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13 Things We Learned from 10 Years of Writing SEO Friendly Blog Posts

Mon, 20 Feb 2023 16:03:13 -0000

We have written and optimized – for our own blog or other pages – thousands of articles and SEO friendly blog posts in the last 10 years. What better way to learn from past successes and mistakes? We’d like to share them with you, not just as a holiday gift, but mostly because sharing our […]

The post 13 Things We Learned from 10 Years of Writing SEO Friendly Blog Posts appeared first on SEO Blog | cognitiveSEO Blog on SEO Tactics & Strategies.

We have written and optimized – for our own blog or other pages – thousands of articles and SEO friendly blog posts in the last 10 years. What better way to learn from past successes and mistakes? We’d like to share them with you, not just as a holiday gift, but mostly because sharing our insights with others is what makes us and the people around us stronger and more resilient.   Google’s rules and updates changed way too many times to be worth counting and the content writers on this blog have changed a lot as well, trying to uncover Google’s mystery box. We’ve lost weight, hair, nerves, and money in the process but believe us, we have learned a lot and most of the times the hard way.   So, we’re going to expose ourselves in a vulnerable matter; yet, if this article saves you from repeating some mistakes we did, we declare ourselves happy. 🙂   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-24705 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Things-we-learned-from-writing-SEO-articles-1.png" alt="Things we learned from writing SEO articles" width="1024" height="538" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Things-we-learned-from-writing-SEO-articles-1.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Things-we-learned-from-writing-SEO-articles-1-300x158.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Things-we-learned-from-writing-SEO-articles-1-768x404.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   The end of the year is usually a time to reminisce and reflect on the time that has passed and hopefully extract some amount of wisdom – no matter how small – to take into the new year. For many of us, 2021 will be different, since we’ve likely had to go through this exercise a lot earlier than the end of the year.   So, we decided to look even further back, in hopes that the lessons we find will speak to something greater than the general terribleness of this year.   We’ve run an SEO blog for ten years now. And we’ve learned one or two things along the way. Here are 13 of them (yes 13, in 2020):   <ol class="summaryext"> <li><a href="#1">Optimize Everything from URLs to Conclusions</a></li> <li><a href="#2">Don’t Assume Anything! Check Grammar, Facts, Quotes</a></li> <li><a href="#3">Being Consistent Is Difficult. It’s Also the Key to Success</a></li> <li><a href="#4">Originality Is Good, but so Is Content Update</a></li> <li><a href="#5">Google Algorithms Come and Go, Quality Content Stays</a></li> <li><a href="#6">Creativity Is A Lot of Hard Work</a></li> <li><a href="#7">Questions Are More Useful than Answers</a></li> <li><a href="#8">Forget Academic Writing</a></li> <li><a href="#9">Solve Your Readers’ Problems, not Your Dilemmas</a></li> <li><a href="#10">The Title of the Article Will Influence Its Performance</a></li> <li><a href="#11">Write Less but Write Better</a></li> <li><a href="#12">Write Less, Promote More</a></li> <li><a href="#13">Stick to Your Principles</a></li> </ol> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='1' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Optimize Everything from URLs to Conclusions</h2>   I know, you already got this: you know that you need to have well optimized content, meaning that you need to use your targeted keyword within the title once and the body content at least ten times and Google will have no other choice than rank your content. And if it doesn’t, well, we all know that Google sucks so, it’s their fault.   Of course, this is an exaggeration. But it has a grain of truth in it.   <blockquote> As search marketing changed, we have evolved as well as learned what both our readers and Google expect from us. </blockquote>   We all know that optimized content is the key to success. But optimization shouldn’t stop at the body of the content. You should also optimize:   <ul> <li>The Title</li> <li>The URL</li> <li>The Meta Description</li> <li>The Slug</li> <li>The Images </li> <li>The Internal Links</li> <li>The Outbound Links</li> <li>The Text Length</li> <li>The Article Main Image</li> </ul>   We used to overlook some of these items. Or, at least we did not give them the right importance. This is how we ended up with URLs like this: https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/26/the-best-link-building-blogs-experts-and-their-tutorials-from-2011/ or with three articles published one after another having the titles: How to Get Links, How to Earn Links and How to Acquire Links.   You’ll find plenty of material on this blog on how to optimize all of those reminded above, so we won’t insist too much here. But here are some resources you might find useful:   <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/21096/how-to-write-for-seo/">SEO Writing for Copywriters</a> <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/21836/internal-linking-structure-seo/">Internal Linking Strategy </a> <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/11701/title-influence-on-rankings/">Title & URL Influence on Rankings Research</a> <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/19318/ling-building-lessons/">Link Building Campaigns</a> <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/22796/seo-friendly-title-tags-best-practices/">How to Write SEO Friendly Titles</a> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='2' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Don’t Assume Anything! Check Grammar, Facts, Quotes</h2>   Do you know what Euripides and my manager have in common? They are both stuck in my head repeating this sentence: Question everything!   While this might be an obvious one, take a sincerity test: when was the last time you double or triple checked a well-known fact? Even the basic ones like: cracking your knuckles will give you arthritis or Eskimos have dozens of words for snow. You know this, so you use them in your content without checking them again.   <blockquote> Whether it’s a well-known SEO fact, a very famous quote or an obvious grammar rule, double check it. </blockquote>   Some time ago we published an <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/18988/advertising-on-wikipedia/">article</a> that talked about Wikipedia and whether advertising can be made on the big encyclopedia’s site. And as an example, we offered Gibraltar. We were super excited about the article and we thought it would stir a lot of controversies. And it did. Yet, the apple of discord wasn’t whether you can inject advertising, but whether Gibraltar is a country or not. It is a territory disputed between UK and Spain, we knew that, but we assumed that if it has its own capital and currency, it must be a country. Well, it’s not and we had to stop and moderate the comments section due to this issue. We changed the screenshot and transformed “country” into “territory” but, too little too late.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-24675" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/gibraltar-country.png" alt="gibraltar country" width="1017" height="689" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/gibraltar-country.png 1017w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/gibraltar-country-300x203.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/gibraltar-country-768x520.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1017px) 100vw, 1017px" />   We also had our share of “grammar shaming” from our users. Some more years ago, we published a few pieces (that we assumed were written correctly from a grammar point of view) and we got some emails from our readers that weren’t so flattering. <blockquote> We had spent so much time in doing research, documenting and reading a lot, and what people noticed first were the grammar mistakes. </blockquote> Of course, we were proud enough to assume that we knew grammar, and that it wasn’t what should have mattered first. But a few emails from our users later, we decided to collaborate with an English teacher. And that was one of the best decisions we took.   When it comes to grammar, things are a bit tricky, we know. If your first language is not English, chances are you’ll need someone to look over your content. At least in the beginning, to give you some guidance. Even if you’re one of those who goes overboard when correcting grammar mistakes, a fresh eye is always a good idea. Because you want your articles, your research, your blog to become an authority in your market, and this would be almost impossible with typos or style errors in your masterpiece. If someone else is checking your work, that doesn’t make you less of a content writer or copywriter. It will make you a better one. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='3' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Being Consistent Is Difficult. It’s Also the Key to Success</h2>   Ever wondered why so many TV shows which go on forever sooner or later have a significant drop in quality?   <blockquote> Coming up with a good idea can happen to any of us. Coming up with a good idea every week for years and years? That takes more than creativity. </blockquote>   It takes hard work and discipline and accepting the fact that some weeks it’s going to be a lot harder than others. But the important thing is to keep going and keep wanting to put out good work. Things aren’t always going to be in a straight line. Difficult times are followed by better ones. And sometimes the best rewards come after a period of struggling and pushing through.   Do you see the screenshot below? It’s a pretty nice growth, isn’t it? It’s a screenshot of cognitiveSEO’s visibility taken from our <a href="https://explorer.cognitiveseo.com/?u=cognitiveseo.com&m=*U*#section/4">Site Explorer</a>. The chart below looks this good because what we did two things:   <ol> <li>We published constantly (we published at least once a week)</li> <li>We optimized everything mentioned in the previous chapter, from URLs to conclusions. </li> </ol>   <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-24679" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/cognitiveseo-increase-1024x502.png" alt="cognitiveseo increase" width="1024" height="502" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/cognitiveseo-increase-1024x502.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/cognitiveseo-increase-300x147.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/cognitiveseo-increase-768x377.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/cognitiveseo-increase.png 1193w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> (I admit that I gaze at this chart from time to time when my motivation is gone, or I procrastinate too much.)   Yes, we also used our <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/keyword-tool/">Content Optimizer</a> a lot and it worked great for us. But we were consistent most of all. <blockquote> We published frequently and we optimized everything for each and every article, be it an in-depth research or a short case study. </blockquote> And it did pay off. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='4' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Originality Is Good, but so Is Content Update</h2>   <blockquote> Coming up with original ideas is no doubt key to progress. But so is updating existing ones, despite being less glamorous. </blockquote>   Gaining knowledge tends to happen in small and uncertain steps, rather than in leaps and bounds. Part of the process is refining and testing existing knowledge. Which is why we’ve often opted to update articles and research rather than start from scratch.   And it turned out to be a very good decision. We even made <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/16542/improve-website-rankings/">an article</a> on how content optimization increased our SEO visibility big time. The results are summed up in the chart below.   <img class="aligncenter" src="https://cdn.cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Keyword-rankings-after-optimization.png" alt="Keyword rankings after optimization" />   You surely have articles that are not relevant anymore. Or research you’ve worked so hard on, but now it is not bringing anything in terms of traffic.   Instead of letting them rot, try to resuscitate them, if it makes sense. You’ll win more traffic and improve your overall blog quality. Worst case scenario, this strategy won’t bring you much more traffic but at least you’ll have your blog articles up to date. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='5' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Google Algorithms Come and Go, Quality Content Stays</h2>   This is similar to the one hit wonder music bands. <blockquote> We all remember the musical hit, we sing it at birthday parties for a period of time, yet we probably won’t buy the album just for that tune. </blockquote> Same thing may happen to your content. If you want your readers to look at your blog/brand/name with respect and put you in the trustworthy content category, make a habit out of delivering quality.   As the saying goes, we are what we repeatedly do. <blockquote> Excellence is not an act, but a habit. </blockquote> You’ve written a blog post and you have thousands of shares and appreciations? That’s a great. Yet, that one-time performance won’t keep you on the top for long. On the contrary, once you’ve set the bar high, you need to keep up with it to have killer content.   And yes, Google Updates are a harsh reality. Yet, we have thousands of readers, clients, users, and it rarely happened for very good quality content to be penalized. We’re not saying that it didn’t happen. Unfortunately, we’ve seen good quality being penalized. Yet, take this as a prevention measure.   If a policeman stopped you in traffic, would you be super confident that you did nothing wrong, or would you feel a bit panicked as you know you probably broke a few rules here and there?   Same with content and updates. I know, it’s waaaaaaay easier said than done, but try to write content in such manner, that if a quality update pops out, you won’t feel that scared.   But don’t take our word for granted. Here’s what Google <a href="https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2019/08/core-updates" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">says</a> about what you should do when they update their algorithm.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-24684" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/google-update-recommendations.png" alt="google update recommendations" width="900" height="601" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/google-update-recommendations.png 900w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/google-update-recommendations-300x200.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/google-update-recommendations-768x513.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" /> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='6' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Creativity Is A Lot of Hard Work</h2>   The famous American television and radio host Larry King used to say to his audience a very witty story about his father. He says that his father, of Ukrainian origins, came to the US thinking that America was the greatest land of all, where even the streets were paved with gold. However, shortly after arriving, his father realized three things: <ol> <li>The streets weren’t paved with gold.</li> <li>The streets weren’t paved at all.</li> <li>He was the one to pave the streets.</li> </ol>   <blockquote> There’s a dangerous cliche about creativity being the sort of lightning in a bottle phenomenon, young hip creatives staying late at night and coming up with wild ideas out of thin air. And that’s… definitely a more exciting version than reality. </blockquote>   But the truth is that so many times creativity is time and patience and incremental progress. And it’s a collaborative effort more than it is an individual one. Ultimately, you discover there is truth in the adage that spontaneous things take a lot of preparation.   Don’t pressure yourself in being creative 100% of the time. You might be creative most of the time, without even noticing. And we know it’s easier said than done but even if you don’t feel like, start writing. Just start, and the rest will follow.   Larry’s King father was a great man, we’re sure of it. Yet, as inspirational as these success stories are, this is what they tend to remain: stories. Of course, not all of them. Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='7' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Questions Are More Useful than Answers</h2>   We’ve asked a lot of questions along the years and we haven’t always been able to answer all of them. Understanding the right question to ask is, more often than not, the more challenging task.   <blockquote> Getting access to large amounts of data is no longer a serious problem. What to do with the data will largely remain one for years to come. </blockquote>   So, whenever you want to perform research, or elaborate on some stats, please remember: it’s not just that statistical interpretation and analysis requires a certain skillset. There are also strategic and sometimes even ethical choices to be made about how to frame the results or even what to look at in the first place.   Over the years, we have performed research on billions of data points. And no, there is no exaggeration here. Literally billions of data points. Each and every time we started having a question in mind we wanted to get an answer for; yet, almost each and every time we realized along the way that we had asked the wrong question. Of course, this is the beauty of research. But don’t be too proud when performing research. Even if your computer blocks after tens of Excel documents open, even if your stats software crashes, never ignore the other questions that will pop up from the research.   Take from instance <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/11701/title-influence-on-rankings/">this research</a> on the infuence of Title and URLs on rankings. The initial plan was to analyze a few hundred article titles and see if and how a title can influence rankings. We ended up analyzing 35k keywords in both Titles and URLs because we realized that what we should actually look for is the importance of a keyword’s occurrence in a title, URL, domain, subdomain and URI.   And as you can see in the chart below, in some cases, that huge amount of analyzed data told us…well…nothing relevant. Yet, it was still worth discovering it.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-24682 size-large" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/title-research-cognitivveseo-1-1024x520.png" alt="title research cognitivveseo" width="1024" height="520" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/title-research-cognitivveseo-1-1024x520.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/title-research-cognitivveseo-1-300x152.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/title-research-cognitivveseo-1-768x390.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/title-research-cognitivveseo-1.png 1087w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='8' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Forget Academic Writing</h2>   We’re going to keep this short. When we talk about academic writing, we don’t necessarily mean scientific articles. But there’s a certain rigor to that writing which might not appeal to the general audience. This is not to say you should dumb things down.   There’s a simple, two-step approach for making this happen: <blockquote> Read what you’ve written out loud. If some parts don’t sound like something you’d say to a friend in real life, then change it. </blockquote> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='9' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Solve Your Readers’ Problems, not Your Dilemmas</h2>   A lot of content comes from wanting to share experience. You know something most other people – even those in your field – might not know. You are excited about that and want to make them aware of your newly gained wisdom. The important thing to remember is that the focus should stay on sharing and not on you as the source of wisdom. That’s not to say your opinions have no place in your writing, on the contrary.   But always ask yourself these 3 questions:   <ol> <li>Will this info help my readers better understand the subject?</li> <li>Will this info help my readers better apply this knowledge for doing something practical?</li> <li>Will this info help me look cool but not add anything valuable to this piece?</li> </ol>   If the answer to the first two questions is a resounding “Yes”, then you should definitely include that piece of information in your copy. If the answer to these questions is “No” and the only “Yes” comes from the third question, well… you’ve got yourself a pretty good conversation opener for the next party. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='10' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>The Title of the Article Will Influence Its Performance</h2>   We’re not talking here only about the fact that keywords used in the titles of your copy have a high ranking importance. We’ve conducted a <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/11701/title-influence-on-rankings" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">study</a> where it seems that keyword appearance in the title makes a clear difference between ranking 1st or 2nd. But also about the “catchiness” factor. And no, I am not talking about click bite titles, but about titles that are relevant in your industry.   We’ve published so much, and some content registered success while some didn’t, but one thing is sure: if it has anything related to Google in the title, it’s going to perform pretty well. When comparing any study, research, opinion article that we’ve published to one that has “Google” in the title, chances are that the latter will get the most traffic, shares, links, etc.   <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/index.php?s=google"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-24694" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/google-posts.png" alt="google posts" width="855" height="938" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/google-posts.png 855w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/google-posts-273x300.png 273w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/google-posts-768x843.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 855px) 100vw, 855px" /></a>   So, you might be thinking: why don’t you add “Google” in all titles? And now we come back to the previous points mentioned here: we don’t want to do click bait only; we want to be relevant, to offer quality and respect for our readers.   <blockquote> When creating the title of your content, you should really think things through, as the title must not be only relevant and attractive but also SERP friendly. </blockquote> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='11' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Write Less but Write Better</h2>   I am sure you’ve noticed this as well for years: fluff content in most of the industries (especially digital marketing). There seems to be very little focus on SEO, audiences, conversions, and how articles/content will be helpful for the readers. All of these things should be figured out BEFORE you write anything. It is obvious when something was written strictly for an SEO goal;   <blockquote> Without value, fluff content isn’t going to help you even if you rank well for it. </blockquote>   There is no reason to create content so that you have it. You have to plan each piece of content based on which audience(s) you want to reach, what goals you have for each piece of content, how you will use it in social media to further your goals, and how you are hoping to rank. This takes a lot of time and effort, but it is better than wasting time and resources on content that brings nothing to your company. Without showing the ROI for your work, your job becomes expendable. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='12' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Write Less, Promote More</h2>   Don’t neglect content promotion. You might be overly focused on content marketing processes. And that’s definitely a good investment! However, a lot of content marketers tend to skip the steps related to content promotion. We know, we did.   <blockquote> Without promotion, the majority of your work never reaches your targeted audience. </blockquote>   We recommend writing less and devoting more time to content promotion. Start your content plan by writing a list of channels and influencers that can help you reach more relevant users and will allow you to start getting traffic and leads from each published post.   <div id="attachment_24698" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-24698" class="size-large wp-image-24698" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/promotional-plan-1024x473.png" alt="promotional plan" width="1024" height="473" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/promotional-plan-1024x473.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/promotional-plan-300x139.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/promotional-plan-768x355.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/promotional-plan.png 1176w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />source: multichannelmerchant.com</div> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='13' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Stick to Your Principles</h2>   There will be many cases when you might be tempted to write click-bait articles or write just for the sake of writing, without offering real value.   Because you’ll be looking at your competitors, and you’ll see that they might get results even with not-so-qualitative content. You’ll invest time, money, and nerves in well-documented researches that will not always perform the way you want. You will get angry, and you will swear you won’t spend another night trying to bring quality to the Internet world.   I am sure this happens to any content writer at least once. Yet, if you do stick to your principles, if you do invest time and quality in each and every article you write, it does pay off. These are not just empty words. Long time effort in content writing does pay off. <blockquote> Don’t write anything you wouldn’t read. </blockquote> There are no easy gains, indeed. Yet, what matters at the end of the day is to have good long-term performances.   You might have read this article thoroughly, or you’ve just browsed the main titles, saying to yourself: I knew that. Knowledge is power. But what matters at the end of the day is what you do with that knowledge. All the actions you perform daily define who you are as a person, a marketer, or a business owner. So make sure your actions have an impact on something, no matter how big or small.   The Canadian writer Margaret Atwood once said that the internet is 95 percent porn and spam. So, let’s make that 5% be damn good. The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/24668/seo-friendly-blog-posts/">13 Things We Learned from 10 Years of Writing SEO Friendly Blog Posts</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog">SEO Blog | cognitiveSEO Blog on SEO Tactics & Strategies</a>.
Content Freshness & Rankings | Does Fresh Content Impact SEO in 2024?

Tue, 15 Mar 2022 09:32:33 -0000

You keep hearing around that the same way true fans like their Apples fresh (I’m talking about iPhones), Google likes its content fresh. Well, it’s somewhat true, but not for the reasons you might think of! Google doesn’t necessarily favor “fresh” content. Some search queries definitely deserve freshness, while others not so much. However, […]

The post Content Freshness & Rankings | Does Fresh Content Impact SEO in 2024? appeared first on SEO Blog | cognitiveSEO Blog on SEO Tactics & Strategies.

