accounts. You’re able to use Bing to search through work files and even people or websites set up by your organization. There’s great potential there.

But until Microsoft gets the basics covered, forcing people to use Bing is only exasperating the problem.

The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not reflect the beliefs of Digital Trends.

By

Sourced from Digital Trends

Read More
By
In News

Does blocking certain websites at work hurt employee productivity?

No Comments

By Jared Lindzon

What might seem like time-wasters on the surface may actually prove to be important enablers of productivity in the long run.

Employers may restrict access to certain websites in order to guard against very real cyberthreats, but the practice has its downsides, too. Many also end up blocking harmless content, and can potentially affect productivity, according to research.

In a recent study by TheBestVPN, 64% of employees reported that their company used a firewall to restrict access to certain websites. Despite this, two in five employees admit to accessing them anyway, often while on break and sometimes even to accomplish a work-related task.

The study found that the majority of organizations that use this technology do so to restrict access to websites with mature or illegal content, gambling websites, dating sites, and unsecured websites. “Those top few present obvious risks to a company’s network and possibly their security,” explains Joey Morris, who is part of TheBestVPN’s creative team and the author of the study. “It’s really hard to imagine a possible use of those websites that would be beneficial to any employee’s productivity.”

The gray areas

The case for restricting access to some of the other most commonly blocked websites, however, is less clear cut. According to the study, just over half of employers who use firewalls block access to social media and gaming websites, 35% block access to video streaming services, and nearly 32% restrict access to music streaming platforms. Furthermore, over a quarter prevent access to online shopping websites, 21% restrict access to file-sharing websites, and 17% block instant messaging application.

[Screenshot: TheBestVPN]

Is blocking effective?

In 2009, Ann Cavoukian, then-privacy commissioner for the Canadian province of Ontario, called blocking social media at work a “mistake.” “It’s like waving the proverbial red flag in front of your staff,” she said. “It’s almost a challenge to them to find a way around it.”

Over a decade later, the TheBestVPN’s study has proven her right. It found that despite their employers’ best efforts, 40% of employees have found ways to access restricted websites. Most often this is done through a mobile device, and the practice is most common among younger workers.

When asked why they circumvented their company’s firewall, more than 80% said it was to use during a break, 46% said they were just passing time due to a lack of work, and 36% did so to tackle a small errand. Perhaps most concerning to employers, however, is that nearly 18% accessed restricted content in order complete a work assignment.

The case for more access

What might seem like time-wasters on the surface may actually prove to be important enablers of productivity in the long run. Studies have shown, for example, that listening to music at work can improve mood and increase productivity, and other research has found that workers are most productive when they are able to occasionally do “non-work stuff” online.

Morris adds that as people get more accustomed to using digital tools in their personal lives—such as file-sharing websites or instant messaging—they often want to use those same tools in the workplace.

“While they might not be a tool your company uses department-wide, they’re tools people use personally for their own organization or work styles,” he says.

Morris adds that instructional or educational videos can be a practical resource in both our personal and professional lives, and that employees often want to use the same instant messaging applications they use at home for work-related chat groups. He also argues that social media can be a powerful tool for growing and maintaining professional networks.

The case for less access

There’s an old adage in the IT security industry that says the biggest security threat isn’t software, it’s people, and studies have proven that to be true. In fact, one such study found that more than 99% of attacks require human interaction to succeed, such as convincing a user to download a malicious piece of malware, visit an unsecured website, or open an email attachment containing a virus.

According to a recent study by Spiceworks, 90% of organizations that restrict websites on corporate networks do so to protect against such threats, while 83% do so to prevent “unacceptable user behavior.”

“You can spend all this money on software and hardware that protects your network, but all it takes is one person to click on a shady link and your entire network could be infected by malware—or worse, ransomware—that brings your company to a grinding halt,” explains Peter Tsai, a technology analyst for Spiceworks and author of the report.

[Screenshot: Spiceworks]

Tsai explains that for those tasked with keeping their company’s computer systems up and running, it’s vital to restrict access to websites that might compromise the entire network, or make it easier for malicious actors to compromise company assets.“Imagine you’re a company with trade secrets or sensitive customers information or other types of data that are regulated, and if it gets out, you’ll get fined millions of dollars,” he says. “If you allow your employees to use whatever file-sharing sites they want to, or whatever instant messaging platforms they like, they might be sharing company secrets over Facebook Messenger.”

With regards to music and video streaming services, Tsai explains that they’re often blocked in order to prevent bandwidth issues, which 46% of companies cited as a reason for restricting access to certain websites in his study. “If 15 people at your company are streaming 4K videos at the same time, it could bring your network to a crawl, because all of that bandwidth is being used up,” he says.

How firewalls impact employer-employee relationships

Shel Holtz has heard many of these rationales in the past, and he isn’t buying it. Now the director of internal communication for Webcor, he’s spent much of his career speaking and writing against the use of firewalls in the workplace.

He recalls a time when his employer restricted access to fax machines out of fear that it would make it too easy for staff to steal confidential documents. Holtz adds that he heard the same rationale for limiting access when email was introduced, and again most recently during the debate over social media access at work. “It’s something we’ve seen with virtually every new technology that’s been introduced into the workplace,” he says.

Holtz expresses similar frustration over the argument against misuse of company bandwidth, as it reminds him of similar arguments made when fax machines and copiers were first introduced. “Bandwidth is the new paper,” he says. “Maybe you need to consider increasing the amount of bandwidth you have for employees—it’s not that expensive. But saying it’s some sort of finite commodity strikes me as a little disingenuous.”

