TWP Publisher, Author at TotalWeb Partners • Page 26 of 31

January 10, 2017

How Does Your Social Media Marketing Measure Up?

Social Media Marketing Social Media Marketing

The world of social media marketing is changing all the time, so no matter how well you think you’re doing in that area, don’t start getting complacent. New forecasts from eMarketer project which social networks will be the most popular business marketing tools in 2017. Here’s what’s hot (and not-so-hot):

Instagram will overtake Twitter as a social media marketing channel. Nearly three-fourths (74 percent) of businesses will use Instagram for marketing, up from 53 percent currently.
Twitter will hold steady, with 66.2 percent of marketers using it in 2017 compared to 66.1 percent this year.
Facebook has already reached saturation, with 85.3 percent of marketers currently using it and 85.8 percent projected to use it next year.
YouTube, too, has pretty much plateaued: 48.2 percent of businesses will market with YouTube next year, up from 45.6 percent this year.
How does your small business compare?

With any social network, the most important thing to remember is to go where your customers are. Just because Instagram is growing rapidly doesn’t mean it’s the right platform for your social media marketing. For instance, if you sell enterprise software to major corporations, chances are your buyers aren’t checking out your latest ’grams. On the other hand, if you’re in the fashion, cosmetics, or food business, Instagram is where it’s at.

To pinpoint the most appropriate social media marketing platforms, begin by searching out statistics on the demographic makeup of each social network’s user base. Further refine your data by conducting surveys of your customers. Which social networks do they spend most of their time on? Do any of the networks actually influence their shopping behavior?

January 3, 2017

by TWP Publisher

What we’ve learned about SEO in 2016

Since the inception of the search engine, SEO has been an important, yet often misunderstood industry. For some, these three little letters bring massive pain and frustration. For others, SEO has saved their business. One thing is for sure: having a clear and strategic search strategy is what often separates those who succeed from those who don’t.

As we wrap up 2016, let’s take a look at how the industry has grown and shifted over the past year, and then look ahead to 2017.

A growing industry
It was only a few years ago when the internet was pummeled with thousands of “SEO is Dead” posts. Well, here we are, and the industry is still as alive as ever. SEO’s reputation has grown over the past few years, due in great part to the awesome work of the real pros out there. Today, the industry is worth more than $65 billion. Companies large and small are seeing how a good search strategy has the power to change their business.

As search engines and users continue to evolve, SEO is no longer just an added service brought to you by freelance web designers. With the amount of data, knowledge, tools and experience out there, SEO has become a power industry all on its own.

Over the course of the year, my agency alone has earned a number of new contracts from other agencies that are no longer able to provide their own search efforts. A large divide between those that can deliver SEO and those that can’t is beginning to open up across the board.

The rise of AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is now prevalent in many of our lives. Google, IBM, Amazon and Apple are very active in developing and using Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI). ANI can be used to automate repetitive tasks, like looking up product details, shipping dates and order histories and performing countless other customer requests.

The consumer is becoming more and more comfortable with this technology and has even grown to trust its results. Sundar Pichai, Google CEO, announced during his Google I/O keynote that 20 percent of queries on its mobile app and on Android devices are voice searches.

RankBrain, Google’s machine-learning artificial intelligence system, is now among the top three ranking signals for Google’s search algorithm. Why? Google handles more than 3.5 billion searches per a day, and 16 to 20 percent of those are unique queries that have never been searched before. To handle this, the team at Google has harnessed the power of machine learning to help deliver better results.

While we can’t “control” RankBrain, what we can do is learn more about how Google is using it and then help the tool by creating good content that earns shares and links, building connections with others in our niche or related niches, and building trust in very targeted topics.

We are still in the beginning stages of this technology, but as more and more homes become equipped with smart tools like Amazon Echo and Google Home, we can be sure that these tech giants will use the knowledge they gain from voice search to power their AI technology.

January 3, 2017

by TWP Publisher

Six Effective Social Media Marketing Tips

Social Media Marketing Social Media Marketing, Social Media Marketing Tiips

Effective social media marketing pays back in terms of successful businesses. A recent study suggests that social media recommendations lead to almost 30 percent of all websites’ overall traffic. So, if your business website is not benefiting from social media, then you may need to re-consider your social media strategy.

Here are some effective ways to boost social media marketing, which can positively impact your business, and increase your sales too.

Create custom-formatted tweets

Most tweets can get lost in the abyss of live feeds, especially the ones that seem to stream on with no end. Custom formatting can make sure that you are catching the reader’s attention. By applying line breaks and/or a unique font, you can break the monotony of short-form messaging. Also, include some fun symbols to refresh the look of your tweets. You can copy and paste fun symbols from iEmoji.com or other similar services.

Go for longer posts

While Twitter is adamant in not removing its 140-character limit, other platforms enable you to start a conversation that with a longer post. As a result, longer posts bring in more comments and likes.

Opt for Facebook Groups

As organic reach for Facebook pages of companies continues to go down, entrepreneurs, marketers and publishers would be better of by creating and managing Facebook Groups. The maximum benefit seems to be for members, as they can choose to receive direct notifications about updates, but by giving such controls to users/members you actually prompt more participation from them.

Market Across all Social Platforms

Convert Facebook fans into Twitter followers and LinkedIn connections into contacts. Afterwards, regularly sharing on a social network will bring you constant attention from followers.

December 28, 2016

by TWP Publisher

How To Use Email Marketing To Boost Your SEO

E-Marketing Email Marketing

There are two main components of search engine optimization (SEO): on-site and off-site optimization. With on-site optimization, you’ll be improving your site’s layout and performance, producing high-quality content, and targeting specific keywords that are relevant to your business and your audience. With off-site optimization, you’ll be posting content on external publications and building inbound links to your website.