You keep hearing around that the same way true fans like their Apples fresh (I’m talking about iPhones), Google likes its content fresh. Well, it’s somewhat true, but not for the reasons you might think of!   Google doesn’t necessarily favor “fresh” content. Some search queries definitely deserve freshness, while others not so much. However, fresh content can impact SEO through some indirect “freshness” factors.   <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-21252" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Does_Fresh_Content_Affect_SEO-1024x538.jpg" alt="Does_Fresh_Content_Affect_SEO" width="1024" height="538" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Does_Fresh_Content_Affect_SEO.jpg 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Does_Fresh_Content_Affect_SEO-300x158.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Does_Fresh_Content_Affect_SEO-768x404.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   <ol> <li><a href="#1">What Does Fresh Content Even Mean?</a> <ol class="summaryext"> <li><a href="#2">Freshness & Frequency</a></li> </ol> </li> <li><a href="#3">What the Google Freshness Update Was All About</a> <ol class="summaryext"> <li><a href="#4">The First Google Update (Caffeine)</a></li> <li><a href="#5">The Second Google Update (Freshness)</a></li> <li><a href="#6">Who Does the Freshness Update Actually Affect?</a></li> </ol> </li> <li><a href="#7">Does Fresh Content Impact SEO?</a> <ol class="summaryext"> <li><a href="#8">Queries that Deserve Freshness (QDF)</a></li> <li><a href="#9">Updating Old Content (Keeping It up to Date)</a></li> <li><a href="#10">Publishing New Content</a></li> </ol> </li> <li><a href="#11">What Actually Affects SEO</a> <ol class="summaryext"> <li><a href="#12">CTR (Possibly Impacted by ‘Freshness’)</a></li> <li><a href="#13">Quantity & Targeted Keywords</a></li> <li><a href="#14">Domain Performance</a></li> </ol> </li> </ol>   To better understand the concept, we first must detail a little what “fresh content” actually means. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='1' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>What Does Fresh Content Even Mean?</h2>   What do you understand by fresh content? Content that has been published today? Content that is regularly updated?   <blockquote> The term “fresh content” represents content that is dynamic in nature (especially in meaning). </blockquote>   Therefore, it’s not as much “new” content in relation to time and when it has actually been created or published, but new in meaning and what the data behind it reflects.   Many people believe that fresh content is content that has been recently published. Sometimes, they even mix up freshness with frequency. <iframe title="Kool & The Gang - Fresh (Official Music Video)" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sTJ1XwGDcA4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>   Let’s start with content that has been recently published. If I am publishing a piece on “The History of England”, would you call that fresh content?   Most likely not, because people have been writing about the history of England for probably hundreds of years. It’s nothing new.   The post is new on my site, of course, but common SEO sense says that new content without any backlinks and amplification will have a harder time ranking, especially in very competitive niches, such as history (where Wikipedia probably dominates). You’ll have to make huge link building efforts to dominate the results with a new page and we all know how risky that is! (it usually results in a penalty). <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='2' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Freshness & Frequency</h3>   Now frequency is very similar to freshness and they often intersect, but it’s not always the case. I could post something fresh once per week, or I could post something fresh every day.   <blockquote> Frequency will ensure that your site gets crawled more often (thanks to Caffeine). </blockquote>   That means search engines will use more of their resources on sites that publish more often, because they need them.   If you’ve been publishing once per month for the past year, why would Google check your site daily? It would be a waste of resources.   However, if your site publishes 25 articles each day, then Google has to make sure it checks your site multiple times per day to index those results as soon as possible (thanks to Caffeine) and be able to display them to the users if they request it (thanks to the 2011 update).   <blockquote> One common misconception is that stale websites will be negatively impacted. That’s been proven wrong. </blockquote>   Brian Dean made this pretty clear with his blog. He publishes rarely, so his website is mostly still. However, his content always ranks at the top. I also have a blog in Romanian on which I haven’t posted in over 6 months. 9/10 articles are ranking on the 1st page and 6/10 are ranked in the top 3 positions.   If there’s something that has changed over time, it’s that those rankings have actually increased.   You see, you don’t need to publish too often when you can actually go into the Google Search Console and ask Google to immediately index your web pages by hitting a single button. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='3' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>What the Google Freshness Update Was All About</h2>   This all started back in 2009, but just like many events, it has developed into a big conspiracy over time. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='4' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>The First Google Update (Caffeine)</h3>   If you were in business back in 2009, you’d remember about the <a href="https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Google Caffeine update</a> and how much of a big deal it was. The update is often referred to today as the Freshness Update, because Google used the phrase “fresher results”.   Although the update was announced back in 2009, it took almost a year until it finally rolled up.   The thing is, unfortunately, that many people got it all wrong.   <blockquote> The Google caffeine update has nothing to do with rankings. It’s main focus is indexing. Rankings and indexing are two very different things. </blockquote>   Indexing is when Google takes a first look at your content and adds it to the index. That means it has the potential to be ranked.   Ranking however, is a completely different story, with a much more complex algorithm behind it. This algorithm, which was updated in 2011, was actually older than you might think. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='5' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>The Second Google Update (Freshness)</h3>   Ranking “fresh content” at the top was actually happening way before that. In 2007, Amit Singhal had <a href="nytimes.com/2007/06/03/business/yourmoney/03google.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">developed an algorithm</a> that favored freshness for some particular subjects and queries.   Note how I say “some specific queries”. Wait, let me make that bigger.   <blockquote> Google favors fresh content only for some specific queries that deserve freshness, widely known as QDF. </blockquote>   QDF stands for Query Deserves Freshness. If a particular search phrase is a QDF, then Google will show up the most recent results. This happens a lot in particular areas, as Matt Cutts explains in the following video:   <iframe title="Is freshness an important signal for all sites?" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o4hH4ZQ_19k?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>   In fact, in its <a href="https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/giving-you-fresher-more-recent-search.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">official post about the update</a>, Google specifies exactly what types of queries the update will impact:   <ul> <li>Recent events or hot topics: Such as celebrity news or natural disasters (kind of one and the same)</li> <li>Regularly recurring events: Conferences such as Brand Minds</li> <li>Frequent updates: Anything that keeps having new content added to, such as product reviews or anything in the technology space</li> </ul>   I know there have been some speculations that only by changing the date to an article you could make it look fresh and you could abuse the algorithm changes to make Google keep you at the top. However, they are what they are (speculations) and I promise you that for each example you give me of “fresh” content ranking at the top I can find at least 1 example of “old” content ranking at the top.   In fact, I’ll give you some examples right now, from the SEO field. It’s a field that frequently changes and you always have to stay up to date in order to be relevant.   There’s no way a guide from 2015 or 2010 would still be useful, right? Well… Google thinks otherwise:   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-21256" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/seo-old-posts-1.png" alt="does fresh content affect seo" width="828" height="453" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/seo-old-posts-1.png 828w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/seo-old-posts-1-300x164.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/seo-old-posts-1-768x420.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 828px) 100vw, 828px" />   And here’s another example:   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-21257" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/seo-old-posts2.png" alt="old articles still rank well in Google" width="797" height="668" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/seo-old-posts2.png 797w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/seo-old-posts2-300x251.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/seo-old-posts2-768x644.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 797px) 100vw, 797px" />   You might argue that “fresher” results rank better than those. Well, you’re right but that doesn’t prove anything, because one can say “fresher results also rank below and they even come from big sites such as Hubspot”.   However…   <blockquote> There are factors that might influence rankings in this situation and we’ll talk about them soon, so keep reading! </blockquote>   But thinking that you’ll rank better just by having a more recent publish date is silly. And I’ll crush it even more soon. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='6' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Who Does the Freshness Update Actually Affect?</h3>   Both Caffeine and the 2011 Freshness Algorithm Update affect mostly news sites. This is the broader category, in which you can include celebrities, general news, politics, technology, you name it.   I’ll give you an example:   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-21258" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/query-that-deserves-freshness-qdf-seo.png" alt="query that deserves freshness SEO" width="802" height="896" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/query-that-deserves-freshness-qdf-seo.png 802w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/query-that-deserves-freshness-qdf-seo-269x300.png 269w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/query-that-deserves-freshness-qdf-seo-768x858.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 802px) 100vw, 802px" />   Notice a difference from the SEO examples I gave before? No article from 2009 or 2010 here, right? They’re all from 2019, posted hardly one month before me writing this post. The second article doesn’t even list the date, but instead the number of days it was posted ago. It can also be hours sometimes instead of days.   Why do you think this is the case?   Because in this case, a 2009 post would be horrible as a search result. People want to know the latest phones, not the outdated ones from 2009. Google knows the user’s intent so it tries to match the results to fit it. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='7' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Does Fresh Content Impact SEO?</h2>   Do we have an official answer? Sort of. And it’s pretty recent:   <blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center"> No — ? John ? (@JohnMu) <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnMu/status/1030906262681268225?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2018</a></blockquote>   I have to say, I’m not quite pleased with the answer, because John has the habit of being very vague in his answers. I mean… I’ve just proven above that Google favors fresh content in certain cases.   Sure, we also have to get the context of his answer. That question about freshness has been asked after John tweeted this:   “As a user, recognizing that old content is just being relabeled as new completely kills any authority that I thought the author / site had. Good content is not lazy content. SEO hacks don’t make a site great. Give your content and users the respect they deserve.”   <blockquote> So, basically, John Mueller, Google’s representative, is trying to tell you that updating the post date every day is a bad digital marketing strategy and it won’t help you rank better. </blockquote>   I have to admit, I miss those days when Google used to be <a href="https://mattcutts.com/blog/minty-fresh-indexing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a lot more detailed and explicit in its answers</a>. Why?   Because, as discussed, before, Google does favor fresh content, but in certain areas! And John’s answer should’ve reflected this reality, which also includes QDF. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='8' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Queries that Deserve Freshness (QDF)</h3>   Queries that Deserve Freshness is a reality! Matt Cutts talked about this before. There are certain search phrases, such as “best android phones” which I’ve shown above as an example, that deserve freshness. Users want to see the latest posts, so here, you might have the upper hand if you keep everything up to date.   <iframe title=""Query deserves freshness." Fact or fiction?" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QyFlIhruda4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>   Does that mean that you can keep ranking at the top by constantly changing the post date? No.   Does it mean that some articles will outrank other articles because of the date when they were posted? Yes.   But there are a lot of factors that signal freshness. Not just the date. Is the topic growing popular on social media platforms? Are the articles getting any new backlinks? In other words, is it something that’s happening now?   Are those answers contradicting one another? I don’t think so. In the end, Google’s not perfect. It’s just an algorithm. Do you think a human person could determine better what the best result for the masses would be? I highly doubt it. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='9' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Updating Old Content (Keeping It up to Date)</h3>   Will updating old blog posts help you rank better? Probably. But not just by changing the date. Google sees those changes and it accounts for “hacks” like this.   In this article, Search Engine Land stated that Google told them about one of the factors that determine freshness. It’s not the date!   “Google now tells us that one of the freshness factors — the way they determine if content is fresh or not — is the time when they first crawled a page. So if you publish a page, and then change that page, it doesn’t suddenly become “fresh.”   <blockquote> One of the factors that determine freshness is the time when Google first crawled the page. </blockquote>   So no, Google doesn’t care if you keep changing the date.   Does that mean you shouldn’t update your articles? No!   <blockquote> You should always keep your articles up to date. But not just with the date. Also with the content, quality and relevancy! </blockquote>   Has something changed since you’ve first written the article? Go and update it. Make your updates visible. This will allow users to also have a historical view on the events.   As Cyrus Shepard put it in <a href="https://moz.com/blog/google-fresh-factor-new" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this article</a>:   <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">The age of a web page or domain isn’t the only freshness factor. Search engines can score regularly updated content for freshness differently from content that doesn’t change. In this case, the amount of change on your web page plays a role.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-16858 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/cyrus-shepard.png" alt="Cyrus Shepard" width="50" height="50" /></td> <td class="author-name">Cyrus Shepard</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td>Owner @ <a href="https://zyppy.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Zyppy</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/CyrusShepard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@CyrusShepard</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table>   So the page’s age (when it was first crawled) is important, not just the publish date in the article, which can be faked. If you’re going to make small, insignificant changes, there are small chances that you will see any effects on the rankings.   If you feel like your post is outdated but you don’t know exactly how to improve it, use our <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/keyword-tool/">Keyword & Content Optimization Tool</a>.   <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-20885" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/content-optimization-tool-1024x495.jpg" alt="optimize your content with cognitiveSEO" width="1024" height="495" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/content-optimization-tool-1024x495.jpg 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/content-optimization-tool-300x145.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/content-optimization-tool-768x371.jpg 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/content-optimization-tool.jpg 1838w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   On the right side, it will give you a list of keywords that you should use in your article in order to make it more relevant. You can view them as topics you should cover when you’re <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/21096/how-to-write-for-seo/">writing SEO content</a>. The ones with dots are the most important ones.   If you want to know exactly what we did to gain 70% more SEO visibility, you can take a look at our <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/16542/improve-website-rankings/">content optimization results</a>.   Keep in mind that any changes to your content might also result in negative impacts. Be prepared for this in case it happens. If you have an article that’s already ranking #1, it’s probably a better idea to leave it like that! <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='10' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Publishing New Content</h3>   As mentioned before, new content lacks authority, distribution and links. It’s unlikely that it will outrank older content.   <blockquote> However, publishing new content does expand the number of keywords your site is targeting and thus it results in more traffic. </blockquote>   It’s just simple math. Will a higher post frequency increase your rankings overall? Probably not, although it can result in more backlinks which leads to higher domain performance over time.   However, a higher post frequency is almost guaranteed to increase traffic. No matter what others say, if you have 1000 followers and they read you once per week, if you make them read you twice per week, you’ve increased your traffic. It’s simple math.   But remember, you also need to post good content. You have to structure it well. You have to account for your audience’s needs. Not just blindly post things there.   Make sure to use the <a title="Best Keyword Tool" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/keyword-tool/">Keyword Tool</a> to maximize your chances of ranking higher on Google when you create new posts. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='11' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>What Actually Affects SEO</h2>   I don’t want you to be upset with me, so I’ll tell you some things that will actually impact your rankings and they’re closely related to freshness. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='12' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>CTR (Possibly Impacted by ‘Freshness’)</h3>   Click Through Rate is a ranking factor. This has been tested and proven countless times. If users click your headline more and stick with your website, it signals Google that your site is a good result.   But <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/18469/dejan-seo/">what impacts CTR</a>? Well, mostly it’s the position you’re ranking for, but the 3 things that affect CTR are the Title tag, the URL and the Meta Description, because they’re all shown in Google’s search results.   I hope you can see where this is going. How many times have you seen the current year or “Updated 20xx” in a title? Probably often. I mean just take a look at the “best android phones” example! It’s full of it! Why?     <blockquote> Using the current year in your title might positively affect CTR, which can result in higher rankings. </blockquote>   Should you change your title anually to feature the current year? Probably. But make sure your article is still up to date, otherwise Google’s going to catch that and punish you for it. If the article is still up to date, you can leave it like that. If not, you should probably improve it.   You can also reshare and redistribute your content as “new” on you social media platforms. This will help you gain new backlinks and traffic if the article was previously successful. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='13' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Quantity & Targeted Keywords</h3>   If you post new content frequently, you can expand your search visibility by targeting new keywords. This is almost guaranteed to bring more traffic if you do it right.   We’ve started doing this since November 2016 and the results have been promising. Have our rankings improved overall? Yes. Was it because we published more content but with the same high quality? It certainly had an effect (more backlinks, more shares, more topical authority). <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='14' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Domain Performance</h3>   Closely related to quantity is the performance of your site’s domain. This is dictated by the number of unique domains that link to your website and, very important, also by their quality.   If you publish more content, target and distribute it properly, then you can increase the number of backlinks to your site, which will result in a better domain performance.   If you want to check your domain performance, you can use the <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/site-explorer/">CognitiveSEO Site Explorer</a>.   <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-20012" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/cognitiveseo-site-explorer-broken-link-checker-1024x407.jpg" alt="find broken pages on your website" width="1024" height="407" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/cognitiveseo-site-explorer-broken-link-checker-1024x407.jpg 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/cognitiveseo-site-explorer-broken-link-checker-300x119.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/cognitiveseo-site-explorer-broken-link-checker-768x306.jpg 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/cognitiveseo-site-explorer-broken-link-checker.jpg 1596w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   The domain performance has a positive impact on all your articles, because Google starts to trust your site as being qualitative. Just think about it. If you buy a domain today and write something about SEO (let’s say it’s the same quality), do you think you can outrank cognitiveSEO right away? It’s hardly the case.   <h3>Conclusion</h3>   Still confused? Here, I’ll summarize everything, just for you:   <ul> <li>Google does favor freshers results, but only in certain cases, such as news sites.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Freshness factors, like the current year in your title, can impact your CTR, which may result in higher rankings. </li> </ul> <ul> <li>Publishing more new content can also help you gain more links, which leads to more authority.</li> </ul>   What do you think about fresh content? Are you in a niche where fresh content is vital? How often do you publish on your site? Have you ever tried changing the date to rank higher? Has it worked? I doubt it has, but prove me wrong in the comments section. The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/21200/fresh-content-seo/">Content Freshness & Rankings | Does Fresh Content Impact SEO in 2024?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog">SEO Blog | cognitiveSEO Blog on SEO Tactics & Strategies</a>.
Why SEO Does Not Work for You & Your Website

Thu, 24 Feb 2022 07:48:09 -0000

So, you’re wondering why SEO does not work for you and your website, right? Haven’t you heard?! SEO is dead! Dead from all the bad jokes about it. Of course, SEO isn’t actually dead, but there are a few reasons why SEO might not be working for you and your site. We’ve gathered 14 […]

The post Why SEO Does Not Work for You & Your Website appeared first on SEO Blog | cognitiveSEO Blog on SEO Tactics & Strategies.