Holtz adds that it’s important for organizations to consider whether it’s really necessary to block websites that pose less of a direct threat, as it can have a negative impact on morale, loyalty, and productivity.

“It’s a hit to engagement,” he says. “You hired me, you told me how important I am, but you don’t trust me as far as you can throw me? You’re going to lump me in with every other employee, so I can’t check in with my wife during the day over Facebook Messenger?”

Overall, Holtz believes transparency is the best policy in order to maintain employee trust when websites really do need to be blocked. “Disclosure covers a lot,” he says, adding that if a company really needs to block a website they better be able to communicate a good reason as to why, or staff will just find a way to get around the firewall.

Feature Image Credit: Rawpixel; Source video: freestockfootagearchive.com

By Jared Lindzon

Jared Lindzon is a freelance journalist and public speaker born, raised and based in Toronto, Canada. Lindzon’s writing focuses on the future of work and talent as it relates to technological innovation, as well as entrepreneurship, technology, politics, sports and music. More

Sourced from Fast Company

Read More
By
In News

6 Essential Influencer-Marketing Truths Every E-Commerce Brand Should Know

No Comments

By Lucas Miller.

More than a few companies have been burned by the wrong approach. Make sure yours isn’t one of them.

Influencer marketing is becoming a fundamental part of many e-commerce brands. In fact, in a recent survey, 92 percent of marketing agencies confirmed its effectiveness. So if nearly everyone agrees it’s important, what do e-commerce brands need to know about this hot topic so they can best take advantage?

1. Influencer marketing reaches further.

Traditional marketing channels have brought success to many companies for decades, but as times change, those channels do not reach as far as they use to. Influencer marketing is able to connect to customers on a deeper level than traditional marketing was ever able to. Even better, it’s capable of accomplishing this on a limited budget.

Customers are unlikely to pay attention to advertising that they believe to be inauthentic. They are much more likely to trust a real person over a brand. This trust is important to build, because many customers will leave a brand they believe is disingenuous.

The price tag for an influencer partnership can vary, but there are options for any budget. In the past, a company could spend millions of dollars to create an advertising campaign that connects with customers. Unless your influencer is a high-profile celebrity, you will not need that kind of cash. If you’re trying to keep costs down, there are many low-profile influencers that can be hired for a fraction of the cost of an ad campaign while still effectively bringing in customers. The ROI for influencer marketing is significantly higher than traditional marketing.

2. Influencers must be relevant.

When finding an influencer to partner with, you must find one with relevance in your industry. It doesn’t matter if a potential influencer has a million followers if their audience is not connected your products. Find someone that resonates with people who will also resonate with your brand.

One individual who certainly understands the principle of finding relevant influencers is Josh Elizetxe, founder and CEO of Snow. Elizetxe is an entrepreneur and internet advertising veteran, and during a recent email conversation about influencer marketing, he told me, “Finding the right partnership lets small companies take on big companies. It allows tiny startups to become lucrative, long-term businesses. It’s all about using the internet to your advantage.”

3. Micro-influencers reach targeted audiences.

The best strategy for using micro-influencers is to segment your customers and choose which segment you want to target, increasing the efficiency of your marketing efforts. Dunkin’ Donuts used the micro-influencer partnership strategy this past year. They also used nano-influencers, which are people with even smaller followings but high influence among that following. Dunkin’ was able to generate $300 million in coffee sales alone with this strategy by  capturing the attention of younger audiences and appearing more relatable to highly targeted groups.

4. Authenticity is key.

In influencer marketing, authenticity is the number-one priority. It’s important to find influencers that truly believe in your product. Customers can see through an influencer who’s promoting a product for a paycheck. This kind of promotion won’t drive sales, and it may even give your brand a bad name.

In 2016, Bootea, a weight loss-shake brand, partnered with Scott Disick, a reality star with a large Instagram following. Unfortunately, Disick copied and pasted the instructions from the brand into his post, and his followers immediately knew the promotion was sponsored. It’s important to find an influencer who will not only appear authentic, but also be authentic.

5. Platform choice is strategic.

There are many platform options for influencer marketing, but it’s imperative to choose one that’s right for your industry and your product. You must understand what platforms your target audience is using and which people on that platform they trust.

Most brands think of Instagram when talking about influencer marketing, but any platform where you can build a large following can be a good choice. Many influencers have gained large followings through YouTube, blogging, Pinterest and, more recently, TikTok.

The most popular platforms are not your only option, though. In fact, sometimes you can reach customers more effectively through less-popular outlets with less competition.

6. Quality matters.

Younger companies, especially new e-commerce brands with small budgets, are frequently tempted into partnering with the least-expensive influencer. Be cautious when doing this, however, because the quality of an influencer’s following matters. Newer influencers sometimes are not as influential as they seem.

Impostors are one of the biggest issues businesses have encountered when looking for low-cost influencers. It’s common for aspiring influencers to buy followers, which makes them appear to have a high level of influence when they don’t. To avoid this problem, read through potential influencers’s content. If engagement levels are lower than expected, some of the followers may be fake or simply unengaged. And in e-commerce, credibility and active engagement are, quite simply, everything.

Feature Image credit: supersizer | Getty Images 

By Lucas Miller

Founder of Echelon Copy LLC

Sourced from Entrepreneur Europe

Read More
By
Load More