However, there are peripheral ways to complement and enhance these efforts; for example, you can use social media to increase the popularity of your content and earn more links as a result of that increased visibility. Similarly, you can harness the power of email marketing to support and improve your campaign.

Here’s how.

Primary Goals

These primary goals are ways for your email marketing campaign to directly influence factors that have significant bearing on your rankings in search engines:

Inbound links. The more links you have pointing to your site, and the more diverse and high-authority sources that are hosting them, the higher your domain authority will be. Domain authority, according to Moz, “is a score (on a 100-point scale) developed by Moz that predicts how well a website will rank on search engines.” As such, acquiring strong inbound links is a crucial factor in improving your SEO. You can use your email marketing campaign to specifically encourage other users to link to your latest posts, or specific pages of your site. For example, let’s say you’ve recently published a whitepaper with a truckload of important statistics you’ve gained from conducting original research. Getting this information in the hands of other users will make them more likely to link to it in the future.
Content promotion. You can also user your email marketing campaign to increase the visibility and performance of your content in general. For example, you can send a weekly or monthly newsletter that recaps some of your blog’s most popular posts. This increases both the visibility of these posts (potentially leading to more inbound links) as well as general traffic to your site.

On-site engagement. Google uses a plethora of individual traffic and engagement metrics to determine the relative “value” of a given webpage. Though the exact significance and influence of these metrics is often debated, it’s clear that having more active, engaged users (with lower bounce rates, higher time spent on page, etc.) is better for your search rankings. Keeping your email audience engaged and coming back to your site with valuable offers can help you maintain a more engaged overall audience.

December 6, 2016

by TWP Publisher

7 Suggestions for Better Mobile-Friendly Web Design

Website Content, Website Design Practices Web Design

Recently, Google made a statement that the volume of search queries on mobile devices has now surpassed desktop. This along with their most recent algorithm updates means that much more value is being given to well-designed mobile websites. Desktop sites failing to conform to the standard are likely to witness a marked decline in SEO rankings and traffic.

So what does this mean for mobile web designers & marketers?

Well for starters, if you haven’t created a mobile website or introduced responsive features into your existing one, you are likely missing out on valuable SERPs rankings and traffic since the majority of your users will likely be visiting on their phones.

Here are 7 suggestions you need to know to update your website to modern mobile standards.

1. Understand usability
Usability is arguably the most important aspect of a mobile website, after all; would you buy an unsteerable car? The same point can be made for your website, your users don’t want to visit a site they can’t use.

You should start off by viewing your current website on your mobile. If you have to pinch in and zoom around to read everything, and it takes several attempts to navigate to a new page, you’ve gotten a clear view of the mobile experience you are offering your users.

2. A responsive website isn’t always the best answer
Depending on your current website, you may want to consider developing a responsive theme that adapts to your users’ browser or device resolution. However, sometimes this isn’t achievable and you may want to opt for a dedicated mobile website instead.

Building a separate mobile site has its benefits, for example they are often easier to develop than integrating responsiveness into your existing site and costs can often be significantly less (especially when using a third-party mobile website builder), however a separate mobile page means you will have to maintain 2 different code bases and upload content to both.

Whichever route you decide to go down, research is needed to ensure which option is more suited to your marketing and business model in the long run.

November 28, 2016

by TWP Publisher

5 Ways Web Designers Can Create Amazing Websites

Website Content, Website Design Practices Web Design

All masters in their domain have secrets they might not be willing to reveal, but their products and practices can speak for themselves and offer clues to achieving greatness. Web designing is such a field. It demands creativity, attention to detail, and practice. Understand what the best web designers do and you can become a master yourself. Here are 5 ways to amp up your web design skills and create powerful websites:

Avoid slideshows and carousels

Slideshows and carousels are suitable only if you are seeking to feature a lot of information on a single page. Remember though, many of your visitors might not stay on your website long enough to absorb all the information in a slideshow or carousel. Given visitors’ short attention spans, it’s typically better to offer a concise value proposition, especially on your home page, and avoid slideshows carousels. When you are seeking the attention of someone, it is important to deliver content that’s meaningful and remove anything not relevant.

Simplify the navigation through your design

A complex website might seem appealing at first, but it will not be very welcoming for a random visitor. Infusing too many options can be counterproductive. Simplifying the visitor’s experience is recommended so a visitor won’t lose time in an attempt to find the information they need the most.

Do not crowd your header or sidebar. Remove as many links as possible. Dropdown menus might adversely affect the aesthetics of your design and the user experience and can be difficult to use on mobile devices – consider eliminating them

Use a sketchbook!

This old-school hack is a must for designers. When ideas come or you feel like organizing a concept, grab your book and sketch it out as the inspiration flows. Tablets can also help you in drawing your design thoughts, but the feeling of sketching out a design on the paper is irreplaceable. This method can assist you during brainstorming and help organize your design process better.

October 4, 2016

by TWP Publisher

The four pillars of the future of SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Search Engine Optimization

SEO has come a long way from being all about on-page optimization, building backlinks and creating “relevant” content. When I read popular search engine blogs, I notice a definite trend: SEO is moving toward a more inclusive strategy that goes beyond new ways of link building or content marketing.

A huge part of present-day SEO practices is brand building and influencing search queries themselves, as opposed to starting with a truckload of keywords and creating content around them. Therefore, while links, keywords, content and site optimization remain the building blocks of SEO, the columns on which the edifice is being built are taking on a different appearance. Let’s see what these pillars are.

1. RankBrain
2. Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)
3. The Knowledge Graph & rich answers
4. Real-time, integrated penalty filters

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