So, you’re wondering why SEO does not work for you and your website, right? Haven’t you heard?! SEO is dead! Dead from all the bad jokes about it. Of course, SEO isn’t actually dead, but there are a few reasons why SEO might not be working for you and your site. <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-24783" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Why-SEO-Does-Not-Work-for-You-and-Your-Website-3.png" alt="Why SEO Does Not Work for You and Your Website" width="1024" height="538" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Why-SEO-Does-Not-Work-for-You-and-Your-Website-3.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Why-SEO-Does-Not-Work-for-You-and-Your-Website-3-300x158.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Why-SEO-Does-Not-Work-for-You-and-Your-Website-3-768x404.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   We’ve gathered 14 top of mind reasons why your SEO might not be working for your website. Let’s go through them and see if something rings a bell.   <ol> <li><a href="#1">You don’t stick to the basics</a></li> <li><a href="#2">You don’t really understand what SEO is</a></li> <li><a href="#3">SEO just doesn’t fit your business/idea</a></li> <li><a href="#4">Your expectations are too high</a></li> <li><a href="#5">You’re not patient enough</a></li> <li><a href="#6">Your budget is too small</a></li> <li><a href="#7">You’re not focusing on mobile</a></li> <li><a href="#8">You don’t analyze and you underestimate your competition</a></li> <li><a href="#9">You’ve skipped keyword research</a></li> <li><a href="#10">You’re not prioritizing the right things</a></li> <li><a href="#11">You’re ignoring structure, click depth & internal linking</a></li> <li><a href="#12">You’re ignoring backlinks</a></li> <li><a href="#13">You don’t understand your audience</a></li> <li><a href="#14">You’ve externalized to the wrong SEO agency</a></li> <li><a href="#15">You’re not monitoring your results</a></li> </ol>   <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='1' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>1. You don’t stick to the basics</h2>   When people say SEO has some relation with magic, what they actually mean is that it’s very complex.   It would take several very long articles for me to fully explain how it works. Yes, it implies user experience, link profile, content strategy, referral traffic or marketing campaigns. And all these SEO efforts might seem very complex.   However, SEO is more simple that you might think, in some ways.   In a nutshell, it’s the multitude of criteria which makes a website the best result for a particular keyword, in the sense that it satisfies the user’s intent.   <blockquote> What you must understand is that Google isn’t trying to rank websites based on some checklist. </blockquote>   Sure, it follows a list of criteria, but it also looks at historical data in the SERP and since Rank Brain has got involved, machine learning really made things a lot more complicated. <img class="aligncenter wp-image-24744 size-large" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/basicsseo-1024x310.png" alt="SEO Basics" width="1024" height="310" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/basicsseo-1024x310.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/basicsseo-300x91.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/basicsseo-768x232.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/basicsseo-1536x464.png 1536w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/basicsseo.png 1766w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> It’s hard for us humans to keep pace with how Google decides what actually makes a web page ‘the best one’. At this point… I’m not sure even the makers themselves have any idea how things work anymore.   <blockquote> So, instead focusing on the latest trends and techniques, try to focus more on the basics. Do them well and do them consistently. </blockquote>   Sure, SEO and digital marketing experts like Neil Patel and Brian Dean always try new techniques and tweaks, but one thing’s for sure: They haven’t stopped posting!   <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/24668/seo-friendly-blog-posts/#3">Being consistent is difficult, but it’s also the key to success!</a> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='2' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>2. You don’t really understand what SEO is</h2>   So, we know Google is trying to rank the best page.   But what does that actually mean?   Does it mean the page with the most targeted keywords? The page with the best links? The page with the best content? Who wins the Google top organic results?   <blockquote> It’s the page that best satisfies the user’s intent. And in some cases, the website alone can’t do it! </blockquote>   Let’s say you want to rank high in the search engines for a very competitive eCommerce keyword. Well… if your offer isn’t good enough, you probably won’t.   If you want to rank for “shoes” but you only have 3 products in your store, you won’t be getting far.   If you want to rank for “cheap” but your prices aren’t cheap, again, you probably won’t have much success with it even if you optimize your website in this direction.   Moreover, many people don’t understand that high rankings within search results also reflect the quality of a business, at least to some extent.   For example, bad reviews on Google My Business can affect your local SEO rankings and your business listing and people don’t leave bad reviews because your SEO campaign sucks.   Sure, you can invest in search marketing and pump links into a website and get it to the top, but if the business itself doesn’t have the necessary infrastructure to properly satisfy clients (quality, shipping, support), the results won’t last for long!   I’ve seen sites pumping bad links and rushing to the top, only to fall ungracefully a short time after because they did not meet their user’s expectations. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='3' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>3. SEO just doesn’t fit your business/idea</h2>   Another thing you should consider is that your business type should match SEO.   <blockquote> Usually, if you want to promote a short-term trending product, such as the fidget spinner, investing big and long term on SEO might not be the right choice! </blockquote>   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-24739 size-large" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/fidget-1024x552.png" alt="Niches that don't fit SEO well" width="1024" height="552" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/fidget-1024x552.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/fidget-300x162.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/fidget-768x414.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/fidget.png 1164w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   Furthermore, if you need a quick turnover and you’re just getting started… SEO might not be the right channel for you, and you should look for PPC advertising or social media remarketing instead.   However, it’s not always a matter of <a title="SEO vs PPC" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/19704/seo-vs-ppc/">SEO vs PPC</a>. Usually, they go well together. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='4' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>4. Your expectations are too high</h2>   The higher the expectations, the bigger the disappointment.   To be satisfied with your results, you’ll need to have realistic goals.   <blockquote> With SEO, you can’t really expect top rankings and huge websites traffic in a month or two, if your domain has just been registered. </blockquote>   You can’t expect to outrank the online presence of a strong competitor with thousands of links, with a tight budget and no scaling even if you apply some good SEO tactics.   In some cases, the entire competition might be way out of your league. That’s when you have to dig in deeper, to find those keyword opportunities that are easier to rank for.   You should still start with SEO as soon as possible, but start small. Look for keywords with lower competition and build your way up before saying that SEO does not work for you. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='5' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>5. You’re not patient enough</h2>   Sometimes you just need to be more patient.   <blockquote> Most SEOs will tell you upfront that it can take from 6 to 12 months to see the top positions. </blockquote>   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-24753 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/532tu6.jpg" alt="" width="577" height="419" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/532tu6.jpg 577w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/532tu6-300x218.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 577px) 100vw, 577px" />   Some will claim that they can get you to the #1 spot in the first month. It’s probably false and you should stay away from them.   <blockquote> You should always see progress in the first month. </blockquote>   If it’s a new website, that might be as little as the first pages getting indexed.   So, if you’re not yet in the position you’ve wished for but have increased in rankings compared to the previous month, just give it a little more time. You’re on the right path.   If you want to find out more about why it takes so long to rank in Google and other search engines and what you can do to speed things up, check out <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/21834/how-long-does-it-take-to-rank-in-google/">this article</a>. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='6' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>6. Your budget is too small</h2>   Actually… you CAN have high expectations. But for the right budget.   If your budget is too small, you might not be able to do everything you want and you might end up saying that SEO does not work for you.   SEO includes things like: good server, fixing technical SEO issues, keyword research, content marketing, social media, investing in links and many others.   <blockquote> If you want to scale it up quickly and efficiently, the truth is that you will need a substantial investment. </blockquote>   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-24756 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/no-money-4865814_640.jpg" alt="Low SEO Budget" width="640" height="425" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/no-money-4865814_640.jpg 640w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/no-money-4865814_640-300x199.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" />   Clients often ask me: “Why is it that SEO takes so long?”   Sure, part of the answer is: “Because Google.”   However, I’m always confident I can speed things up by scaling.   But why does scaling speed up the process, you may ask?   Well… it’s pretty straight forward:   <ul> <li>More content = more keywords covered faster</li> <li>More links = faster higher authority</li> <li>More monitoring = better / faster tweaking</li> <li>More programmers = faster site, more useful features, better UX, etc.</li> </ul>   But all those above = more money.   Are you developing the content for 5 categories per month? Pump that to 10. Are you consolidating the site’s structure with 2 monthly blog posts? Up it to blog posts. Are you securing 1-2 links per month? Make that 5 and so on.   Many people get into SEO because they can use time instead of money to drive traffic to their websites and businesses.   However, time can’t scale things up. Only money can. If you want to rank faster, you’ll need to outsource some work. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='7' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>7. You’re not focusing on Mobile</h2>   I know, I know, you’ve been hearing that Mobile SEO is very important and that most traffic is now coming from mobile devices.   The real thing here is that most professionals work from a desktop computer. So, the first contact with any issue, be it web development or SEO related, is on desktop, most of the times.   Often times I find myself fixing a quick issue on the desktop and completely forgetting to check how it looks on mobile devices.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-24748 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/responsive-1622825_640.png" alt="Responsive design impacts Crawling & Indexing" width="640" height="360" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/responsive-1622825_640.png 640w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/responsive-1622825_640-300x169.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" />   And although I browse websites on mobile (as a user), when a client asks me something or signals an issue, I immediately check it on my computer (the phone is busy at my ear anyway).   <blockquote> In SEO, you always have to keep in mind that Google uses <a title="Mobile First Indexing" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/18350/mobile-first-index-mobile-seo/">mobile first indexing</a>. </blockquote>   If you’re mostly working from a desktop computer, like me, remember to always right-click in Chrome and hit inspect.   You can select multiple device types to stop any issues.   But sometimes, phones act differently than the desktop Chrome browser does (even when set on mobile view), so it’s always best to check on a physical phone itself.   And don’t forget to check on both Android and iOS.   <blockquote> Test if links work, test if scrolling works, test the entire checkout process, test, test, test. </blockquote>   Ask your friends to test, ask your mom to test ask your cat to test. If the cat can use it, you’re good to go.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-24733 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cat-4793068_640.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="426" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cat-4793068_640.jpg 640w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cat-4793068_640-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" />   In addition to that, consider that CSS hidden content also follows the mobile-first mentality.   Feel comfortable to combine desktop columns into sliders, or compress long paragraphs of text into dropdowns.   For example, on an eCommerce website, you might have a small description before your products, on the category page.   If on mobile devices the text pushes the products too far down, the users won’t be able to quickly see them when they load the page.   You can shorten the mobile description by using a ‘read more’ link which triggers a dropdown with the rest of the content. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='8' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>8. You don’t analyze and you underestimate your competition</h2>   “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” – Sun Tzu   Deep, isn’t it?   Google Analytics and Search Console are very good friends, but they only show you data for your own website.   Sometimes, it’s not enough to only do research about yourself. You have to analyze your competition! Not doing this, might end up in saying that SEO does not work for your website.   <blockquote> That’s why having an SEO Tools Set like <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com">CognitiveSEO</a> is a good idea. You can analyze and monitor your competitors to see how they perform and find gaps. </blockquote>   So, if you want to improve your SEO campaigns, make sure you always perform an <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/14134/seo-competitor-analysis/">SEO Competitor Analysis</a>. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='9' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>9. You’ve skipped keyword research</h2>   New clients often come to me because they are not satisfied with the results they got from their previous SEO partners.   Many times, after a quick analysis, I can spot that the title tags and meta descriptions have not been optimized at all!   That lets me know that <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/keyword-tool/">keyword research</a> hasn’t been performed.   I’ve seen many ‘SEO pack’ offers around, which are mostly PBNs or different link building tactics. 5 links per month… 10 links per month… and so on.   It baffles me and I don’t agree with it, but I guess it’s about money…   They’re easy to sell and can often offer quick results. But those results might only last a very short time and I can bet on who the contract you’ve signed covers (spoiler alert, it’s not you).   However, while those links might be helpful in certain situations, they probably won’t get you anywhere without the right keyword in the right places.   <blockquote> Make sure you do your keyword research! </blockquote> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='10' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>10. You’re not prioritizing the right things</h2>   It might not be that you’re doing SEO wrong. It might just be that you’re doing the wrong type of SEO or at the wrong time.   Why put so much effort into getting that 100% PageSpeed score if your loading times are already between 1-3 seconds?   <blockquote> Why write more blog content when you haven’t finished optimizing your category pages? </blockquote>   <ul> <li>If you have a small website and no SEO has been performed, start with keyword research and title tags optimization.</li> <li>If you have a website with a lot of images, start by compressing your images.</li> <li>If you have a huge website with a lot of filters, make sure you prioritize crawlability and indexability by <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/22235/faceted-navigation-seo/">optimizing your faceted navigation</a>.</li> </ul>   Sometimes, it might be design (if your website is too outdated for your audience). Other times, it might be UX.   It’s different from website to website.   That’s why an SEO audit is crucial for your website’s success, especially if your website is huge.   But not just <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/21179/free-seo-audit-tools/">any SEO audit</a> will do. You need an SEO Audit that actually looks in-depth at all your issues and then prioritizes them properly. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='11' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>11. You’re ignoring structure, click depth & internal linking</h2>   A website’s structure defines how easily users and search engines will navigate and understand your content.   Make sure you structure your website accordingly.   <blockquote> You should always keep important pages maximum 3 clicks away from your homepage. </blockquote>   If you’re using pagination, make sure all your pages are linked to from the first archive/category page.   Moreover, if you’re not doubling down already on internal links, you should.   Use your blog to always link to important pages, such as product category pages, using relevant and keyword rich anchor texts.   There’s no penalty for using too many internal links. Well… just don’t make everything an internal link and you’ll be fine. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='12' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>12. You’re ignoring backlinks</h2>   I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to help most of my clients rank high with very few links if any links at all.   But once in a while, there are projects that even the best SEOs can’t handle without actively pursuing backlinks.   I like to think of myself as being able to do everything without links, but I also what to be as efficient as possible.   <blockquote> Getting backlinks is not bad. They’re just used improperly. </blockquote>   In some cases, your website simply needs more authority. And the fastest way to build it is by having quality backlinks.   If the number of links your competitors have far outweighs yours, you’ll have a hard time outranking them.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-24766 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/chain-3481377_640.jpg" alt="Backlinks for SEO" width="640" height="424" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/chain-3481377_640.jpg 640w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/chain-3481377_640-300x199.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" />   Sometimes, it might just mean it takes longer to see results, considering you’re doing everything else right.   Other times, it’s just plain impossible.   Links can help you kickstart that initial progress to help you gain your client’s trust and secure a long-term deal.   The best thing you can do is to build relationships, through content marketing and shareable content, such as case studies or interviews with industry-leading experts.   Don’t just stop at link building. Try to be involved and build a small community. That’s what Google likes.   Sometimes, however… you can just buy the links.   Of course, you don’t want to buy and spammy links that might get your website penalized.   But it’s wise to understand that links are ads and ads are paid for. The internet works based on ads, so own it.   You can always nofollow your paid links (just like Google tells you to do).   <a title="Nofollow links affect SEO" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/17008/nofollow-links-impact-seo/">Nofollow links can also improve rankings</a> and I’ve seen this with my own eyes on my own clients. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='13' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>13. You don’t understand your audience</h2>   The audience is much more important for SEO than you think. It can make or break your SEO strategies. You might be saying: neh, SEO is not working for me when the actual problem is the way you tackle your audience.   You might have the best interest and the greatest information in your content marketing strategy. But if you don’t deliver it in the right format or tone of voice, you won’t be getting the best results.   <blockquote> Maybe your audience prefers video content. Then stop spending so much time writing articles. Just use your video scripts as repurposed content on your blog instead. </blockquote>   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-24760 size-medium" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/arrow-2889040_640-300x225.jpg" alt="SEO Targeted Audience" width="300" height="225" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/arrow-2889040_640-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/arrow-2889040_640.jpg 640w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />   Make sure you understand your audience well and make decisions based on that. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='14' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>14. You’ve externalized to the wrong SEO agency</h2>   I hate talking about this, but finding a good SEO company or digital marketing agency isn’t an easy task.   Even more… in the pandemic era of 2020-2021, people have rebranded as experts in digital marketing fields. Much to say… they’re not really experts.   So, be very picky when choosing who you work with. Here are some more <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/12444/seo-company-avoid-getting-tricked/">things to look after when hiring an SEO company</a>.   On the other hand, if you are an SEO company, here’s <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/20745/how-to-convince-clients-for-seo/">how to convince your clients to buy your SEO services</a>. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='15' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>15. You’re not monitoring your results</h2>   Correctly monitoring results is a very difficult task. Sometimes, is not that SEO does not work but monitoring results properly does not work.   That’s because monitoring isn’t just about traffic and conversion rate optimization.   It’s about discovering new opportunities to do things better.   But even so, whether it’s a drop in traffic or a drop in conversions, the sooner you see it, the sooner you’ll be able to fix it.   <img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-24764" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/detective-1424831_640-297x300.png" alt="Monitoring SEO Results" width="297" height="300" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/detective-1424831_640-297x300.png 297w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/detective-1424831_640.png 634w" sizes="(max-width: 297px) 100vw, 297px" />   <blockquote> There are many tricks, such as using Google Search Console to identify secondary keywords for articles that are already ranking pretty well. </blockquote>   Go to the Performance Section, select a page that’s already ranking well and then go back to the Queries section. Activate Positions and CTR and look for those phrases that have a good click through rate.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-24762 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/gsctrick.png" alt="GSC SEO trick" width="1023" height="521" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/gsctrick.png 1023w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/gsctrick-300x153.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/gsctrick-768x391.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1023px) 100vw, 1023px" />   You can then start adding that keyword to your content to rank better for it in the search engines. If you want even better results, try out the <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/keyword-tool/">CognitiveSEO Content Optimization Tool</a>.   Or, you can use a Secondary Dimension (Behaviour > Landing Page) on the Organic Traffic Channel in Google Analytics to figure out which pages converted the best. Then you can mix those with the Google Search Console query data to know (with approximation) which set of keywords bring the most conversions.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-24763 size-large" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/analyticstrick-1024x292.png" alt="Google Analytics SEO Trick" width="1024" height="292" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/analyticstrick-1024x292.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/analyticstrick-300x85.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/analyticstrick-768x219.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/analyticstrick-1536x437.png 1536w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/analyticstrick.png 1875w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   Tools such as Google Analytics have a lot of filters that can help you figure out what exactly happened on your website so make sure you use them for better SEO results.   I hope this list of 15 reasons why your SEO doesn’t work helps you figure out what you’ve been doing wrong or at least gives you a new perspective on your SEO campaigns.   Complex SEO strategies and tactics are awesome, but you always have to make sure you stick to the basics first.   Do you think there are other reasons why someone’s SEO strategy might not work? Share them with us in the comments section below.   The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/24732/seo-does-not-work/">Why SEO Does Not Work for You & Your Website</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog">SEO Blog | cognitiveSEO Blog on SEO Tactics & Strategies</a>.
40 Most Effective Digital Marketing Tactics and Techniques in 2024

Tue, 08 Feb 2022 11:19:33 -0000

Everybody wants to have the possibility of choice, but the paradox is that no one wants to be some random “one” in a crowd of a hundred. With this need of any digital marketer in mind, we’ve thought of giving you the opportunity of being just that marketer who stands out. The new year of H2H (human-to-human) […]

The post 40 Most Effective Digital Marketing Tactics and Techniques in 2024 appeared first on SEO Blog | cognitiveSEO Blog on SEO Tactics & Strategies.

Everybody wants to have the possibility of choice, but the paradox is that no one wants to be some random “one” in a crowd of a hundred. With this need of any digital marketer in mind, we’ve thought of giving you the opportunity of being just that marketer who stands out. The new year of H2H (human-to-human) approach is here and we should focusing our attention to build meaningful relationships with audiences in a creative way. After extensive research, we’ve put together a list with the top efficient digital marketing tactics and techniques, backed by some great case studies. <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-24042" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Effective-digital-marketing-strategies-cognitiveSEO.jpg" alt="Effective-digital-marketing-strategies-cognitiveSEO" width="979" height="513" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Effective-digital-marketing-strategies-cognitiveSEO.jpg 979w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Effective-digital-marketing-strategies-cognitiveSEO-300x157.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Effective-digital-marketing-strategies-cognitiveSEO-768x402.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 979px) 100vw, 979px" />   Below you can find the most effective 40 digital marketing tactics and techniques for a kickass start in 2022: <h3>I. Content Marketing</h3> <ol class="summaryext"> <li><a href="#1">Re-optimize Your Content to Gain 70% SEO Visibility Increase</a></li> <li><a href="#2">Boost traffic by 300% While Using Editorial Calendars</a></li> <li><a href="#3">Use Content Syndication & Get a Constant Traffic of 250,000 Unique Visitors</a></li> <li><a href="#4">Promote Your Business with SlideShare to Drive 20% More Organic Traffic</a></li> <li><a href="#5">Sales Growth with 185% by Offering Highly Qualitative Case Studies</a></li> </ol> <h3>II. Search Marketing</h3> <ol class="summaryext" start="6"> <li><a href="#6">Build a Network of Partner Websites to Get Influence on the SERP and Jump up to 30+ Positions</a></li> <li><a href="#7">Rank Higher on Review Sites to Have an Average 18% Uplift in Sales</a></li> <li><a href="#8">Be Part of the 90% of Marketers Who Saw a Significant Increase in ROI by Taking Advantage of Trends for Traffic Generation</a></li> <li><a href="#9">Gain a Higher Advantage in Front of Your Competitors with AMP Receiving 40% Organic Traffic from the Whole Site Traffic</a></li> <li><a href="#10">Write on Medium to Get Awarness Through 6.2 Million Pageviews</a></li> </ol> <h3>III. Social Media Marketing</h3> <ol class="summaryext" start="11"> <li><a href="#11">Develop a Facebook Customized Page Tab and Engage 40% of Fans</a></li> <li><a href="#12">Write Valuable Content on Linkedin Pulse and win up to 1,900 Social Shares in 30 Days</a></li> <li><a href="#13">Use Reddit to Grow Your Business & Generate $6,188 in 3 Months</a></li> <li><a href="#14">Target the Online Communities and Hit 10.000 Monthly Unique Visitors</a></li> <li><a href="#15">Get Social Influence to Receive Higher Rankings by 15%</a></li> </ol> <h3>IV. Email Marketing</h3> <ol class="summaryext" start="16"> <li><a href="#16">Design a Smart Automated Reactivation Campaign and Boost Sales by 164%</a></li> <li><a href="#17">Get Personalized Emails to See an Average 19% Increase in Sales</a></li> <li><a href="#18">Reduce Friction and Increase by 100% Your Email Sign-Up Rate</a></li> <li><a href="#19">Use Segmentation to Increase Deliverability & Experience 141% Increase in Revenue per Campaign</a></li> <li><a href="#20">Increase Your Email Open Rate by 33% with a Subject Line That Triggers Curiosity</a></li> </ol> <h3>V. PPC & Paid Advertising</h3> <ol class="summaryext" start="21"> <li><a href="#21">Collaborate with Influencers to Write About Your Product to Generate Over $300.000 in 3 Months</a></li> <li><a href="#22">Have an Integrated Approach about Paid Promotion on Social Media</a></li> <li><a href="#23">Increase CTR with 64% in PPC Ads with Site-Links Extentions</a></li> <li><a href="#24">Use Emotion Triggers in Headline Ads to Get 6x Above Average CTR</a></li> <li><a href="#25">See a 32% Return on Investment for a Promoted Twitter Account</a></li> </ol> <h3>VI. Marketing Automation</h3> <ol class="summaryext" start="26"> <li><a href="#26">Set up Automated Behavioral Triggered Emails to get 71% Higher Open Rates</a></li> <li><a href="#27">Collect Customer Data Through a Transparent and Unique System to Gain Trust of 44% of Customers</a></li> <li><a href="#28">Make use of retargeting & Experience a 400% Increase On ROI</a></li> <li><a href="#29">Develop a Lead Scoring System to Generate 50% More Sales at Half of Costs</a></li> <li><a href="#30">Get More Social Exposure Through the Social Media Automation</a></li> </ol> <h3>VII. Online PR</h3> <ol class="summaryext" start="31"> <li><a href="#31">Encourage Brand Lovers to Support You Against Trolls</a></li> <li><a href="#32">Built a Strong Customer Following & Get Free Endorsement</a></li> <li><a href="#33">Gain Free Media to Get Everyone Talk About You on News and Get 5 Million Views on YouTube</a></li> <li><a href="#34">Create Fascinating Video Content to Attract Native Customers & Increase the Conversion Rate by 80%</a></li> <li><a href="#35">Use Webinars to Gain 16,394 new leads</a></li> </ol> <h3>VIII. Affiliate Marketing</h3> <ol class="summaryext" start="36"> <li><a href="#36">Start Running an Affiliate Program to Monetize Your Website & Get Extra $4500 Monthly Profit</a></li> <li><a href="#37">Generate Product Order Increase by 9.8% Through Voucher and Reward Sites</a></li> <li><a href="#38">Map out the Affiliates’ Value to Increase the Long Haul Share by 19%</a></li> <li><a href="#39">Reach Over 60% Social Engagement and Advocacy for the Brand with Respected Influencers Through an Affiliate Program</a></li> <li><a href="#40">Implement a Publisher Strategy to See a Monthly Revenue Growth Rate of 177%</a></li> </ol> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='1' style='height:60px'> </div>   <h3>1. Re-optimize Your Content to Gain 70% SEO Visibility Increase</h3> Top positions in Google, Bing or any search engine are a pinnacle of today’s online success. After a lot of research and content experiments, we discovered that there is a <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/15062/content-influence-rankings/#6%20">strong correlation between content performance and rankings</a>. So a few time ago, we decided to evaluate our content and re-optimize it.   We analyzed the positions and engagement for each article and decided which content needs to be refreshed and re-optimized. We proceeded with the keyword research using the <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/keyword-tool/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Keyword Tool and Content Optimizer</a> for the whole process: <ul> <li>Firstly, do keyword research: we looked at keyword recommendations, volume, type of query and other relevant keywords for double optimization the same piece.</li> </ul> <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-24044" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Content-audit-informational-keyword-1-1024x563.png" alt="Content-audit-informational-keyword-1" width="1024" height="563" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Content-audit-informational-keyword-1-1024x563.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Content-audit-informational-keyword-1-300x165.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Content-audit-informational-keyword-1-768x423.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Content-audit-informational-keyword-1.png 1356w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> <ul> <li>Secondly, we added the keywords into <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/ranktracker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rank Tracking</a> before re-optimizing to have an accurate view of where we started and how it improves after the re-optimization.</li> <li>Third, we started adding the content into the Content optimizer to see the performance score and find out how much we’ll have to optimize. We added the keyword recommendations and check it at the end by clicking on Check Score.</li> </ul> <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-24045" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/content-audit-content-assistant-before-1024x670.png" alt="content-audit-content-assistant-before" width="1024" height="670" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/content-audit-content-assistant-before-1024x670.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/content-audit-content-assistant-before-300x196.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/content-audit-content-assistant-before-768x502.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/content-audit-content-assistant-before.png 1364w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> <ul> <li>Fourthly, we searched for the page in Google Search Console to make sure it is indexed, do a live test just to be sure everything is ok. We kept tracking of the keyword’s evolution in search engines. </li> </ul> <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-24046" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Search-link-on-Google-Search-Console-1024x483.png" alt="Search link on Google Search Console" width="1024" height="483" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Search-link-on-Google-Search-Console-1024x483.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Search-link-on-Google-Search-Console-300x142.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Search-link-on-Google-Search-Console-768x362.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Search-link-on-Google-Search-Console-1536x725.png 1536w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Search-link-on-Google-Search-Console.png 1874w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> After the keyword optimization was finished we saw a big increase overall for our whole website. Our rankings improved and our traffic increased by almost 70%. Below you can see a printscreen with our search visibility in Google from <a href="https://explorer.cognitiveseo.com/?u=cognitiveseo.com&m=*U*&_ga=2.132471438.1614242895.1584279484-1943125054.1574620792#section/4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Site Explorer</a>: <img class="size-large wp-image-16823" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Search-visibility-increase-1024x491.png" alt="Search visibility increase" width="1024" height="491" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Search-visibility-increase-1024x491.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Search-visibility-increase-300x144.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Search-visibility-increase-768x368.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Search-visibility-increase.png 1202w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='2' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>2. Boost traffic by 300% While Using Editorial Calendars</h3> New content appears daily. You must bring something fresh every time. Investing in social media, sales funnel, conversion rate optimization, customer relationships, marketing budgets, web analytics; they are all keywords that pops in your head all the time. Yet, which are the most effective tactics one should use?   Scheduling your blog posts is mandatory, especially if you work with multiples copywriters. Make sure your marketing plan includes an editorial calendar for improving your results. Creating an editorial calendar is easier than you think. There are lots of apps that can help you with that. Meistertask is a task management app you could use to drag and drop tasks for each participant and create an editorial calendar easily. Below you can see a screenshot with an editorial calendar created in Meistertask:   <div id="attachment_13009" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-13009" class="size-large wp-image-13009" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Editorial-Calendar-1024x664.png" alt="Editorial Calendar" width="1024" height="664" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Editorial-Calendar-1024x664.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Editorial-Calendar-300x194.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Editorial-Calendar.png 1398w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Source: https://www.meistertask.com</div>   Trello gives us another digital marketing technique example you could use to create editorial campaigns. CoSchedule has a <a href="https://coschedule.com/blog/social-curation-tool-chrome-extension/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Content Marketing Calendar</a> component.   <div id="attachment_16712" style="width: 780px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-16712" class="size-full wp-image-16712" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Chrome_FeatureBlog_1.png" alt="CoSchedule extension" width="770" height="481" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Chrome_FeatureBlog_1.png 770w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Chrome_FeatureBlog_1-300x187.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Chrome_FeatureBlog_1-768x480.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" />Source: coschedule.com</div>   They used a <a href="http://coschedule.com/blog/data-driven-content-calendar/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">process</a> that helped them to increase traffic by 299%. Follow the next steps to achieve similar results: <ul> <li>have a broad goal behind your calendar;</li> <li>set metrics to measure your goal;</li> <li>find your baseline performance of an average month for that metric;</li> <li>establish smart objectives for each blog post from your calendar;</li> <li>find out how many blog posts you’ll need to meet your aspirational goal;</li> </ul> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='3' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>3. Use Content Syndication & Get a Constant Traffic of 250,000 Unique Visitors</h3> Content syndication is the process of publishing your content on third party sites. You need to find authoritative publications. The idea behind is to drive more engagement for your content. Outbrain and Taboola power your content on their marketing channel. Once you republish your article on a big site like those two, you are exposed to a new audience and could reach a higher traffic.   <a href="https://twitter.com/james_clear" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">James Clear</a> used this digital marketing tactic and built an email list of <a href="http://email1k.com/course/lesson-4/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">more than 100,000</a> with a constant traffic of 250,000 unique visitors per month on the blog. He republished a blog post on Lifehacker and got almost 99k views as you can see in the next photo. Quick tip: If you have an account on Google Analytics you can easily track your performance and see how many unique visitors you have.   <img class="size-full wp-image-13010 aligncenter" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Content-Syndication.png" alt="Content Syndication" width="657" height="762" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Content-Syndication.png 657w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Content-Syndication-259x300.png 259w" sizes="(max-width: 657px) 100vw, 657px" /> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='4' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>4. Promote Your Business with SlideShare to Drive 20% More Organic Traffic</h3> Slideshare is the largest marketing platform for sharing presentations and it’s best suited for B2B companies. Didit Marketing, an advertising agency from New York, conducted a study showing that SlideShare gets <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/DiditMarketing/why-slidesshare-is-a-marketers-best-friend/2-B2B_MARKETERS_ACTUALLYGET_LEADS_FROM" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">500% more traffic</a> from business owners than Facebook, Twitter or Youtube. <img class="size-large wp-image-13011 aligncenter" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Promote-Your-Business-with-SlideShare-1024x705.png" alt="Promote Your Business with SlideShare" width="1024" height="705" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Promote-Your-Business-with-SlideShare-1024x705.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Promote-Your-Business-with-SlideShare-300x207.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Promote-Your-Business-with-SlideShare.png 1411w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> An important fact you need to keep in mind is that SlideShare received billions of viewers every month and it’s a great way to connect with different specialists and find quality information in a friendly format.   <a href="https://twitter.com/anatrafficcafe" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Ana Hoffman</a>, blogger at Traffic Generation Cafe, conducted a <a href="http://www.trafficgenerationcafe.com/slideshare-traffic/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">study </a>showing how she received from 0 to 243,000 views in 30 days on Slideshare. The fun part is that you don’t need entirely new content to do a presentation, you can work through your old content displayed in a visual form to be easy to read.   20% of the SlideShare visitors come directly from Google. The rest come from social media and other SlideShare presentations. Always keep on eye on your metrics from Google Aalytics to see how are you performing in terms of organic traffic, paid traffic, visitors and so on. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='5' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>5. Sales Growth with 185% by Offering Highly Qualitative Case Studies</h3> Smart and effective digital tactics are a gold mine. Case studies as well. Not to mention the conversion optimization rates you can get with them. Case studies have a huge potential to grow traffic, sales, and revenue if you offer quality results and show your product brings value. The Content Marketing Institute conducted a research where they saw that <a href="https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/case-studies-marketing#sm.0000365sw816puei0zcl7xciki6th" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">63% of UK marketers</a> believe that case studies are an effective digital marketing tactic. Case studies are the fifth most popular marketing tactic used out of 12, after social media, newsletters, blogs and blog posts.   <a href="https://twitter.com/neilpatel" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Neil Patel</a>, one of the top 10 marketers according to Forbes, conducted a study to see the influence of the use of case studies on his own site. He witnessed a growth in his revenue by 185%. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='6' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>6. Build a Network of Partner Websites to Get Influence on the SERP and Jump up to 30+ Positions</h3> Brand mentions on well-known publications are important and hard to get. They could lift you up in ranking on the search engines for the right keyword phrases and you could improve your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts. Usually, startups collaborate with content marketing specialists or firms because some of them don’t have the budget for a full-time person. Building a network of partner websites for a short period of time is an effective digital marketing technique to bring awareness and traffic to your site. The profile of the website could include publications, edu websites, web directory, blogs, forums, e-commerce and so on.   OutreachMama employed a study to see the results after their partnership with publisher Companies like Forbes and Huffington Post. In only 2 months they received <a href="http://www.outreachmama.com/case-study-month-2-more-links-and-higher-rankings/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">350 total backlinks from over 100 domains</a>. Besides that, they saw a natural increase in their backlink profile. <div id="attachment_13012" style="width: 922px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-13012" class="size-full wp-image-13012" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Link-Visibility-Outreachmama.png" alt="Link Visibility Outreachmama" width="912" height="419" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Link-Visibility-Outreachmama.png 912w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Link-Visibility-Outreachmama-300x138.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 912px) 100vw, 912px" />www.outreachmama.com</div>   In the second month of the partnership, they saw that they money keywords jumped up to 30 positions in the search engine result page. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='7' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>7. Rank Higher on Review Sites to Have an Average 18% Uplift in Sales</h3> <a href="http://searchengineland.com/88-consumers-trust-online-reviews-much-personal-recommendations-195803" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">9 out of 10 people</a> look at online product reviews before they make a purchase decision. According to BrightLocal, 72% of Consumers say positive reviews make them trust a business more. Other 88% say they trust customer reviews as much as personal recommendations. <div id="attachment_13013" style="width: 643px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-13013" class="size-full wp-image-13013" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Trustworthyness-from-Customer-Reviews.png" alt="Trustworthyness from Customer Reviews" width="633" height="380" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Trustworthyness-from-Customer-Reviews.png 633w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Trustworthyness-from-Customer-Reviews-300x180.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 633px) 100vw, 633px" />Source: http://searchengineland.com</div>   Reevoo discovered through an in-house case study that online reviews bring an average <a href="https://econsultancy.com/blog/9366-ecommerce-consumer-reviews-why-you-need-them-and-how-to-use-them/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">18% uplift in sales</a>. In 2015, US e-commerce sales were about <a href="https://www.internetretailer.com/2016/02/17/us-e-commerce-grows-146-2015" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">$341.7 billion</a> showing an increase of almost 15% over 2014. <div id="attachment_13014" style="width: 345px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-13014" class="size-full wp-image-13014" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/U.S.-e-commerce-growth.jpg" alt="U.S. e-commerce growth" width="335" height="370" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/U.S.-e-commerce-growth.jpg 335w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/U.S.-e-commerce-growth-272x300.jpg 272w" sizes="(max-width: 335px) 100vw, 335px" />Source: http://images.internetretailer.com</div>   With a continuous growth in e-commerce sale, customer reviews (all reviews, not necessary the ones coming from some ideal customers) are <a href="https://diggitymarketing.com/profitable-niches/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a major factor,</a> an efficient trigger and quite essential tools nowadays for e-commerce websites. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='8' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>8. Be Part of the 90% of Marketers Who Saw a Significant Increase in ROI by Taking Advantage of Trends for Traffic Generation</h3> Google Trends is a pocket of gold. You’ll find a lot of data to help you to generate content and see what’s trending to stay on top of your competitors. The particularity of this tool is that you’ll find real-time search data or help to gauge consumer search behaviors over time. Below you can see a screenshot from Google Trends with searches for 3 holidays: Halloween, Christmas and Thanksgiving. <img class="size-large wp-image-13015 aligncenter" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Google-Trends-1024x888.png" alt="Google Trends" width="1024" height="888" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Google-Trends-1024x888.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Google-Trends-300x260.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Google-Trends.png 1032w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> You need to keep your eyes open for the marketing trends that will come. The marketing trends that will dominate 2022 include the Internet of Things, virtual and augmented reality, live streaming video, visual storytelling, native advertising, marketing automation, influencer marketing, mobile marketing.   Adopting multiple of these emerging trends is a smart move, and many digital marketers are syndicating content to make the most of the trends. For example, music photographer Matt Walter syndicates his <a href="https://photographypodcast.com.au" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">photography podcast</a> to audio platforms such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify, while also covering podcast content in different methods including dedicated live streams and through other visual mediums to maximise digital marketing effectiveness.   In 2016, video content was very popular and still is. Fire Brand proved that following trends can bring growth. The results showed that <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/286873" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">90% of marketers</a> have noticed significant increase in Return on Investment (ROI) through video content. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='9' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>9. Gain a Higher Advantage in Front of Your Competitors with AMP Receiving 40% Organic Traffic from the Whole Site Traffic</h3> <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/12703/seo-tasks/#12">AMP</a> is a simpler and easier way to built light-weight web pages with static content that loads faster on mobile devices, due to its technology. The project is based on AMP HTML, new open framework built of existing web technologies.   The pages with an AMP version see a 2% higher CTR, which translates to more clicks, as you can see in the next screenshot. <div id="attachment_13016" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-13016" class="size-large wp-image-13016" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/ctr-example2-amp-pages-1024x710.png" alt="ctr-example2-amp-pages" width="1024" height="710" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/ctr-example2-amp-pages.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/ctr-example2-amp-pages-300x208.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Source: https://www.2dogsdesign.com</div>   AMP version has <a href="https://www.2dogsdesign.com/case-study-amp-pages/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">40% of all the traffic</a> for a page. It is an utterly amazing improvement for many sites because the content renders faster. The project comes to the rescue for a large number of publishers. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='10' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>10. Write on Medium to Get Awareness Through 6.2 Million Pageviews</h3> Medium is a network built out for people from people and offers a new kind of content – publishing, and social media synergy. Every day, there are newly published articles that could get you over <a href="http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2016/07/14/medium-publishing" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">45,000 views</a>.   Publishers can see 3 stats graphs on Medium for 30 days, minutes read, views and visitors. <a href="https://twitter.com/meseali" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Ali Mese</a>, startup marketer at GrowthSupply.com, created a report with the statistic for his best traffic-generator article. For an article of about 1,000-1,500 words, he received over 4 million pageviews and <a href="https://medium.com/swlh/how-i-got-6-2-million-pageviews-and-144-920-followers-d4d3fa440802#.6jvo0thvh" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">144,920 followers</a> on Medium as you can see in the next picture.   <div id="attachment_13017" style="width: 1010px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-13017" class="size-full wp-image-13017" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Views-on-Medium.png" alt="Views on Medium" width="1000" height="446" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Views-on-Medium.png 1000w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Views-on-Medium-300x134.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />Source: https://cdn-images-1.medium.com</div>   For a global audience, it’s best to publish your piece of content on Sunday at 0:00 GMT, because people look forward to reading something new as the week starts. To give it a kick, you should use an A/B emailing test sent at different hours to see which hour has the best open rate. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='11' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>11. Develop a Facebook Customized Page Tab to Engage 40% of Fans </h3> Investing in social media is a must. Yet, don’t know if you knew that a customized page tab gives you the advantage to offer exclusive information to fans. A personalized page tab can be used to promote registration for upcoming events, to bring fans to your website, to promote an app or a contest, create a content library, feature customers reviews or case studies and so on.   Socially Stacked demonstrated that a customized page for a discount can influence the engagement for that page. In the end, <a href="http://roelcreative.com/effective-facebook-marketing-strategy/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">42% fans liked the page</a> to get a coupon or discount. On the same side, a case study by Wildfire Interactive showed that a Facebook coupon-based page tab received the highest engagement rates beside giveaways, sweepstakes, trivia Contests, Sweepstakes, Contest essays, photo contest, coupons, and video contest as you can see in the next graph. <img class="size-full wp-image-13020 aligncenter" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Wildfire-Interactive-graph.png" alt="Wildfire Interactive graph" width="796" height="628" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Wildfire-Interactive-graph.png 796w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Wildfire-Interactive-graph-300x237.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 796px) 100vw, 796px" /> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='12' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>12. Write Valuable Content on Linkedin Pulse and win up to 1,900 Social Shares in 30 Days</h3> LinkedIn Pulse is a professional self-publishing platform. At first, everyone could write and publish content without any approval. Currently, it is composed of 500 selected experts. According to Kapko, LinkedIn Pulse “lies somewhere between blog and social network”. Authors add a number of <a href="http://www.cio.com/article/2899055/linkedin/why-you-should-use-linkedin-pulse-to-self-publish.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">50,000 articles</a> on the platform every week.   <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianliang" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Brian Lang</a>, blogger at Small Business Ideas, conducted quite an interesting study on 300 posts featured on LinkedIn Pulse. Most articles from Pulse were about careers (42%), then about business (15%) and self improvement (9.33%) and other (33.67%) which includes technology, sales & marketing, current events, and productivity.   On average, the articles from Pulse got <a href="http://www.smallbusinessideasblog.com/linkedin-publishing" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">1,843 social shares</a>, and only 10% had less than 500 social shares, which leaves almost 90% with more than 500 social shares. If you are featured on LinkedIn Pulse, it can bring you a good amount of social exposure. From now on, writing on Linkedin Plan should be a part of your marketing plan. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='13' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>13. Use Reddit to Grow Your Business & Generate $6,188 in 3 Months</h3> Reddit is a community that has been growing since 2005. Here you can meet people with similar interests. It’s a place where you could follow news in a thread categorized in “hot”, ”new”, ”rising”, ”controversial”, ”top”, ”gilded”, ”wiki” and “promoted”. The nice part is you could follow lots of subreddits depending on the industry you’re interested. There were numerous cases when different stories from Reddit became famous and gained many upvotes.   If you choose to post a link instead of a text you can link to your business and bring visitors to your website. <a href="https://twitter.com/smkeyes" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Scott Keyes</a> is an example of best practice in this case. He is a reporter for Think Progress and founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights. He turned an obsession with cheap plane tickets into a <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/29/how-a-29-year-old-turned-an-obsession-with-cheap-plane-tickets-into-a-1-million-business-in-under-2-years.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">$1 million business in under 2 years</a>. In 3 months he managed to make <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/3w3uvn/how_i_created_a_cheap_flights_email_list_and/?__hstc=188236599.2aa032275bd2ada2bd020aac429319e2.1485271080953.1485955490595.1486035791625.18&__hssc=188236599.1.1486035791625&__hsfp=3000244505" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">$6,188</a> only by posting on Reddit. According to what he said, his posting got him 1,000 free subscribers and 250+ premium subscribers. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='14' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>14. Target the Online Communities and Hit 10.000 Monthly Unique Visitors</h3> Online communities are a great way to grow your online presence and to catch insights. Being apart of an online community has its perks. Being around by people with similar interests and exchanging knowledge is a good way to develop yourself and the company you are working at.   The best online marketing communities you need to join are LinkedIn, Reddit, Quora, Slack, GrowthHackers and, Inbound.org, ordered in chronological order. A good example of using the last two comes from Grow and Convert. The company was born when <a href="https://twitter.com/deveshkhanal" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Devesh Khanal</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/benjihyam" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Benji Hyam</a> met a few years ago. Since they launched their site, they were active in online marketing communities, Devesh Khanal on GrowthHackers, on the one side, and Benji Hyam on Inbound.org, on the other side.   They set up a goal of bringing <a href="https://growandconvert.com/blog-traffic/february-update-getting-76-growth-in-traffic-in-one-leap-month/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">40,000 monthly unique visitors</a> in 30 days. As you can see in the next picture it is not quite like that, but they were able to bring more visitors from online communities than from organic searches. That is a good start!   <img class="size-full wp-image-13021 aligncenter" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Online-Communities-website-traffic.png" alt="Online Communities website traffic" width="361" height="481" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Online-Communities-website-traffic.png 361w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Online-Communities-website-traffic-225x300.png 225w" sizes="(max-width: 361px) 100vw, 361px" /> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='15' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>15. Get Social Influence to Receive Higher Rankings by 15%</h3> There is a lot of fuss around the subject about the <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/11903/social-signals-seo-influence/#17">importance of social signals in rankings</a>. We already know that investing in social media is an effective digital tactic that can help out with the conversion rate optimization. Moz study says that Google doesn’t use social share counts directly in its algorithm. Neil Patel, on the other hand, claims that there might be a connection between social shares and rankings as you can see in the next screenshot from a <a href="https://www.quicksprout.com/2014/01/31/how-social-signals-impact-search-engine-rankings/?display=wide" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Quick Sprout gifographic</a>. <img class="size-full wp-image-11927 aligncenter" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Giphografic-Social-Signals.png" alt="Giphografic Social Signals" width="710" height="718" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Giphografic-Social-Signals.png 710w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Giphografic-Social-Signals-297x300.png 297w" sizes="(max-width: 710px) 100vw, 710px" />   A huge lift of almost <a href="https://www.quicksprout.com/2014/01/31/how-social-signals-impact-search-engine-rankings/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">15% in rankings</a> was the result of an increase of 100 Google Plus followers for a business page. Facebook brought a 6,9% increase in ranking from 70 shares and 50 likes. Lastly, 50 Tweets lift rankings with only 2,88%. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='16' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>16. Design a Smart Automated Reactivation Campaign and Boost Sales by 164%</h3> Each business makes its own format for newsletters, but designing a segmentation for customers that interacted with the site is a guaranteed path to lift the reactivation of inactive subscribers. The ideal customer will open all emails and buy your products every time, but that will happen in a month of Sundays.   The email marketing platform PostUp created an in-house case study for one of their clients to convert inactive subscribers. They built up an automated reactivation campaign and succeeded in boosting email-related sales by <a href="https://www.postup.com/case-studies/fashion-retailer-boosts-email-related-sales-by-164-with-postup" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">164%</a>. This is a great example of <a href="https://techgyo.com/9-awesome-conversion-optimization-techniques-that-improve-your-rankings" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">improving the conversion optimization</a> of your inactive subscribers.   Eventful created a new approach to automated reactivation campaign where emails included recommended news based on the previous behavior of the users. Below, you can see an example of an email from them: <div id="attachment_13024" style="width: 625px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-13024" class="size-full wp-image-13024" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Recommended-news.jpg" alt="Recommended news" width="615" height="378" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Recommended-news.jpg 615w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Recommended-news-300x184.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 615px) 100vw, 615px" />Source: https://assets.econsultancy.com</div>   This campaign was a success. The recommendation performer alert produces 15% median open rate, 3% median click rate and the spike was a <a href="http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/newsletter-reactivation-lift-personalization" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">400% increase in reactivation rates</a>. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='17' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>17. Get Personalized Emails to See an Average of a 19% Increase in Sales</h3> Over the years there have been numerous studies showing that email marketing is the most effective digital marketing tactic for lead nurturing in your digital strategy. Personalized emails are more efficient than non-personalized emails and can bring relevant results. Personalized emails are based on a more in-depth research and understanding of customer behavior and marketing trends. Most important of all, it requires you to know your buyer persona to deliver relevant information.   You can see a comparison between segmentation and personalization below: <div id="attachment_13025" style="width: 752px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-13025" class="size-full wp-image-13025" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Segmentation-vs-personalization.png" alt="Segmentation vs personalization" width="742" height="411" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Segmentation-vs-personalization.png 742w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Segmentation-vs-personalization-300x166.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 742px) 100vw, 742px" />Source: http://blog.revampcrm.com</div> Dropbox uses personalized emails. See an example of this kind below: <img class="size-full wp-image-11519 aligncenter" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Address-the-Message-with-Just-One-Representative-Person-in-Mind1.png" alt="Address the Message with Just One Representative Person in Mind" width="644" height="670" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Address-the-Message-with-Just-One-Representative-Person-in-Mind1.png 644w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Address-the-Message-with-Just-One-Representative-Person-in-Mind1-288x300.png 288w" sizes="(max-width: 644px) 100vw, 644px" />   According to a study from CMO.com, marketers who use personalized email see an average <a href="https://www.thanx.com/marketing-segmentation-personalization" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">19% increase in sale</a>. Personalized emails have a 600% conversion rate, but the sad part is that only 30% of brands can use them. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='18' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>18. Reduce Friction and Increase by 100% Your Email Sign-Up Rate</h3> In marketing, friction means everything that slows down the process of a user to convert. The ideal marketing planning is not to have friction at all, but since that’s almost impossible, it’s best to have less friction so you could convert your leads easily.   The news company Quartz leads a research by reducing friction in email sign-ups. The changes they made to the sign-up process was to simplify it by using only an email address for subscription and moving to double opt-in (the user had to click on a link in the first email they received to activate subscription) to opt-out. When visitors want to subscribe, they go to a new landing page.   The results were quite satisfying; the <a href="https://blog.qz.com/how-we-doubled-our-email-sign-up-rate-by-reducing-friction-3af032b9f72d#.ohjqa9x6m" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">daily subscriber rate has doubled</a>. You can see a screenshot of their growth below:   <div id="attachment_13026" style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-13026" class="size-full wp-image-13026" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Quartz-subscriber-growth.png" alt="Quartz subscriber growth" width="500" height="279" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Quartz-subscriber-growth.png 500w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Quartz-subscriber-growth-300x167.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" />Source: https://cdn-images-1.medium.com</div>   Besides that, Quartz increased the number of people who subscribed on the weekend, when the activity was very week. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='19' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>19. Use Segmentation to Increase Deliverability & Experience 141% Increase in Revenue per Campaign</h3> If you aren’t able to use <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/11504/ways-to-boost-email-open-rates/#microsegment_your_list" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">segmentation </a>to target your audience, you won’t succeed in writing relevant subject lines. You can use segmentation based on interests, location behavior consumption, mobile marketing, keyword phrases, lifestyle or other factors.   There’s plenty of email marketing software on the market to help you segment your database faster and easier by connecting an individual’s social media profiles with their email address. MailChimp is a well-known option, but you may also want to <a href="https://www.sendx.io/blog/using-mailchimp-alternatives/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://mailtrack.io/trace/link/5c1b7e7c03343ab5c023f339f4bb907b9d6965c1?url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.sendx.io%252Fblog%252Fusing-mailchimp-alternatives%252F%26userId%3D5721358%26signature%3D1a0a98d4931fec27&source=gmail&ust=1599027261440000&usg=AFQjCNEI9v-t2SzuMGW1kmgXVO1GNkNGCw">check out the most popular alternatives</a>.   Lyrics discovered that 4 out of 10 marketers who used segmentation experienced a higher open rate, 3 out of 10 marketers saw a lower unsubscribe rate and 2 out of 10 experienced better deliverability and greater revenue. Below, you can see the graph with all the segmentation results from the research. <div id="attachment_13027" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-13027" class="size-full wp-image-13027" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Email-list-segmentation-results.png" alt="Email list segmentation results" width="600" height="421" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Email-list-segmentation-results.png 600w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Email-list-segmentation-results-300x211.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" />Source: http://www.emailonacid.com</div>   Another research worth mentioning is the Johnny Cupcakes emailing campaign. within their digital marketing technique they used a segmentation for gender, customers interests, brand preferences and media habits and for the first time ran a product launch campaign with different emails for men and women. See below a screenshot of the email sent to women: <div id="attachment_13028" style="width: 472px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-13028" class="size-full wp-image-13028" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Johnny-Cupcakes-segmentation-campaign.png" alt="Johnny Cupcakes segmentation campaign" width="462" height="485" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Johnny-Cupcakes-segmentation-campaign.png 462w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Johnny-Cupcakes-segmentation-campaign-286x300.png 286w" sizes="(max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px" />Source: http://content.marketingsherpa.com</div>   After they analyzed the results, they saw an increase of 42% in CTR, of 123% in conversion rate and <a href="https://econsultancy.com/blog/64551-10-case-studies-that-show-the-power-of-email-segmentation/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">141% in revenue per campaign</a>. These are quite some results for such small improvement.   Make sure you use segmentation in your digital marketing strategy. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='20' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>20. Increase Your Email Open Rate by 33% with a Subject Line That Triggers Curiosity</h3> Your subject lines are everything when you’re thinking about the email open rates. Everything comes from there. The call to action from the subject line must be relevant to your audience. Before you send the message to your list, think you’re sending the message to <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/11504/ways-to-boost-email-open-rates/#address_message_to_one_person">one person</a>, someone you know. Keep in mind that your message shouldn’t be cold, no matter the industry you’re in.   A study from Informz shows how important a subject line is. 33% of email recipients open email are based on the subject line alone. So you can put your creativity to work or look for <a href="https://www.ivoryresearch.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">specialist advises</a> making sure that your letter is well written, you are concise, you don’t use buzzwords and test.   Make sure you are concise, you don’t use buzzwords and test. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='21' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>21. Collaborate with Influencers to Write About Your Product to Generate Over $300.000 in 3 Months</h3> To create and maintain an online presence you must be one step ahead of the game and reach people.And influencer marketing can be of a real help in this situation. To create buzz in the online media, you should use influencers to help you to promote your business. A creative campaign with influencers was realized by Neil Patel, online marketing consultant. He spent $57,000 to models who posted a picture on Instagram with the message “Who is Neil Patel” and the hashtag #whoisneilpatel and earned <a href="http://www.business.com/sales-and-marketing/visibility-marketing-101-leveraging-the-case-studies-of-others/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">$332,640 in three months</a>.   This is just an example of a picture posted during the campaign: <img class="size-full wp-image-13029 aligncenter" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Neil-Patel-Influencer-campaign-model.jpg" alt="Neil Patel Influencer campaign model" width="640" height="640" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Neil-Patel-Influencer-campaign-model.jpg 640w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Neil-Patel-Influencer-campaign-model-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Neil-Patel-Influencer-campaign-model-300x300.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" />   Another example of influencers comes from people from your field of interest, specialists and experts in your industry. Another example of influencer marketing would be to use specialists from your field of interest, and experts in your industry. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='22' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>22. Have an Integrated Approach about Paid Promotion on Social Media</h3> Even though paid promotion is a digital marketing tactic used by numerous businesses, not everyone knows how to do it right. Having a large promotional budget is not a guarantee of success. The key is to address the right audience and engage with it.   In the 2016 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends report from Content Marketing Institute, you can see that <a href="http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/2016_B2B_Report_Final.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">51% of B2B marketers</a> say social ads are an effective paid advertising method. <img class="size-full wp-image-13030 aligncenter" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Content-Marketing-Institute-Social-ads-results.png" alt="Content Marketing Institute Social ads results" width="599" height="625" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Content-Marketing-Institute-Social-ads-results.png 599w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Content-Marketing-Institute-Social-ads-results-288x300.png 288w" sizes="(max-width: 599px) 100vw, 599px" /> 47% of B2B marketers consider that promoted posts are also effective, as you can see in the picture above. The results show that more and more marketers consider paid promotion on social media a must. You should focus your attention on your <a href="https://www.socialbakers.com/blog/how-to-be-successful-with-paid-social-media-advertising" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">paid social campaigns</a> since those efforts could see high returns, as expressed in the example above. To keep up, digital specialists should look for new ways of investing in social platforms to reach new audiences.   To get yourself ahead of the game you could start taking an interest in mobility marketing if you’re using mobile advertising. Mobility is a way of fulfilling customer’s needs to get tasks done on the move. Let’s take Facebook as an example. Has it ever happened to you to visit a new city and receive notifications in the app with recommendations of places to visit and restaurants where you could eat near you? Connecting with the user on the go through an mobile app is a great way to push them down the funnel. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='23' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>23. Increase CTR with 64% in PPC Ads with Site-Links Extentions</h3> Site-links extensions are a path to lead visitors to specific pages from your website directly from a PPC ad. They look something like this: <div id="attachment_13032" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-13032" class="size-full wp-image-13032" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Adwords-extensions-sitelinks-nike.png" alt="Adwords-extensions-sitelinks-nike" width="700" height="317" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Adwords-extensions-sitelinks-nike.png 700w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Adwords-extensions-sitelinks-nike-300x136.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" />Source: https://lseo.com</div>   PPC Hero did an experiment to see the results after they added site links to their paid search ad. They saw an improvement; their CTR grew up from <a href="http://www.ppchero.com/case-study-do-people-actually-click-sitelinks/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">1.16% to 1.9%</a>. Only by adding site links, the CTR experiences an increase of 64%. Below, you can see the results before adding the site links and after adding them. <div id="attachment_13033" style="width: 364px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-13033" class="size-full wp-image-13033" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Pre-vs-Post-Sitelinks-Results.png" alt="Pre-vs-Post-Sitelinks Results" width="354" height="70" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Pre-vs-Post-Sitelinks-Results.png 354w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Pre-vs-Post-Sitelinks-Results-300x59.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px" />Source: http://www.ppchero.com</div>   The case study also showed that there are situations where the site links have a lower CTR compared with the headline of the ad, but the CPA has a lower value. Even if the site links don’t get clicks near as much as the headlines, they do produce additional CTR and conversions. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='24' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>24. Use Emotion Triggers in Headline Ads to Get 6x Above Average CTR</h3> Either we are talking about a headline from a blog post, a newspaper, a book, a billboard, a PPC ad or a newsletter, headlines have a decisive impact whether the piece of content gets clicked or not.   Brainstorming for compelling headlines is mandatory. Copyblogger said that on average, 8 out of 10 people read the headline, and the rest 2 out of 10 read the rest.   Larry Kim, founder WordStream, saw that using negative emotional triggers in a PPC ad can score impressive results. By using the hero/villain persona to express anger/revenge, the next ad got <a href="http://blog.ezanga.com/blog/larry-kim-and-steve-raysons-ridiculous-hacks-to-5x-click-through-rates" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">6x above average CTR</a>. <div id="attachment_13034" style="width: 397px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-13034" class="size-full wp-image-13034" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/This_ad_gets_6x_above_average_CTR.png" alt="This_ad_gets_6x_above_average_CTR" width="387" height="222" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/This_ad_gets_6x_above_average_CTR.png 387w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/This_ad_gets_6x_above_average_CTR-300x172.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 387px) 100vw, 387px" />Source: http://blog.ezanga.com</div> If you use fear, you could see a <a href="http://blog.ezanga.com/blog/larry-kim-and-steve-raysons-ridiculous-hacks-to-5x-click-through-rates" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">125% increase in appointments booked</a>, and 170% increase in call volumes. See the paid search ad used for this experiment below: <div id="attachment_13035" style="width: 403px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-13035" class="size-full wp-image-13035" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/The_new_ad_Breast_Cancer_Screening.png" alt="The_new_ad_Breast_Cancer_Screening" width="393" height="171" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/The_new_ad_Breast_Cancer_Screening.png 393w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/The_new_ad_Breast_Cancer_Screening-300x131.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 393px) 100vw, 393px" />Source: http://blog.ezanga.com</div>   Wordstream offers a free version of the tool Adwords Performance Grader to see how your ads are performing. You can use it to make a test before the changes you make in Google AdWords and after, based on the recommendations you receive. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='25' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>25. See a 32% Return on Investment for a Promoted Twitter Account</h3> Nowadays, everyone knows about Twitter. If you want to run an advertising campaign on Twitter, there are three ways to do it: promoted trends, promoted accounts and promoted tweets.   Hubspot, inbound marketing pioneer, wanted to find a more effective way to: <ul> <li>generate new leads;</li> <li>engage existing followers;</li> <li>grow the sales conversion rate;</li> <li>improve ROI.</li> </ul> <h3> </h3> The solution was to use the promoted accounts advertising type from Twitter to target B2B decision-marketing users that are interested in marketing subjects. To deliver better results, the campaign included promoted tweets with a specific call to action such as webinar invitations, free e-books. After the campaign had ended, it resulted in 150% increase sales, 46% lower cost-per-read and 32% ROI.   Reaching new customers with Twitter promoted accounts is an effective digital marketing technique indeed. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='26' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>26. Set Up Automated Behavioral Triggered Emails to Get 71% Higher Open Rates</h3> For an email to be effective, marketers knew that emails see a better open rate if they follow the behavior of the users on the website.   According to Unbounce, automated behavioral emails are triggered by multiple events: <ul> <li>a user abandoning the products from their cart;</li> <li>a subscriber becoming inactive;</li> <li>a subscriber purchasing a product that needs a replenishment.</li> </ul>   See an example of this kind below: <img class="size-full wp-image-13036" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Automated-Behavioral-Triggered-Emails.png" alt="Automated-Behavioral-Triggered-Emails" width="725" height="305" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Automated-Behavioral-Triggered-Emails.png 725w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Automated-Behavioral-Triggered-Emails-300x126.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 725px) 100vw, 725px" />   Emails that use automated behavioral triggers have <a href="http://unbounce.com/email-marketing/5-mistakes-that-kill-open-rates/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">71% higher open rates </a>and 102% higher clicks than non-triggered emails. This technique delivers value because it’s sent in the moment of utmost relevance and needs to your prospect. <a href="https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/chart/tactics-to-improve-email-engagement" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">39% of marketers </a>say “automatically sending emails based on triggers” is the most effective technique for having a higher email engagement. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='27' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>27. Collect Customer Data Through a Transparent and Unique System to Gain Trust of 44% of Customers</h3> Along the years, studies reported a decrease in the visitors’ level of trust in brands and companies. Edelman Trust Barometer showed that <a href="http://www.mycustomer.com/marketing/data/customer-data-collection-how-to-be-trustworthy-and-transparent" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">44% of customers</a> express trust in business, which is almost a half of the audience.   When you can demonstrate how the data you gather is kept secure, you’ll see improvements. State of the Data Nation showed that a clear privacy policy (<a href="http://www.mycustomer.com/marketing/data/customer-data-collection-how-to-be-trustworthy-and-transparent" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">43%</a>) earns consumer trust.   Informatica surveyed 2,000 UK adults and found out that almost <a href="http://www.mycustomer.com/marketing/data/customer-data-collection-how-to-be-trustworthy-and-transparent" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">6 out of 10 people</a> are concerned about the use of the personal information they shared with brands. Another interesting result from Informatica shows 7 out of 9 people admitted they were cautious with the information they share with brands.   Thread, U.K. online personal styling service for men and women, has a unique and transparent system of collecting customer data. Now it is available only for men. After you enter the site you select menswear: <img class="size-full wp-image-13037 aligncenter" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Thread-website.png" alt="Thread website" width="919" height="809" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Thread-website.png 919w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Thread-website-300x264.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 919px) 100vw, 919px" /> They use this system to offer custom product to help your stylist find the best clothes for you, such as which trouser fits you like or how open are you to try more daring clothes or how much you usually spend on clothes and other specific questions. <img class="size-full wp-image-13038 aligncenter" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Thread-Collect-Customer-Data.png" alt="Thread Collect Customer Data" width="924" height="552" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Thread-Collect-Customer-Data.png 924w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Thread-Collect-Customer-Data-300x179.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 924px) 100vw, 924px" />   In the end, you’ll be asked to leave your email address for further actions. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='28' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>28. Make use of retargeting & Experience a 400% Increase On ROI</h3> The retargeting method is used when you want to convert a user after entering the site. The process is quite easy; the user comes to your site, a cookie is set to their browsers. Afterward, you can track him to show him ads on the website he’s visiting. Based on the activity he had on your site you can deliver specific display ads. Below you can see the most effective types of retargeting: <div id="attachment_13039" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-13039" class="size-large wp-image-13039" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/7-types-of-effective-retargeting-1024x780.jpg" alt="7-types-of-effective-retargeting" width="1024" height="780" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/7-types-of-effective-retargeting-1024x780.jpg 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/7-types-of-effective-retargeting-300x229.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/7-types-of-effective-retargeting.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Source: http://thumbnails-visually.netdna-ssl.com</div>   Niche Hacks tried retargeting pixel to send visitors back to the email opt-in page. They converted <a href="http://nichehacks.com/facebook-retargeting-case-study/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">51,54%</a> of all retargeted visitors into new subscribers, even though the ads were basic, landing page was basic, the stock images were simple. Basically, everything was average. In spite of all of this, they converted quite a large number of people.   American Apparel used Perfect Audience platform on Facebook retargeting and saw a <a href="https://medium.com/@cueconnect/ecommerce-retargeting-company-analysis-perfect-audience-291c8033b2d3#.ycryhhhq4" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">400% increase in ROI</a>, converted new customers and increased the revenue. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='29' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>29. Develop a Lead Scoring System to Generate 50% More Sales at Half of Costs</h3> Lead Scoring is a system where every company can rank prospects according to a scale based on the value they represent for that company. Lead scoring can be implemented in numerous marketing automated platforms. For example, you can to assign a value to social media interactions or specific website behavior. Based on the results, you can see which lead must be pushed down the funnel or contacted directly by a sales representative.   By integrating your <a href="https://www.reallysimplesystems.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CRM system</a> with a lead scoring system, you can create advanced <a href="https://www.g2.com/categories/sales-analytics" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sales analytics</a> reports that reveal which channels produce the most lucrative leads, and which bring mostly useless ones. While setting up lead scoring can be a complicated process, it’s definitely worth your time and effort. Once you have lead scoring analytics in place, your sales team can stop wasting their time on prospects who are not likely to convert and focus instead on those who are more likely to buy now.   <a href="https://www.marketo.com/lead-nurturing/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Studies</a> revealed that companies with well-put lead nurturing system see 50% more sales at a 33% lower cost. Lead Generation Marketing Effectiveness Study showed that <a href="https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/7-effective-lead-nurturing-tactics#sm.0000365sw816puei0zcl7xciki6th" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">68% of successful marketers</a> say lead scoring is the most effective method to improve the revenue contribution from lead nurturing. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='30' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>30. Get More Social Exposure Through the Social Media Automation</h3> As the name says it, social media automation means using tools to automate the social marketing process by making your account stay active without manual posting and monitoring. On January 2016, We are Social said that 31% of world’s population (7.395 billion) were active social media users. With such a large audience you can’t stay up all night to make sure you post at the current local time when there is a peak of your audience. The automation appears at a time of need to make things easier.   A unique approach to the automation process on social media platforms happened in 2012 when Barack Obama’s social campaign used the Dashboard.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-24202" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/obama-dashboard.jpg" alt="Obama-dashboard" width="800" height="456" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/obama-dashboard.jpg 800w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/obama-dashboard-300x171.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/obama-dashboard-768x438.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" />   It was an online registration platform where volunteers could make an account to support Obama’s candidacy. Everybody with an email address could register and see news, political and election events. Through that platform, Obama’s team collected data about the activity of the volunteers such as phone calls, donations, and tasks. Afterward, it was very easy for the team to target only the volunteers that were interested. The results of the automation process were remarkable not to mention that in the end, Obama became president. Great digital marketing technique, isn’t it? <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='31' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>31. Encourage Brand Lovers to Support You Against Trolls</h3> Brand lovers are those who play the role of brand advocates and define the term evangelism marketing. They are highly satisfied customers and identify themselves with the brand. They are an asset because they promote the brand waiting for nothing in return. McKinsey and Company say <a href="https://www.surveygizmo.com/survey-blog/5-ways-to-convert-customers-to-brand-evangelists/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">70% of purchase experiences</a> are based on how the customer feels. It is bloody important to provide value and customer fulfillment.   Besides the fact that brand lovers will make sure to tell everyone your product is the best, they will support you against trolls. Nowadays, people on social platforms are very critical, and a single wrong comment or tweet can ruin you. Some haters and trolls can make your life a living hell on the social media. But, thank God for brand advocates!   OldNavy, an American retailer, got socially trolled. The company tweeted an upcoming sale with an interracial couple image, and then a group of racist people started posting negative tweets about the brand with hashtags #whitegenocide and #miscegenation. Before the team from Old Navy began to respond, some advocates of the brand started supporting the company by posting their own pictures with interracial couples they have in the family. In times of crisis, it is best to have your brand lovers that can make a powerful statement. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='32' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>32. Built a Strong Customer Following & Get Free Endorsement</h3> Millennials are a socially conscious generation. Embracing a cause might be just the answer you’re looking for if your brand addresses the Y generations. If they believe in a cause, they are willing to pay more and even a premium price. Knowing they give something for a better cause makes them feel valuable.   The shoe brand TOMS created a campaign based on a cause that brought endorsement from celebrities and famous people. They created a new concept ‘One Day without shoes’, meaning that for each purchased pair of shoes, another pair goes to a child in need. People from all over the Globe started a word of mouth campaign and even walk without shoes the whole day.   Charlize Theron became a strong supporter of the cause, alongside a lot of other celebrities, such as Lenny Kravitz, Chaske Spence and Julia Jones from Twilight, Dawn Olivieri from the Vampire Diaries, plus Cheryl Tiegs, Gillian Zinser, Jason Mraz, Tara Mercurio and Lacey Chabert, Thomas Jane, Matisyahu, Living Things and Tory Burch. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='33' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>33. Gain Free Media to Get Everyone Talk About You on News and Get 5 Million Views on YouTube</h3> Earned media or free media is a term that describes all the publicity that is not paid but rather gained through promotional efforts. Earned media happens when you make people talk about your brand no matter where it appears. Earned media happens after you make smart and creative ads or involved in successful real marketing actions, created impactful events and so on.   Avon used a digital marketing tactic that generated massive amounts of earned media. “Choose Beautiful” reached over <a href="http://fortune.com/2015/04/15/why-doves-choose-beautiful-campaign-sparked-a-backlash/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">5 million of views on YouTube</a> and the term <Dove ‘choose beautiful’> received more than a million entries on Google. Hundreds of media outlets covered the video; numerous news websites claimed that “proves beauty is a choice”. <div id="attachment_13040" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-13040" class="size-large wp-image-13040" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Dove-Choose-Beautiful-1024x576.jpg" alt="Dove-Choose-Beautiful" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Dove-Choose-Beautiful-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Dove-Choose-Beautiful-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Dove-Choose-Beautiful.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Source: http://delamanoconvenezuela.com</div>   The ad received a lot of free media. Ad Age named it the best advertising campaign of the 21st century. People started to talk about it on Buzzfeed saying “Not everyone is beautiful and that is perfectly okay”. Some of them were encouraging the message “I find it odd that people disapprove of an ad whose whole purpose was to get women to all realize that they were beautiful”.   The psychologist Nancy Etcoff and self-esteem expert Dr. Tara Cousineau, together with Dove, created a toolkit named “Mindful Me” designed to help women manage thoughts and feelings in order to offer them the confidence to feel beautiful.   Send a powerful message to your audience and then expect to gain free media. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='34' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>34. Create Fascinating Video Content to Attract Native Customers & Increase the Conversion Rate by 80%</h3> Video content started to gain a lot of attention in the past few years. Almost <a href="http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/video-websites" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">1 billion unique monthly visitors</a> are on YouTube, 130 million on Vimeo, 100 million on Dailymotion, 45 million on LiveLeak and 42 million on Vine. That is a lot of viewers! Let’s not forget the social video part, <a href="https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics?_ga=1.188696811.232227234.1479480202" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">100 million hours of video</a> are watched on Facebook, and 82% of Twitter users watch video content on Twitter. In 2013, Instagram introduced videos in addition to photos and more than <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/instagram-users-upload-5m-clips-in-vid-sharing-features-first-day/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">5 million videos</a> were shared in the first 24 hours. Video consumption on Instagram has increased <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexkantrowitz/instagram-extends-video-length-limit-to-60-seconds?utm_term=.aqOYAj2dE#.yq1oD6285" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">by 40%</a> in 2016.   According to Hyperfine Media, 90% of users say that product videos are helping them in the decision process and almost 40% of online consumer trust video ads as you can see in next infographic. <div id="attachment_13041" style="width: 1023px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-13041" class="size-full wp-image-13041" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/video-marketing-statistics-infographic.png" alt="video-marketing-statistics-infographic" width="1013" height="720" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/video-marketing-statistics-infographic.png 1013w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/video-marketing-statistics-infographic-300x213.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 1013px) 100vw, 1013px" />Source: http://www.hyperfinemedia.co.uk</div>   Most recent studies show that a video placed on the landing page can increase conversion rate <a href="https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/video-marketing-statistics#sm.0000365sw816puei0zcl7xciki6th" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">by 80%</a>. 96% of B2B companies use videos in their marketing campaign, and <a href="http://labs.openviewpartners.com/content-marketing-trends-2017/#.WJl9dYF96Ul" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">73% say this improved their ROI</a>. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='35' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>35. Use Webinars to Gain 16,394 new leads</h3> Organizing webinars can produce juicy content. They are great to deliver useful content to your readers and engage with them. Practically you can give a presentation to them and then discuss to see their main points. This is a great way to receive hot information, smart insights and see what topics you can debate on the blog in order to push the leads down the funnel.   Basically you need a microphone, a PC/laptop, and you’re set. Then use a service like AnyMeeting or GoToWebinar to connect with your viewers.   Webinars are such and effective digital marketing technique that could bring you 518,399 visitors and <a href="https://www.quicksprout.com/2015/02/16/how-i-generated-518399-visitors-and-16394-leads-from-77-webinars/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">16,394 leads</a> from 77 webinars as KISSmetrics experienced. Neil Patel, founder at KISSmetrics, estimated that those webinars generated $1,638,000. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='36' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>36. Start Running an Affiliate Program to Monetize Your Website & Get Extra $4500 Monthly Profit</h3> There are upsides and downsides of an affiliate program in your digital strategy. The upside of this marketing technique is that it can generate high revenue and the downside is that it doesn’t work for all kinds of business.   For example, the popular web hosting service Bluehost gets new customers through its affiliates. Shopify uses an affiliate program that rewards its affiliates with $2,400 per sale.   A study from NichePie by Luqman Khan shows how you can generate a monthly profit of <a href="http://nichepie.com/amazon-affiliate-site/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">$4,500 in 4 months</a>. See the statistics in the next screenshot. <div id="attachment_13042" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-13042" class="size-large wp-image-13042" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Profit-from-an-affiliate-program-1024x482.png" alt="Profit from an affiliate program" width="1024" height="482" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Profit-from-an-affiliate-program-1024x482.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Profit-from-an-affiliate-program-300x141.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Profit-from-an-affiliate-program.png 1093w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Source: http://nichepie.com</div>   He posted 8 articles and 1 infographic and received 14,206 unique visitors in 4 months. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='37' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>37. Generate Product Order Increase by 9.8% Through Voucher and Reward Sites</h3> In 2015, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) released the Online Performance Marketing study showing that 57% of product orders were through voucher and reward sites. Thomas Cook, one of the world’s leading leisure travel, developed a campaign based on the use of voucher codes to encourage users to buy online tickets. They wanted to keep the cost-per-order (CPO) lower than £65. As a result, the orders increased by <a href="https://www.affili.net/uk/advertisers-and-agencies/case-studies/thomas-cook-case-study" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">9.8%</a> while the CPO decreased, thus keeping it under £65. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='38' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>38. Map out the Affiliates’ Value to Increase the Long Haul Share by 19%</h3> Thomas Cook Airlines has a long activity in the affiliate marketing area, and this led the company to always improve their marketing strategy. They learned that knowing the values of their affiliates is highly important. One of their affiliate campaigns had the next objectives: <ul> <li>minimize the average cost-per-sale (CPS);</li> <li>increase the number of long-haul bookings (meaning the bookings for travelers that last a long period of time);</li> </ul>   A way to do that was to map out the affiliate’s value. For that, all the bookings from 2014 were analyzed to see the path to conversion for each affiliate. This helped the company to discover the CPS and the contribution brought by each affiliate. The results were quite impressive: they kept the average CPS below 2% of revenue and reduced the cost-per-click by 73% while <a href="https://www.affili.net/uk/advertisers-and-agencies/case-studies/thomas-cook-airlines-case-study" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">increasing the long haul share by 19%</a>. On top of that, they sold thousands of seats from routes that weren’t performing well at all. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='39' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>39. Reach Over 60% Social Engagement and Advocacy for the Brand with Respected Influencers Through an Affiliate Program</h3> The affiliate agency Schaaf-PartnerCentric conducted an in-house study based on REACH (Relations, Exposure, Advocacy, Connection, Hype) program that provides customized outreach and guarantees placement on influencer websites for a boutique fashion retailer. The client has proposed to increase the exposure and advocacy within a short period of time with the help of influencers.   The campaign raised <a href="http://images.schaafpc.com/reach_influencer_marketing_case_study_retail.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">63% social engagement</a> in the first week after the big launch. Instagram saw the highest engagement, with 92% of the social interactions. Pinterest increased up to 6% social interactions. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='40' style='height:60px'> </div> <h3>40. Implement a Publisher Strategy to See a Monthly Revenue Growth Rate of 177%</h3> Cost Plus World Market is a furniture store that implemented a publisher campaign through an affiliate program. The online retailer has been in the furniture market for almost 30 years now and has had more than 100 brands and thousands of products. They implemented a publisher program with the help of Schaaf-PartnerCentric team. Only after 90 days, the company’s results were highly visible. The monthly traffic increased by 100.7%, the monthly sales increased by 257%, and the <a href="http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/416755/CaseStudy_NewAffiliateProgramSuccess.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">monthly revenue grew by 177%</a>. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Creating engaging content with relevant data and juicy tips will always be effective. Let’s face it – we crave creativity. Creativity in all forms: for making your business better, for getting everyone to talk about you, for inspiring others, for earning free advertising, for becoming an asset in your industry. If you follow some of the digital marketing tactics and techniques from the list we’ve created, you should see improvements shortly.   Create a list of the most important digital marketing tactics for you. Chose those that are easy for you to implement, and then take action. Embrace the fact that you need to make changes to deliver higher CTR, higher open rate, revenue growth, higher conversion rate, more unique daily viewers, more leads and so on.   Good luck! Maybe you will be the next case study for an effective digital marketing technique. The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/13006/digital-marketing-tactics/">40 Most Effective Digital Marketing Tactics and Techniques in 2024</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog">SEO Blog | cognitiveSEO Blog on SEO Tactics & Strategies</a>.
Are Web Directories Still Relevant for SEO in 2024?

Wed, 12 Jan 2022 10:18:41 -0000

Web Directories have been the norm for the world wide web and for search engine optimization for a long time. But are they still relevant in this age of advanced AI Google Updates? Well, as Head of Web SPAM at Google John Mueller said, “in general, no”. But the key words in that answer […]

The post Are Web Directories Still Relevant for SEO in 2024? appeared first on SEO Blog | cognitiveSEO Blog on SEO Tactics & Strategies.

Web Directories have been the norm for the world wide web and for search engine optimization for a long time. But are they still relevant in this age of advanced AI Google Updates?   Well, as Head of Web SPAM at Google John Mueller said, “in general, no”. But the key words in that answer are “in general”. That’s the usual answer we get from John and, as much as we’d like to say we will dissect it, the truth is that we can only be speculating and interpreting things based on own knowledge and experience.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-24802 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Are_Web_Directories_Still_Relevant_for_SEO_2022.jpg" alt="Are_Web_Directories_Still_Relevant_for_SEO_2022" width="1024" height="538" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Are_Web_Directories_Still_Relevant_for_SEO_2022.jpg 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Are_Web_Directories_Still_Relevant_for_SEO_2022-300x158.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Are_Web_Directories_Still_Relevant_for_SEO_2022-768x404.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   Let’s jump to it and find out whether web directories are still useful for SEO in 2022.   <ol class="summaryext"> <li><a href="#1">What Are Web Directories Really?</a> <ol> <li><a href="#2">Why Directories Were Created</a></li> <li><a href="#3">Why Directories Died</a></li> <li><a href="#4">The Web Directory Legacy</a></li> </ol> </li> <li><a href="#5">Do Web Directories Still Work for SEO in 2022?</a> <ol> <li><a href="#6">The Problem With Today’s Directories</a></li> <li><a href="#7">Local SEO & Directory Listings</a></li> <li><a href="#8">Directories That Are Still Good</a></li> <li><a href="#9">Why Do We Still Have Web Directories?</a></li> </ol> </li> <li><a href="#10">Should You Disavow Directory Links?</a></li> </ol> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='1' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>What Are Web Directories Really?</h2>   In order to better understand why directories work or not in 2022 we have to create a background for them. Like an introduction.   Most people probably think of directories as just sites that list other sites. While that’s true, the reality is that they’re much more.   <blockquote> Before modern search engines, such as Google, web directories were THE INTERNET. </blockquote> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='2' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Why Web Directories Were Created</h3>   In the very early days of the internet, only a few people had websites. Internet connections were uncommon and there wasn’t much profit to be made out of it. Still, different websites emerged, in different niches.   However, you had to actually remember the domain names in order to access those websites, as there was no Google.   But, as the internet grew, more websites started showing up. Soon enough, people couldn’t remember all those names. But some clever guys from Yahoo! had the brilliant idea to store the best website into something they called a web directory.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-21393" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/yahoo-directory-old.jpg" alt="yahoo web directory seo" width="553" height="456" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/yahoo-directory-old.jpg 553w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/yahoo-directory-old-300x247.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 553px) 100vw, 553px" />   At first, only a few websites were listed, the most ‘popular’ ones or the ones that they thought were worthy of being listed. This way, you would only have to remember one website (Yahoo!) if you wanted to find all the other good sites.   At first, the sites were listed alphabetically but, as the number grew, they started getting listed under categories and subcategories. This way it was easier for users to find what they needed.   Web directories made money out of selling advertising space or boosting certain results in exchange for a fee. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='3' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Why Web Directories Died</h3>   Unfortunately, when the number of sites started getting way too high, people soon realized it wasn’t so convenient to browse through all those categories. It would take too much time and, ultimately, the best results were mixed up with the less good ones.   This is how search engines appeared. It was by far more convenient to type in a keyword and get a list of top results than to browse through categories trying to figure out which website is the best.   <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-21394" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web-directories-died-1024x539.png" alt="web directories died" width="1024" height="539" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web-directories-died-1024x539.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web-directories-died-300x158.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web-directories-died-768x404.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web-directories-died.png 1175w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   The search engines worked on algorithms, just as they do now (although not as complex). Depending on the keywords in the title and other factors, some sites would rank better than others.   Yahoo! had its own search engine. However, it is no secret that Google took the lead because of their improved algorithm, but this isn’t the only reason why Google eventually took the lead. Yahoo! was a giant back then, in the days of Yahoo! Mail, News, Answers and Messenger, but a number of bad decisions made them fade out. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='4' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>The Web Directory Legacy</h3>   Even though web directories dropped dramatically in popularity, people still used them. But not for what they were supposed to used them.   <blockquote> As much as people say that web directories are still useful, the truth is that people have been using them merely for link building and online marketing for a long time. </blockquote>   I’m 25 now and I’ve been using a computer since I was 6. My first contact with the internet was in 2002 and I can’t recall ever browsing on a web directory. I remember Yahoo! and Google. I remember ODC ,DC++ and other popular hubs. I remember Floppy disks with drivers. But I don’t remember web directories.   In fact, my first contact with web directories was back in 2013, when I first started learning about SEO. I had probably ended up on similar websites before, but not solely for searching a specific website.   Although the truth was that web directories weren’t of interest to the general public, new web directories kept popping up.   <blockquote> There were of course, useful directories, such as business listings (Yellow Pages), which people visited if they wanted to search for a particular business (name, phone, address, legal details, etc.). </blockquote>   There were also niche directories, which only listed websites in a particular field. Those might have got some organic traffic and potential customers when people searched for things like “list of XYZ websites”.   But the truth is that, most of the time, web directories were only there because links brought better rankings. People found ways to get listed on as many directories as they could, therefore destroying the purpose of a directory. Even paid directories were full of SPAM.   Fees were usually low, ranging from $5 to $20 if you wanted to get a listing on the homepage. However, most of the time that wouldn’t bring much more traffic to your site, since most of the users visiting web directories were SEOs trying to build links.   I’m not afraid to say that I only visited web directories for link building purposes. Everybody was doing it and it worked. It was easy and convenient.   But the question is… do they still work now? <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='5' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Do Web Directories Still Work for SEO in 2022?</h2>   In a local SEO social media group somebody tried to prove a point by showing us a #1 result for a keyword, claiming that he had only built 2 directory links to that page and it’s now #1.   He was trying to attack us “white hats” that always state web directories don’t work when, in fact, he had proof that they do. Only problem was the keyword he was ranking for had virtually 0 searches and the competition was basically inexistent.   Did the web directory links actually helped him to rank better in Google’s search results? Probably… Did he prove any points? Definitely not.   Web Directories probably still have a small impact on your rankings, just like any other site that links to you and passes Page Rank. However, because they’ve been abused as an SEO tactic over the years, Google penalizes people that use web directories. With the rise of Penguin 4.0, many of them are probably ignored.   Or, as John Mueller (the current Head of Web SPAM @ Google) said:   <blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center"> generally no. — ? John ? (@JohnMu) <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnMu/status/835480412109619210?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2017</a></blockquote>   Bu that answer can be interpreted in very many ways. Let’s see first why web directories got such a bad reputation in SEO. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='6' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Web Directories’ Main Issues for SEO</h3>   I’ve already discussed how web directories don’t really provide much value as users don’t really use them for anything other than SEO.   However, the story doesn’t end there:   Web directories got spammy & tricky: As people always want the quick way, they started automating processes. With more automation, more SPAM came along. These types of things are inconvenient for Google because they waste a lot of resources. Don’t you just hate spam comments? I know I do.   Google eventually figured out that the best way to deal with this was to penalize people that would use directories as a way of improving their rankings. So when important updates such as Penguin started to roll out, web directories had the perfect opportunity to make money.   Although some websites were listed for free, now that Google was penalizing websites for spammy link profiles, some web directories <a href="seroundtable.com/link-removal-fees-16529.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">asked for removal fees</a>.   Web directories are not managed anymore: Even if you do find a good web directory, chances are that nobody is going to answer you.   A couple of years ago, I was in the process of building links for someone. Advertorials were too expensive for his budget and all their competitors had the directory links. Without exception. They ranked well, so I thought I’d better try it at least.   After a few days of efforts, it was pretty clear that it won’t work. Not because Google penalized me or anything, but because the directory sites either had errors on their submission forms or nobody replied/approved my sites.   Since they don’t make as much money as they used to, people have stopped putting effort into managing them.   Web directories are not efficient: Even if you manage to get some business directory listings, they will probably have a very little impact, if not none at all.   Your time is better spent creating content and engaging with your audience. 1-2 links won’t help at all and scaling this is risky and can result in penalties.   Google penalizes you: Of course, the biggest issue with web directories these days is that your website can get penalized if it tries to trick the Google algorithms.   <blockquote> Building links in mass, be it through web directories, blog commenting, article submission, guest posting, you name it, is risky and can get your site in trouble. </blockquote>   Now I’m not saying that you’re going to be penalized if you submit your site to a directory. By all means, if you find an interesting site that also happens to have a list of other interesting sites, go for it!   But it’s a good idea to check their background a little bit. What’s their domain authority? Is their backlink profile spammy? Are they linking to quality websites or a bunch of phishing potholes full of malware?   In other words, does that website bring any value at all to the internet or for any users? Is it in any way relevant to your site? If the answer is no, then you should definitely stay away from it. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='7' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Local SEO & Directory Listings</h3>   <blockquote> When it comes to local, it’s probably the only field where people actually still visit renowned “directories” to find a good location. </blockquote>   For example, Google My Business is considered to be a web business directory. To some extent, it is. It lists businesses. However, it’s turning more and more into a search engine itself. The rankings are done based on algorithms.   <div id="attachment_21395" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-21395" class="wp-image-21395 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/google-my-business-directory.jpg" alt="google my business directory" width="600" height="246" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/google-my-business-directory.jpg 600w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/google-my-business-directory-300x123.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" />Local Search Listings | Google My Business</div>   People do browse and look for reviews, but most of them just stick with the top businesses (the ones that get listed first by Google My Business on local search and Google Maps) because they are, usually, the best results.   When it comes to local SEO, it does help if your NAP details (name, address, phone) are listed on multiple websites. However, title, distance from the user and reviews probably play a more important role.   <blockquote> The key thing with NAP is consistency. Google might have some issues if you keep having a mixture of different names, phones and addresses all over the place. </blockquote>   However, let’s all be honest that citations here and there aren’t the key to <a title="Local SEO Myths" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/18819/local-seo-myths/#4">local search SEO success</a>. It’s not that they don’t help (they do, you get brand visibility) but whenever you have a citation, you should accompany it with a backlink.   Local business directories are a great start. For example, you might find sites such as “yourcitynews.xyz” that have a section called “Great Locations in Our City”. If you can list your local business there, that’s great because the relevancy comes from the local orientation of the website itself. Most news will be about your city, which means your business should be there to rank better in that particular city.   If you can’t find a local business directory, you can also find these types of backlink opportunities with <a title="BrandMentions" href="https://brandmentions.com">BrandMentions</a>. This tool monitors when your name/brand is mentioned on the web. You can then engage with people and build relationships (and also ask for a backlink in case they haven’t made one). <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='8' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Directories That Are Still Good</h3>   Now obviously you’re probably asking “Hey, where can I still find good web directories if all are bad?”   Well… there are some. This isn’t really the purpose of this article, but I’ll only list a few so that you get an idea how modern, useful web directories actually look like.   White Hat SEOs will probably jump and say “How can you recommend profile link building or any sort of web directory link?”   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-21386" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web-directories-bad-for-seo.jpg" alt="web directories bad for seo" width="506" height="500" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web-directories-bad-for-seo.jpg 506w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web-directories-bad-for-seo-300x296.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 506px) 100vw, 506px" />   The key word here is RELEVANCY. If the listing is relevant to your site, it is going to help you.   <blockquote> I don’t want you to take “web directories are bad” for granted and miss an opportunity that might actually be helpful to you. </blockquote>   Many search engine optimization experts react badly to blog commenting or forum posts, because they know it doesn’t work. However, blog comments are still the fuel of blogs. Forums are still popular in industries such as music, automotive, health and even fashion.   Matthew Woodward built <a href="http://matthewwoodward.co.uk" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">an award winning blog</a> and much of his direct and organic traffic was thanks to the posts he made in the BlackHat Forums. Just don’t spam. Be relevant. Be useful.   An example of good directories were the local sites that might have listings. I can’t really give a specific example, but I hope you get the point. If they have an active social media account, post from time to time and bring in some traffic, you can try to list your local business there.   <blockquote> It all comes down to relevancy. Is the listing relevant to your scope/niche? If yes, go for it! </blockquote>   Here I can give a specific example. SoundCloud is a directory for musicians, for example. If you’re a musician, you can get a profile backlink from your SoundCloud profile. Another similar example is last.fm.   Is this spammy? It could be if you just create a profile and leave it like that. But if you’re a musician, maybe it also makes sense to post on your SoundCloud account from time to time, build an audience there and actually send some traffic to your site through that link and maybe even get some potential customers.   Other good local listing sites are Yelp or maybe Yellow Pages. Although Google has heavily bashed them because they’re evil, it’s still a good place to list your business. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='9' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Why Do We Still Have Web Directories?</h3>   Most businesses, such as Moz or Yahoo, have closed their directories (Dmoz and Yahoo Directory).   <blockquote> The truth is probably that the web is still full of directories because of low maintenance costs (hosting and domain). </blockquote>   Many directories if not all lack moderators (which actually cost money), but still probably make some small amounts of revenue from advertising.   This whole article idea started from us observing these weird anchor texts such as “.2523765 yourdomain.com” in our tool for multiple clients. You might see these anchor texts in your <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/">cognitiveSEO dashboard</a> as well.   They’re generated by The Globe network, a sort of directory that crawls and indexes websites by simply linking to them on pages which contain thousands of external links. The network is owned by Ascio Technologies Inc (a domain registrar). Luckily, I’ve looked at their backlink profile and they also have the spammy anchor texts, so at least it’s fair.   Their model is different. They want to sell the entire network of sites for millions of dollars. They present it as some sort of world wide web, the most visited site on the planet (which obviously, it isn’t). I’m not sure how old this thing is or how it started, but there’s a BlackHat Forum <a href="blackhatworld.com/seo/majestic-and-todays-automated-spam-blogs.964842/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">thread</a> about the network where you can read more about this. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='10' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Should You Disavow Directory Links?</h2>   One thing that people rush in to do is disavow links that they think Google might consider spammy or that might get their websites penalized.   This is an entire topic to discuss and I really recommend that you read my <a title="Google Disavow Tool When to use" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/5328/when-not-to-use-the-google-disavow-tool/">article about disavowing links</a>.   However, just to give you a short answer, in general, it’s a good idea not to play with the disavow tool unless you’re sure your site has been penalized and you have isolated the reason to be the link profile, after you’ve checked and excluded everything else.   For example, most of The Globe network, the site I’ve mentioned above, isn’t even indexed in Google, so it doesn’t really make any sense disavowing those links, since Google already doesn’t count those links in any way.   <h3>Conclusion</h3>   Generally, you should avoid them, but sometimes web directory submissions might be useful, especially when it comes to local businesses and local SEO. Before you submit your links, make sure that the online directory is relevant to your niche and has a good link profile.   What do you think about web directory submissions? Have you ever used them? Do you still use them? Do they still work? Let us know in the comments section (but be careful with the links if you’re a WhiteHat SEO as you might get penalized!)   The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/21291/web-directories-seo/">Are Web Directories Still Relevant for SEO in 2024?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog">SEO Blog | cognitiveSEO Blog on SEO Tactics & Strategies</a>.
How Page Speed Affects SEO & Google Rankings | The 2024 Page Speed Guide

Sun, 19 Dec 2021 07:39:36 -0000

Speed is very important for a website. It’s so important that Google has made it an actual ranking factor. Over time, Google has taken action to improve the loading speed of websites by providing a set of tools for developers and webmasters. One of these tools is Google Lighthouse. But how does this PageSpeed […]

The post How Page Speed Affects SEO & Google Rankings | The 2024 Page Speed Guide appeared first on SEO Blog | cognitiveSEO Blog on SEO Tactics & Strategies.

Speed is very important for a website. It’s so important that Google has made it an actual ranking factor. Over time, Google has taken action to improve the loading speed of websites by providing a set of tools for developers and webmasters. One of these tools is Google Lighthouse.   But how does this PageSpeed Insights Tool from Google actually work? And, more importantly, does page speed affect SEO? You’ll find everything you need to know in this article. <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-22964" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/how_page_speed_affects_google_ranking-1024x538.jpg" alt="how_page_speed_affects_google_ranking" width="1024" height="538" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/how_page_speed_affects_google_ranking.jpg 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/how_page_speed_affects_google_ranking-300x158.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/how_page_speed_affects_google_ranking-768x404.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   The PageSpeed Insights Tool didn’t use to be very good in the past. Most of the information there could be found relatively easy elsewhere and it didn’t quite indicate speed itself. However, Google has recently updated the tool and it’s a lot better. Unfortunately, it’s also a lot harder to understand.   However, this tool has became popular among SEOs through PageSpeed Insights, which is, in fact, powered by Lighthouse, but provides the information in an easy to follow format, on a web page.   <ol class="summaryext"> <li><a href="#1">What Is Google PageSpeed Insights?</a> <ol> <li><a href="#2">Mobile vs. Desktop</a></li> <li><a href="#3">What is page speed actually?</a></li> </ol> </li> <li><a href="#4">Does PageSpeed Insights Affect SEO? Is 100/100 Score Essential?</a></li> <li><a href="#5">PageSpeed Insights Metrics</a> <ol> <li><a href="#6">Field & Lab Data (Performance Metrics)</a></li> <li><a href="#7">Opportunities & Diagnostics</a></li> </ol> </li> <li><a href="#8">How Is the PageSpeed Insights Score Calculated?</a></li> <li><a href="#9">Key Points in Improving the PageSpeed Insights Score</a> <ol> <li><a href="#10">Server response time</a></li> <li><a href="#11">Image compression</a></li> <li><a href="#12">HTML & CSS Structure</a></li> <li><a href="#13">Minification & Script Compression</a></li> <li><a href="#14">Cache Policy</a></li> <li><a href="#15">Lightweight Theme & Plugins</a></li> </ol> </li> <li><a href="#16">How to Bulk Check the PageSpeed Insights Score</a></li> <li><a href="#17">Other Tools for Measuring & Improving Site Speed</a> <ol> <li><a href="#18">Pingdom</a></li> <li><a href="#19">GT-Metrix</a></li> <li><a href="#20">mod_pagespeed</a></li> <li><a href="#21">Google AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages)</a></li> </ol> </li> </ol> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='1' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>What Is Google PageSpeed Insights?</h2>   PageSpeed Insights is an online tool provided by Google which is used to identify web performance issues on sites. Although mostly related to <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/17963/technical-seo-checklist/">technical SEO issues</a>, the tools also analyze the site from a User Experience and accessibility point of view.   You can access PageSpeed Insights by visiting <a href="https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/</a>.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22902" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/pagespeed-insights-seo.jpg" alt="PageSpeed Insights Home" width="786" height="565" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/pagespeed-insights-seo.jpg 786w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/pagespeed-insights-seo-300x216.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/pagespeed-insights-seo-768x552.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 786px) 100vw, 786px" />   You can enter the URL there and after a few seconds the tool will return a page with some results regarding your website’s performance. At the top, there will be a general score, which is an average of multiple factors. Below you will see detailed information about what actually affects your speed.   However, it isn’t the only PageSpeed tool provided by Google. There also is mod_pagespeed, a server module used to solve these speed issues, and the full fledged Lighthouse (the site analysis tool that powers everything), available in Chrome itself. There are also a number of Chrome Extensions related to Google’s PageSpeed Insights.   We will discuss briefly about all of them throughout this article, but we will focus mainly on PageSpeed Insights as it seems to be the handiest tool most SEOs use when checking a website. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='2' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Mobile vs. Desktop</h3>   When you insert a page to test it, Google will give two scores: one for the mobile version and one for the desktop version.   Initially, the PageSpeed Tool only gave one score, for the Desktop version. But recently, mobile usage has became more and more popular. As of 2018, more than 50% of search engine users search on mobile devices. As Google moved to a <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/18350/mobile-first-index-mobile-seo/">mobile first index,</a> it also made sense for them to test mobile versions for speed first.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22909" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/pagespeed-mobile-desktop.png" alt="PageSpeed Mobile vs Desktop" width="1220" height="437" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/pagespeed-mobile-desktop.png 1220w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/pagespeed-mobile-desktop-300x107.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/pagespeed-mobile-desktop-768x275.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/pagespeed-mobile-desktop-1024x367.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1220px) 100vw, 1220px" />   However, if you have a responsive design, you might think that these versions are mostly identical.   If so, why do they have different scores?   Mobile: When you use the PageSpeed Insights tool, the first result you’ll get is for mobile speed. This means that your website has been tested on a mobile connection, probably with a 4G connection, as it seems to be the most common speed around the US at least.   <div id="attachment_22906" style="width: 666px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22906" class="wp-image-22906 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/3g-vs-4g-coverage.png" alt="Mobile Network Coverage" width="656" height="491" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/3g-vs-4g-coverage.png 656w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/3g-vs-4g-coverage-300x225.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 656px) 100vw, 656px" />https://www.uscellular.com/coverage-map/voice-and-data-maps.html</div>   However, keep in mind that many mobile users around the world still get only 3G signal and, although they have a slower connection speed, they still expect the website to load really fast.   And here’s the problem. It’s not always about your site, it’s more about the connection’s speed. It might seem like your site is slow when, in reality, the connection speed is slow.   Desktop: On desktop, the score is higher because the connection speed is higher. That’s just the thing with light and fiber optics. Unless you live in the UK, of course, and still have cups and string internet.   So the website goes through the same testing, but it’s mostly the connection speed that differs.   That’s why mobile comes first, as mobile devices usually have slower connections. Things might change with 5G but, until then, make sure you focus on improving your site speed for mobile devices. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='3' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>What exactly is Page Speed?</h3>   OK, so we know what the tool does: it gives a score based on how fast it thinks your site is. But what exactly is page speed?   <blockquote> Page Speed is the speed at which an individual page loads on your website. Different pages can have different speeds due to factors such as images and scripts. </blockquote>   But speed is relative. It depends on so many factors such as the website’s performance, the server’s performance, the particular web page you’re on, the connection type, the user’s internet service provider, the internet package, the device’s processing power, the Browser, what the user is doing at that point, how many apps are running and so on.   However, we can only work with what we can work, which is our website and our server. We don’t really have control over the rest.   <blockquote> Just to get things straight, page speed isn’t a score, like PageSpeed Insights presents. It’s a web page’s loading time and it is measured in seconds. That’s what matters. </blockquote>   That’s why Google PageSpeed Insights wasn’t so good in the past. It didn’t quite give you information about how fast your website is actually loading. Just scores.   And that’s why this new version is just so good. It tells you everything you need to know about actual loading speed while also keeping the good stuff from the old version.   There are, of course, different points of interest in the loading time. For example, you may want to run some scripts towards the end because they don’t need to be used initially.   They might take a lot to finish loading, so the total loading time could be higher. But if the site is usable until then, it isn’t such a big problem.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22904" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/fast-website-loading-speed.jpg" alt="Fast Website Loading Speed" width="800" height="537" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/fast-website-loading-speed.jpg 800w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/fast-website-loading-speed-300x201.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/fast-website-loading-speed-768x516.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" />   For example, let’s say you want to run an exit intent pop-up script. That script takes a hypothetical 5-10 seconds to load. However, you want to show it to the user only after about 20-30 seconds.   If you start running your script immediately, you might postpone loading other important elements, such as the first thing the user should see: the above the fold content. This would be very bad, especially since you’re not going to use that script until about 20-30 seconds in the future.   So you can postpone loading the script after everything else that is vital loads in order to give the user a better experience.   However, if you have a script that makes the menu work or something vital to the usability of the website, you might not want to load it towards the end. This would ruin the experience as the user would not be able to access that function before everything else is loaded. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='4' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Does Page Speed Affect SEO? Is 100/100 Insights Score Essential?</h2>   The simple answer is that page speed does affect SEO. Page speed is a direct ranking factor, a fact known even better since Google’s Algorithm Speed Update. However, speed can also affect rankings indirectly, by increasing the bounce rate and <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/14012/dwell-time/">reducing dwell time</a>.     At Google, users come first. Studies by Google show that average 3G loading speed is very slow. They also show that users leave the site after about 3 seconds. This means that their experience is bad and Google doesn’t like ranking sites which provide bad user experience.   <img class="aligncenter" src="https://cdn.cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/site-speed-study1-1024x528.jpg" />     What you must remember is that speed is measured in seconds, not in points from 0 to 100. While PageSpeed Insights is a tool that helps you improve speed, the score there doesn’t necessarily mean anything in the real world.   <blockquote> Even so, it is important to improve the Page Speed Score. </blockquote>   Why?   Because with Google we don’t know for sure whether the score there is or is not used as a ranking factor. Does Google use seconds? Does it use the score? Who knows…   However, I’ve seen sites with perfect pagespeed score ranking poorly and websites with a score lower than 50 that rank very well (#youtube).   However, you have to take into account how Google makes these tests. We don’t know where the tests are performed from. Is your server from Romania and Google tests it with a 3G connection in the US? Well then, you can obviously expect low speeds.     But just for the user’s sake, put the loading time first. And don’t use only PageSpeed Insights to test that. Stick to the end and I’ll show you a couple of tools which you can use to test the speed at which your website loads from different locations.   <blockquote> Sometimes, Google contradicts itself! </blockquote>   For example, Google PageSpeed Insights considers the Google Analytics script render blocking, which means you should load it later, in the footer. However, Google Analytics specifies it pretty clearly that the script must be placed in the <head> section of your website, otherwise it won’t work properly and won’t initially be accepted as a valid install.   So you get a small score hit in PageSpeed Insights… by doing what Google says… just to be told that you shouldn’t do it like that… by Google. You get the point.   Also, you can’t cache the script properly unless you store the analytics.js file on your server. That’s obviously something Google Analytics doesn’t recommend. It’s also a hell for maintenance, as every time Google Analytics JavaScript file gets an update, you would have to update it on your site as well.   <blockquote> This, of course, doesn’t happen only with Google tools and scripts but with any 3rd party script you don’t have control over. </blockquote>   In our defense, even YouTube, which is owned by Google and should theoretically set an example, has a pretty slow PageSpeed Insights score, at least at the time of writing this article.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22913" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/slow-youtube.jpg" alt="Slow YouTube PageSpeed" width="813" height="646" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/slow-youtube.jpg 813w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/slow-youtube-300x238.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/slow-youtube-768x610.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 813px) 100vw, 813px" />   But that doesn’t mean that the site loads slow. You can see that the field data (for which there is plenty of, as it’s YouTube) says the site loads in pretty much 4 seconds, which isn’t actually bad, considering that recently YouTube provides video previews in the thumbnails.   You can also test your site with <a href="https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en-gb/feature/testmysite/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en-gb/feature/testmysite/</a> to get a more simple explanation of how fast your site loads!   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22907" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/thinkwithgoogle-mobile-speed-test.png" alt="ThinkWithGoogle Test Mobile Speed" width="1037" height="773" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/thinkwithgoogle-mobile-speed-test.png 1037w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/thinkwithgoogle-mobile-speed-test-300x224.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/thinkwithgoogle-mobile-speed-test-768x572.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/thinkwithgoogle-mobile-speed-test-1024x763.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1037px) 100vw, 1037px" />   Our other business’s website, BrandMentions loads in under 2 seconds on a 4G connection, as you can see above. We would see it as pretty good. Sure, there’s always room for improvement. By Google standards… it’s average.   However, Google seems to consider cognitiveSEO’s website speed slow, even though it loads in a little over 3 seconds, which is still pretty fast considering the amount of 3rd party tools we’re using.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-22947 size-large" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/slow-site-speed-e1567059103978-1024x489.png" alt="CognitiveSEO" width="1024" height="489" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/slow-site-speed-e1567059103978-1024x489.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/slow-site-speed-e1567059103978-300x143.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/slow-site-speed-e1567059103978-768x367.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/slow-site-speed-e1567059103978.png 1043w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> Note that you’ll have to go under 1 second to be considered fast! To do so, you’ll probably need a very simple site with no 3rd party plugins or fancy pop-ups. Not easy if you actually want to do some digital marketing.   So yes, loading speed is important for SEO, but a perfect PageSpeed Insights score is not. As long as your website loads in around 3 seconds, you should be fine with most users. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='5' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>PageSpeed Insights Metrics</h2>   Since so many things can affect site speed, Google breaks everything up in different categories in the PageSpeed Insights Tool, for a better understanding of the issues.   This is helpful as Google also provides some sort of prioritization, showing you what exactly affects speed the most. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='6' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Field & Lab Data</h3>   These are the new metrics that are actually useful. They are split into two categories: field and lab data.   Field data is what’s important in the real world, as it’s the data extracted by Google from real users, either through Chrome or other data providers.   Sure, it’s an average and if Google doesn’t yet have enough data it will let you know.   Origin Summary shows an average of the site’s speed as a whole. This way you can have an idea on how your page compares to the site and how the site compares to other sites in the Chrome User Experience Report.   Lab data, although still useful, could be considered less important as it is collected from a controlled environment. This means that it’s tested through a single connection and it doesn’t aggregate data from multiple users.   <blockquote> The lab data is what actually generates the Google page speed score. </blockquote>   Due to the fact that Google doesn’t always have field data, it uses the lab data which is performed on the spot to analyze your site.   First Contentful Paint represents the moment when the users sees something on your web page for the first time. If you look at the series of images you can actually spot how it looks:   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22951" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/first-contentful-paint.png" alt="First Contentful Paint" width="738" height="138" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/first-contentful-paint.png 738w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/first-contentful-paint-300x56.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 738px) 100vw, 738px" />   As you can see, the page has not fully rendered, something has displayed there.   First Meaningful Paint is the second step, let’s say, if we take the results above as an example. It represents the point at which the user can actually understand the first piece of content. For example, some readable text or an image displays, instead of just colors and backgrounds.   Speed Index is a more complex metric. It measures how quickly elements on your website are visibly populated. The faster they start to appear, the better. You’re looking for a lower score here, as it’s also measured in seconds.   First CPU Idle represents the point at which the site has loaded enough of the information for it to be able to handle a user’s first input. For example, if the site has not loaded enough relevant information, the user might tap elements or scroll down but nothing will happen.   Time to Interactive is the next level, the one at which the website is fully interactive. This means that everything has loaded in the device’s memory and is now ready to be used.   Max Potential First Input Delay is the delay a user experiences from the point at which they interact with the browsers to the point at which the browser responds. This is the only performance metric which doesn’t affect the page speed score. <div class="lh-column"> <div id="max-potential-fid" class="lh-metric lh-metric--fail"> <div class="lh-metric__innerwrap"> <div class="lh-metric__value"> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='7' style='height:50px'> </div></div> </div> </div> </div> <h3>Opportunities & Diagnostics</h3>   The opportunities section provides information on what you can improve on your site. It also tells you an estimate of how much each issue affects your load time and how you should prioritize your tasks.   Going through each and everyone of them would be overkill. However, under each metric you’ll have a small arrow which you can use to expand the section.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22950" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/page-speed-opportunities.png" alt="PageSpeed Opportunities & Diagnostics" width="719" height="479" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/page-speed-opportunities.png 719w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/page-speed-opportunities-300x200.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 719px) 100vw, 719px" />   There you will find information about each and every recommendation and how to fix the issue to improve your site’s speed. You will notice that the elements which cause the biggest issues are, in general, images and 3rd party scripts.   The Passed Audits section is the list of things that you already do well on your web page. Basically, it will show elements from both the Opportunities and Diagnostics sections that fit within Google’s parameters.   The more you have in this list, the better! <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='8' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>How Is the PageSpeed Insights Score Calculated?</h2>   Although you might see so many things in the PageSpeed Insights Tool, the score is actually calculated using only the seconds in the Lab Data section. If you read closely, you’ll actually be able to see the message “These metrics don’t directly affect the Performance score.” under Opportunities & Diagnostics.   The metrics in the Lab Data are called performance metrics. There are 6 of them and we’ve presented them above. Each metric gets a score from 0 to 100. Each metric has a different weight in calculating the score.   3 – First contentful paint 1 – First meaningful paint 2 – First cpu idle 5 – Time to interactive 4 – Speed index 0 – Estimated input latency   By order of importance, they are listed as such: Time to Interactive, Speed Index, First Contentful Paint, First CPU Idle, First Meaningful Paint and Estimated Input Latency, which actually has no effect on the score.   The scores are based on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Log-normal_distribution" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Log-normal distribution</a> algorithms so let’s not get too deep down the rabbit hole. If you want to learn more you can read <a href="https://github.com/GoogleChrome/lighthouse/blob/d2ec9ffbb21de9ad1a0f86ed24575eda32c796f0/docs/scoring.md#how-are-the-scores-weighted" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">this page</a>.   Google has also put a Sheet file which you can use to see how the score is actually generated. If you know Excel functions, you can reverse engineer how everything works. You can download this file <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Cxzhy5ecqJCucdf1M0iOzM8mIxNc7mmx107o5nj38Eo/edit#gid=283330180" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">here</a>, but you have to make your own copy (File -> Make your own copy) before you can edit it. There’s also a <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1up5rxd4EMCoMaxH8cppcK1x76n6HLx0e7jxb0e0FXvc/edit#gid=0" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">version for Lighthouse v5</a>.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22942" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/page-speed-score-calculator.png" alt="PageSpeed Score Calculator" width="992" height="427" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/page-speed-score-calculator.png 992w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/page-speed-score-calculator-300x129.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/page-speed-score-calculator-768x331.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 992px) 100vw, 992px" />   To put it in simple terms, the First Contentful Paint impacts the score more than the First Meaningful Paint, and so on.   Why? Well, probably because if nothing displays on the screen, the user is more likely to leave your website. If you display… something, you’ll win some time to get the rest of the thing delivered.   The scores are ultimately divided into 3 categories, Slow (0-49), Average (50-89) and Good (90-100). Then an average is generated as a final score for your website.   <blockquote> Generally, if you’re under 50, you do have some issues that need fixing! But again, don’t sweat it if your site loads in about 3 seconds. </blockquote> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='9' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Key Points in Improving the PageSpeed Insights Score</h2>   Everything up there might be a little big hard to digest. We get it. Most probably, you won’t be able to solve everything! We’ve ruled out that it’s not important to get a 100% score. However, here are the key elements that will noticeably make your site load faster.   Warning: perform a backup of both your files and your database before engaging in these improvements. They can mess up your website and you have to make sure you can return to a previous version! <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='10' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Server response time</h3>   The server is something you can’t really improve yourself. You either have a good one or a bad one. To improve it, you would either have to reduce load on it significantly, or improve its hardware, both of which you don’t have control over, unless you own the physical machine.   So it’s important to have a good server in the first place. But how do you <a href="https://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/hosting-reviews/#choose" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">choose a good server</a>?   Well, any hosting company that ranks well on Google should provide decent services. However, it’s up to you to test. Best advice? If you’re mostly focused on local SEO, choose a local server. For example, if most of your audience lives in Italy, choose a server with the datacenter in Italy.   If the datacenter is all the way in the US, the information will have to travel a big distance before reaching your target audience.   You can always test the hosting provider’s own website with PageSpeed Insights and look for their TTFB (Time To First Byte) or Server Response Time. If it’s in the Passed Audits section, you know you have yourself a good hosting provider.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22911" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ttfb-fast-server.png" alt="Fast Server TTFB" width="774" height="687" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ttfb-fast-server.png 774w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ttfb-fast-server-300x266.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ttfb-fast-server-768x682.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 774px) 100vw, 774px" />   However, it’s better if you know someone that is an actual client of the hosting provider so you can test the speed there.   Realistically, the host’s own website will probably be on a dedicated server, while your site will be on a shared hosting package. This means that you will share the computer’s CPU and internet bandwidth with other websites.   If you can test a real site from a client, that’s great. You might be able to look through the reviews and find clients or ask the support team to provide one. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='11' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Image compression</h3>   In general, images are the biggest problem with websites. They are big and take up a lot to download.   There are two types of issues with the images. The first one is the screen size vs. the actual image size in pixels and the second one is the disk size.   Disk Size: The more physical space an image takes on a hard disk or SSD, the more it will take to download. 100 KB will download a lot faster than 1000 KB (1MB). If you have 10 images like that on your blog post, expect your site to load very slow.   You can use <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-smushit/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">WP Smush</a> to optimize your images. It’s a plugin that will compress the images without losing any quality. This means that you can shrink a 1000×1000 pixels image from 200 KB to 150 KB without noticing the difference in quality, therefore making it load 25% faster.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-22914 size-large" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/smush-wp-faster-images-1024x617.png" alt="WP Smush" width="1024" height="617" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/smush-wp-faster-images-1024x617.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/smush-wp-faster-images-300x181.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/smush-wp-faster-images-768x463.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/smush-wp-faster-images.png 1993w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   Screen Size: Screen size is the size at which an image is displayed. For example, the image below is being displayed at 300×300 pixels.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22915" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/300x300.png" alt="300x300" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/300x300.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/300x300-150x150.png 150w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />   To make images load faster, you first have to make sure you’re not using an image bigger than it’s going to be displayed. For example, if you have an HTML section that styled with CSS at 300×300 pixels, but you load an 1000×1000 pixels image in the source, you’re losing load time for that 700×700 pixels.   That’s because the Browser has to download the 1000×1000 pixels image and then shrink it to 300×300 pixels. This takes more time for both the download and the shrinking process. You can fix this by uploading your images with the same width and height that they will be displayed at.   WordPress does this automatically by creating multiple instances of the image when you upload it. That’s why you’ll see that 300×300 or 150×150 suffix at the end of an image file path. That’s why you can choose sizes (Large, Medium, Thumbnail). Although it’s not perfect, especially if you manually resize the image with click and drag, and it takes up more space on your server on the long run, it does help with load speed.   Deferring the images is another thing that you can do to improve the load time. This means that you can download them later as the user scrolls down on the web page. There will be a brief moment when the images won’t be visible but they will eventually show up, one after another.   This helps the Browsers focus on the important part, the one which the users is viewing at that point.   <img class="aligncenter size-thumbnail wp-image-22919" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/deffer-images-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" />   There are a multitude of plugins that can help you do that. However, many have bugs or only defer images in certain situations, for example if they are created by WordPress or WooCommerce, but not when created or inserted by less popular plugins.   There are certainly plugins for other CMS, such as Joomla or Magento. Just perform a Google search for them. If you’re not on a popular CMS, such as WordPress, deferring images can be done with jQuery, but you’ll most certainly <a href="https://mobilunity.com/blog/hire-javascript-developer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">need a developer</a> for it, if you’re not one yourself.   Next gen image formats are recommended by Google. They are very useful, especially when loading a website from a mobile device. However, there’s a reason not many people use them yet.   <blockquote> Next gen image formats are not yet supported by all major browsers. This means that you’ll need to dynamically serve different formats for different browsers. </blockquote>   If you can use a plugin on your CMS that might be easy, but if you’re on a custom platform, you’ll need to develop everything from scratch, which costs a lot. Here’s a list of which browsers support the WebP format.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22918" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/webp-next-gen.png" alt="WebP Next Gen Image Format" width="1286" height="430" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/webp-next-gen.png 1286w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/webp-next-gen-300x100.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/webp-next-gen-768x257.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/webp-next-gen-1024x342.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1286px) 100vw, 1286px" />   If you size and optimize your images properly, the savings you’ll get by also converting them to next gen image formats such as JPEG2000 or WebP might not be worth the cost in time and money.   However, if you have the time and budget, by all means, go do it. You can use this tool to check if the browsers your users spend most time on are supported. Search for either WebP or JPEG2000. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='12' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>HTML & CSS Structure</h3>   The HTML structure of your web page dictates the way it loads. Browsers read a page from the top to the bottom and they load the elements the same way. This means that if you want something to load first, you have to put it higher in your page.   Generally, the issues are not with HTML but with CSS. If you write your CSS chaotically, it will result in a slower loading time and a bad user experience.   Let’s take an example. Most websites, if not all, follow this HTML structure: head > body > footer.   If my CSS file styles the footer first, then the footer will receive the styling, although it is before the fold. Meanwhile, the header and body might remain plain.   It’s also a good idea to add your mobile styling first, as mobile devices are the slowest ones. You might need at least a basic <a href="https://www.udemy.com/topic/css/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CSS training</a> to get the idea of this hierarchy and be able to identify problems with code on your own   The same goes with renderblocking JavaScript. Postpone scripts that are not vital. Add them to the footer so that they will be loaded last.   However, if you have important scripts such as Analytics which should run as soon as possible, then by all means keep them in the header and make sure they fire and run properly, even though this might result in a lower PageSpeed score. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='13' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Minification & Script Compression</h3>   Minification is a process of making a file smaller by removing unnecessary information from it.   For example, when writing JavaScript and CSS, most, if not all coders, like to use spaces in order to keep their code clean and easy to read. However, those extra spaces add up, especially if you have a long piece of code.   <div id="attachment_22925" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22925" class="wp-image-22925 size-large" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/css-minification-1024x371.png" alt="CSS Minification" width="1024" height="371" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/css-minification-1024x371.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/css-minification-300x109.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/css-minification-768x279.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/css-minification.png 1177w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />cssminifier.com</div>   Another way of minifying code would be by combining similar elements.   For example, if my head and footer sections were identical, instead of writing them like this:   <code>body { </code><code>font-size: 16px; } footer { font-size: 16px; }</code>   I could write:   <code>body, footer { </code><code>font-size: 16px; }</code>   Compression is the process of shrinking files by replacing recurring sequences of information with a single reference to that particular sequence.   So, for example, if I have the following code: 123 4 123 123 123 4 123 123, I could replace 123 with a 1 and get a compressed version like this one: 1 4 1 1 1 4 1 1. Of course, it’s far more complex than what I’ve presented.   This generally happens on the server side and the most common one is called Gzip compression. The server sends a compressed version. After the browser receives the compressed file, it decompresses it by reversing the process, to read its actual contents.   This works pretty much like WinRAR; we probably all know it, because we’ve been using it for free since forever!   If you’re on a popular CMS, you will definitely find a plugin for both compression and minification. For example, the <a href="https://ro.wordpress.org/plugins/w3-total-cache/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">W3 Total Cache</a> plugin does a lot of things including both of these, if you set it up properly.   <blockquote> Remember that compression is dependent on server setup. If your server does not support Gzip, you won’t be able to compress files. If you have an Apache server, make sure you have mod_deflate installed. </blockquote>   You can ask your server provider if your hosting supports it. 99.9% of the time they will say yes. If it’s not already installed, they should do it free of charge, as it’s something pretty basic.   If you’re not on a popular CMS you can also enable Gzip compression via the .htaccess file (Apache servers) by adding the following code, as long as mod_deflate is installed.   <pre class="crayon-plain-tag">&lt;IfModule mod_deflate.c&gt; # Compress HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Text, XML and fonts AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/javascript AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/rss+xml AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/vnd.ms-fontobject AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-opentype AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-otf AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-truetype AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-ttf AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-javascript AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xhtml+xml AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xml AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/opentype AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/otf AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/ttf AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/svg+xml AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/x-icon AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/javascript AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/plain AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/xml # Remove browser bugs (only needed for really old browsers) BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4 gzip-only-text/html BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4\.0[678] no-gzip BrowserMatch \bMSIE !no-gzip !gzip-only-text/html Header append Vary User-Agent &lt;/IfModule&gt;</pre>   Sometimes, you can also combine the scripts. There are plugins that do this, such as Autoptimize, which I’ve presented before. Combining scripts is exactly what it says. Instead of having two files, you combine them into one. This way there’s only one request made to the server, instead of multiple ones.   However, combining scripts can many times causes bugs, so make sure you back up everything before. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='14' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Cache Policy</h3>   Caching is the process of storing files in a client’s browser in order to be able to quickly access them at a later time.   For example, if a user comes to your website for the first time, your logo will have to be downloaded. However, if you have an effective caching policy, that file will be stored in the user’s browser. When the user accesses your site a second time, it won’t have to download that file again as it will be instantly loaded from their computer.   Dynamic Elements (short cache policy): Dynamic elements are elements on your website that change frequently. For example, you might keep adding new posts in a slider on the Homepage.   In this case, the HTML is the dynamic element, so set a short caching policy if this fits you. 30 minutes might be enough, just in case the user returns to that page in the same session.   In some cases, you might not want to cache those elements at all, if promptitude is what matters for your users, such as on news websites.   Static Resources (long cache policy): Static resources are files that rarely change. These are usually images and CSS or JS files, but they can also be audio files, video files, etc.   You can set a longer cache time for images and CSS files since you know you will not be changing them very frequently. You can even go up to one year, but 3 months is usually enough.   Third Party Tools: You don’t really have control over 3rd party tools, so if you feel like a tool that is hosted elsewhere makes your website run very slow, better find an alternative or give up on it.   A solution would be to host the files on your own server and cache them. However, this might not be very productive and it’s not recommended, as you’ll have to constantly update those files as soon as new versions come out, otherwise the tool or app won’t work properly.   Cache Plugins: There are a lot of plugins that will properly handle the cache protocols required for a good user experience. If you’re on WordPress, one of these plugins is W3 Total Cache. However, if you want to go for a better option, <a href="https://wp-rocket.me/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">WP Rocket</a> is also pretty popular, but it will set you back a couple hundred bucks.   Just search for cache plugin / extension / module + your platform on Google to find what you need. Look at the reviews to pick the best one.   .htaccess file cache: You can also set a cache control header from your .htaccess file on an Apache server, if you don’t run your website on a popular CMS.   There are multiple ways:   <code>## EXPIRES CACHING ## <IfModule mod_expires.c> ExpiresActive On ExpiresByType image/jpg "access 1 year" ExpiresByType image/jpeg "access 1 year" ExpiresByType image/gif "access 1 year" ExpiresByType image/png "access 1 year" ExpiresByType text/css "access 1 month" ExpiresByType text/html "access 1 hour" ExpiresByType application/pdf "access 1 month" ExpiresByType text/x-javascript "access 1 month" ExpiresByType application/x-shockwave-flash "access 1 month" ExpiresByType image/x-icon "access 1 year" ExpiresDefault "access 1 month" </IfModule> ## EXPIRES CACHING ##</code>   Or you can also use this code:   <code># One year for image files <filesMatch ".(jpg|jpeg|png|gif|ico)$"> Header set Cache-Control "max-age=31536000, public" </filesMatch></code> <code># One month for css and js <filesMatch ".(css|js)$"> Header set Cache-Control "max-age=2628000, public" </filesMatch></code>   The numbers in the max-age attribute are in seconds, so 3600 would mean one hour, 86400 one day and so on.   Resetting the cache: When you make modifications to a web page, you want to reset the cache if an older version has been cached previously. However, you can only reset the cache on your server.   This means that users who have downloaded a previous version of a certain file will still load that old version from their computer when they access the website again. The file will be refreshed after the set amount of time in your caching policy or if the user manually resets their browser cache.   If you have a critical error in your web design or code, you can change the filename of your file. This way you can be sure that the cache for that particular file will be reset.   Sometimes, Chrome’s cache can be difficult to reset. Sometimes, routers and datacenters between the client and the server might also cache files so, if you don’t see the modifications, give it a couple of hours. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='15' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Lightweight Theme & Plugins</h3>   The more you load your website with plugins, the heavier it gets and the slower it runs.   A website’s theme is the biggest ‘plugin’ the site has. Most themes out there come with heavy 3rd party builders and huge libraries of plugins which all make the site run slower.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-22921 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/lightweight-theme-template-e1566888335225.png" alt="Lightweight Theme & Plugin" width="360" height="262" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/lightweight-theme-template-e1566888335225.png 360w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/lightweight-theme-template-e1566888335225-300x218.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px" />   For example, slider plugins generally add the slider JS code to all pages, although it will probably be used only on the homepage or a landing page. That’s some heavy code to be loading on every page! Not to mention that nobody likes them and they lower the conversion rate.   So when you’re looking for a theme, try to find one without too much animations, sliders, functions and so on. If you look at the big websites you’ll see that, in general, they’re pretty simple.   A good theme which I recommend is <a href="https://generatepress.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">GeneratePress</a>. It’s lightweight and will load very fast. You can enable or disable elements to keep your site as clean as possible.   Combining it with an optimization plugin such as WP Rocket (paid) or a combo of free plugins such as Autoptimize + Fastest Cache will make it blazing fast! You can also use W3 Total Cache, a plugin which does almost everything listed above pretty well.   When you install new plugins, think about how important they are to your website. After you install them, test your score and loading speed. Does the plugin make your site run slower? If yes, is it critical to keep the plugin? Maybe look for a better alternative or remove it completely. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='16' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>How to Bulk Check the PageSpeed Insights Score</h2>   The annoying part about PageSpeed Insights is that it checks only one web page at a time. It would take an eternity to check all the pages on your website, depending on its size.   However, there’s a way of bulk checking the PageSpeed Insights Score. Have you guessed it yet?   It’s the <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/site-audit/">CognitiveSEO Tool Site Audit</a>. Once you set up the technical SEO analysis with the Site Audit, go to your Campaign -> Site Audit -> Performance -> PageSpeed.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-22932 size-large" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/bulk-check-page-speed-1024x549.png" alt="Bulk Check Google PageSpeed Insights Score" width="1024" height="549" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/bulk-check-page-speed-1024x549.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/bulk-check-page-speed-300x161.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/bulk-check-page-speed-768x412.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/bulk-check-page-speed.png 1324w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   Of course, you can do a lot more with the tool, from improving your technical SEO and content to monitoring your rankings and link building efforts.   There’s also a somewhat free alternative which is a Chrome Extension. However, what it will actually do is ask for a list of URLs and then just open them as new tabs in the online PageSpeed Insights tool.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22900" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/bulk-check-pagespeed-extension.png" alt="Bulk Check PageSpeed Extension Chrome" width="976" height="41" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/bulk-check-pagespeed-extension.png 976w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/bulk-check-pagespeed-extension-300x13.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/bulk-check-pagespeed-extension-768x32.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 976px) 100vw, 976px" />   This means that the process is OK for about 10-20 tabs, if you have a medium to high end computer CPU. Anymore than that and the browser could crash or you’ll grow old waiting. It’s still pretty inconvenient. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='17' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Other SEO Tools for Measuring & Improving Site Speed</h2>   Of course, Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool isn’t the only tool to check and improve page speed. For once, we don’t really know where the tests are being performed from. If your site is hosted on a server in Europe and Google performs its tests from the US, it’s natural that the site will be slower.   However, there are tools which specify where the test is being performed from. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='18' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Pingdom</h3>   Pingdom Speed Test is a great tool which measures the speed at which your web page loads. Once the test is done, you’ll get some results which are similar to the ones on Google’s tool, at least visually.   <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-22933" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/pingdom-speed-test-1024x597.png" alt="Pingdom Speed Test" width="1024" height="597" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/pingdom-speed-test-1024x597.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/pingdom-speed-test-300x175.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/pingdom-speed-test-768x448.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/pingdom-speed-test.png 1190w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   What’s interesting about it is that you can select where the test is going to be performed from. Sure, the options are limited, but it’s still better than not even knowing it.   If you focus on local SEO, choose the location closest to your server. If you don’t know where it’s actually hosted, ask your hosting provider and you’ll find out.   <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-22934" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/pingdom-location-1024x449.png" alt="Pingdom Data Center Location" width="1024" height="449" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/pingdom-location-1024x449.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/pingdom-location-300x131.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/pingdom-location-768x336.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/pingdom-location.png 1089w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   It’s also a good idea to make multiple tests from different locations, just in case you have an international audience.   You can find more<a href="https://hostingpill.com/pingdom-alternatives/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> similar tools to Pingdom</a>. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='19' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>GT-Metrix</h3>   GT Metrix has been one of my favorite speed testing tools out there. Although it tests only from Vancouver, Canada, the insights it gives are very useful.   <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-22935" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/gt-metrix-speed-test-1024x609.png" alt="GT Metrix Speed Tool" width="1024" height="609" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/gt-metrix-speed-test-1024x609.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/gt-metrix-speed-test-300x178.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/gt-metrix-speed-test-768x456.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/gt-metrix-speed-test.png 1410w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   Quick tip: If you create a free account with them, you won’t have to wait so much for the test to be performed. To reduce load on their servers, they add you in a queue when there are too many requests. However, registered users have priority. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='20' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>mod_pagespeed</h3>   The mod_pagespeed is a server addon from Google. Its purpose is to fix any page speed related issues at a core level, directly on the server side. This means that even if you add unoptimized images, mod_pagespeed will automatically compress, optimize and convert them to next gen image formats.   <blockquote> However, installing mod_pagespeed is definitely more technical than just dealing with everything in WordPress. </blockquote>   If your server already has it or you know what you’re doing go ahead and install it. However, it’s always a better idea to have a fast site in the first place instead of trying to cover things up.   Any way, this mod will increase load on your server as every time you upload an unoptimized image, it will have to use processing power to convert it. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='21' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Google AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages)</h3>   If you want your site to be really fast on mobile searches, you can always <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/14245/google-amp-rank-better/">implement Google AMP</a>.   Google AMP or Accelerated Mobile Pages is a special type of HTML, stripped of heavy, slower loading elements.   More than that, AMP pages will preload in Chrome mobile browser as the user scrolls through the search results, resulting in an instant load of the page when the user taps the title.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22948" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/google-amp.jpg" alt="Google AMP" width="400" height="168" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/google-amp.jpg 400w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/google-amp-300x126.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" />   There are also disadvantages, of course. You’re limited from every direction, although things are getting better and better every day. Also, your site’s design has to suffer and will pretty much look like any other site that uses AMP. Bummer.   The URL isn’t yours either, because Google loads a cached version of your site, on their URLs. However, Google developers have promised to bring native URLs into AMP.   On WordPress and other CMS, you can add AMP to your website through a plugin. For custom websites, you’ll need to get in touch with your developer and give them <a href="https://amp.dev/documentation/guides-and-tutorials/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">this link</a>.   <h3>Conclusion</h3>   Improving your site speed is important for better search rankings. PageSpeed Insights provides a set of best practices and possible improvements, prioritized by their impact on your site’s speed.   While the score itself shouldn’t concern you too much, it’s a good idea to try and get it at least over 50. However, focus on load time, which is measured in seconds. A good website should load in about 3 seconds. A really, really fast one should load in about 1.   Having a good server, compressing images and keeping things clean and simple in your code will benefit you the most when it comes to website speed. While smaller sites will benefit most from a shared server, if you are a larger business, hosting your site on a <a href="https://www.novatech.co.uk/server/tower-server/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">custom tower servers</a> would be a recommended choice. Allowing the businesses to edit and maintain their site, a private server would offer flexibility and reliability when they need it most.   What’s your PageSpeed Insights Score? Have you seen better rankings after improving the loading speed of your website? Share your experience with us in the comments section below! The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/22865/page-speed-seo/">How Page Speed Affects SEO & Google Rankings | The 2024 Page Speed Guide</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog">SEO Blog | cognitiveSEO Blog on SEO Tactics & Strategies</a>.
13 SEO Myths That Will Probably Kill Your Ranks in 2024

Sun, 28 Nov 2021 10:19:05 -0000

Faster, easier, higher. That’s what we’re all up to when it comes to ranks and traffic, right? Well, easy wins with little effort are rare in SEO. There are most likely SEO myths that will wipe out your business instead of boosting it. As we are often being asked about many misconceptions from the […]

The post 13 SEO Myths That Will Probably Kill Your Ranks in 2024 appeared first on SEO Blog | cognitiveSEO Blog on SEO Tactics & Strategies.

Faster, easier, higher. That’s what we’re all up to when it comes to ranks and traffic, right? Well, easy wins with little effort are rare in SEO. There are most likely SEO myths that will wipe out your business instead of boosting it.   As we are often being asked about many misconceptions from the SEO world, we’ve decided to gather and share with you the most important SEO myths that tend to keep you from improving your ranks and traffic. And of course, clarify them once and for all.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-17227" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/13-SEO-Myths-That-Are-Probably-Killing-Your-Ranks.jpg" alt="13 SEO Myths That Are Probably Killing Your Ranks" width="1024" height="512" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/13-SEO-Myths-That-Are-Probably-Killing-Your-Ranks.jpg 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/13-SEO-Myths-That-Are-Probably-Killing-Your-Ranks-300x150.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/13-SEO-Myths-That-Are-Probably-Killing-Your-Ranks-768x384.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   SEO can make you or break you, depending on how you’re using it. Here’s an idea of what you should stay away off, the SEO myths. Read them, breath them and live without them:   <ol class="summaryext"> <li><a href="#1">Using Tabbed Content Can Penalize Your Site</a></li> <li><a href="#2">Syndicate Content Does Hurt Your SEO</a></li> <li><a href="#3">It’s Better to Have More Links Than More Content</a></li> <li><a href="#4">The Disavow Tool Is Useless After Penguin 4.0</a></li> <li><a href="#5">Links in Comments and Forums Will Attract Google Penalties</a></li> <li><a href="#6">Social Signals Don’t Impact SEO</a></li> <li><a href="#7">All Backlinks Are Created Equally</a></li> <li><a href="#8">Keyword Optimization Matters Most in SEO</a></li> <li><a href="#9">Artificial Social Shares Will Boost Your Rankings</a></li> <li><a href="#10">Keyword Density Should Be at Least 2% to Increase Your Rankings</a></li> <li><a href="#11">A High Number of Links Is All You Need to Rank on the Top</a></li> <li><a href="#12">You Don’t Need an SEO Specialist, Anyone Can Do It</a></li> <li><a href="#13">SEO Is All About Rankings</a></li> </ol>   The evolution of SEO is faster than our ability to perceive it. Over the years, it appeared so many speculations regarding SEO that you would think you were at a stock market.   The long list of SEO myths continues to be more and more voluminous. Some of these myths appeared from the need of the so-called experts who wanted to find out Google’s next move. It is sad to see these people living and dying by Google’s quotes and PR statements.   Let’s move past the “SEO is dead” phrase and start focusing on certain facts pertaining more to bad documentation rather than to real myths. SEO is not dead and we’ll be long gone when and IF that will really happen. It is very much alive and, we might add, omnipresent.   SEO is not about shenanigans. SEO is not something you can easily use to bring your newly created website on top of results like some magic fairy dust. Rather, it is a continuously evolving industry. There is no one-time recipe for SEO algorithms that change every day. You have to adjust your strategies accordingly and act naturally. Otherwise, you might look suspicious.   We’ve seen a lot of stressed and frustrated people blaming it on tools and agencies when they don’t see the SEO efforts equating to payoffs instantaneously. Even the creation of the world took more than one day. Good results don’t come easily. <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">Digital marketers understand that SEO is not a magic pill that will skyrocket your rankings in one day.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-17153" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Vishal-Ray-Malik-150x150.jpg" alt="Vishal Ray Malik" width="46" height="46" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Vishal-Ray-Malik-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Vishal-Ray-Malik-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Vishal-Ray-Malik.jpg 424w" sizes="(max-width: 46px) 100vw, 46px" /></td> <td class="author-name">Vishal Ray Malik</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td>Founder of ConversionLink / <a href="https://twitter.com/vishalraymalik" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@vishalraymalik</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='1' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>1. Using Tabbed Content Can Penalize Your Site</h2>   Tabbed content started as a solution for keeping your site clean and to the point, without overcrowding the reader. They could show or hide the content by a click. What started as a good thing for the user ended badly for the search engine crawlers.   The hidden text using expandable sections was bad for SEO because bots could not read the text and therefore the website couldn’t get indexed or ranked.   Google discarded the websites that used the “click-to-expand” type of content because it thought they were hiding it from the user, exactly the opposite of its intention. But as you all know, there might have been a grain of truth in Google’s position towards tabbed content because there are all sorts of people trying to trick Google.   John Mueller <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFSI4cpJX-I&feature=youtu.be&t=10m55s" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">stated</a> that Google may not rank the page for the tabbed content because it knows users do not see the content by default. <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">From our point of view, it’s always a tricky problem when we send a user to a page where we know this content is actually hidden. Because the user will see perhaps the content in the snippet, they’ll click through the page, and say, well, I don’t see where this information is on this page. I feel kind of almost misled to click on this to actually get in there.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-16873" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/johnmu-seozrh_400x400.png" alt="John Mueller SEO" width="46" height="46" /></td> <td class="author-name">John Mueller</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td>Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google / <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnMu" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@JohnMu</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> You can listen to his answer in the next video:   <iframe width="100%" height="563" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/tFSI4cpJX-I" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>   Nonetheless, we must understand that Google penalizes those websites that deceptively use hidden text.   Matt Cutts explained in the video below that using JavaScript for collapsing content is an accepted and a common practice by lots of ecommerce websites that want to make their site more welcoming.   <iframe width="100%" height="563" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EsW8E4dOtRY" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>   Using JavaScript for tabbed content that includes hidden text is <a href="https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/66353?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">an accepted example</a> within Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">Not all hidden text is considered deceptive. For example, if your site includes technologies that search engines have difficulty accessing, like JavaScript, images, or Flash files, using descriptive text for these items can improve the accessibility of your site.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-16154" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/1000px-Google_-G-_Logo.svg_.png" alt="Google logo" width="46" height="46" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/1000px-Google_-G-_Logo.svg_.png 1000w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/1000px-Google_-G-_Logo.svg_-150x150.png 150w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/1000px-Google_-G-_Logo.svg_-300x300.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/1000px-Google_-G-_Logo.svg_-768x768.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 46px) 100vw, 46px" /></td> <td class="author-name">Google’s Webmaster Guidelines</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Let’s take Wikipedia, for example, the online encyclopedia that uses on-click expandable content on the mobile version.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-17166" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Screenshot_20180119-115900-576x1024.png" alt="Wikipedia expandable content" width="510" height="907" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Screenshot_20180119-115900-576x1024.png 576w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Screenshot_20180119-115900-169x300.png 169w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Screenshot_20180119-115900.png 720w" sizes="(max-width: 510px) 100vw, 510px" />   If you look at the picture above you can see that the collapse sections complement the content. There is a lot of information on the page and you can easily go and read only what you’re interested in, and not the whole article.   Using tabbed content is not bad for SEO and Google won’t penalize your site if it is implemented in a non-spammy way. The hidden text or links is considered spammy if it there solely for search engines rather than visitors. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='2' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>2. Syndicate Content Does Hurt Your SEO</h2>   First, let’s start by saying duplicate content is neither syndicate content nor article spinning.   We all know about duplicate content and the long talk over the year, when it has been said that duplicate content will penalize your website. Things have changed and we learnt that the <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/16878/seo-influence-your-rankings/#5">duplicate content penalty was a myth</a>. Matt Cutts and Andrey Lipattsev said repeatedly that duplicate content doesn’t get you penalized, while copied content does.   As for article spinning, the penalization is applied. It is a technique used in SEO by rewriting articles and replacing specific words, phrases, sentences trying to provide a different version by each spin.   However, syndicated content refers to a situation when a third party publishes an article taken from a source while mentioning it and doesn’t take credit for the article. Syndicated content doesn’t violate Private Label Rights (PLR) either because the original author keeps the ownership of the article and offers a Creative Commons license for reposting.   If all these steps are followed, then syndicate content won’t damage your site or your SEO; it won’t be deemed copied content and get you penalized. So the myth of syndicate content must be broken. Syndication is not a form of plagiarism as long as there is a source cited.   The truth is that only copied content and article spinning will penalize your website.   Here’s what John Mueller <a href="https://support.google.com/webmasters/forum/AAAA2Jdx3sUy9LlYcYxH8E?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">says</a> in Search Console Help, regarding content that is automatically generated, doesn’t comply with the copyright infringement and the Webmaster Guidelines. <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">Our algorithms prefer unique, compelling and high-quality content. Content that is rewritten, “spun,” automatically translated or otherwise modified in an attempt to make it appear unique would go against our Webmaster Guidelines and can result in action being taken against sites that rely on such content.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-16873" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/johnmu-seozrh_400x400.png" alt="John Mueller SEO" width="46" height="46" /></td> <td class="author-name">John mueller</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td>Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google / <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnMu" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@JohnMu</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Syndication can really help you if done correctly. If you use it as an amplification technique, you get the chance to rich a broader audience.   There are a lot of trustworthy websites that publish syndicate content and have a large number of people that are subscribed to the newsletter and RSS feed through a dedicated service like Feedly.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-11840" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/syndication.jpg" alt="syndication" width="638" height="678" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/syndication.jpg 638w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/syndication-282x300.jpg 282w" sizes="(max-width: 638px) 100vw, 638px" /> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='3' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>3. It’s Better to Have More Links Than More Content</h2>   There was a time when it was better to have more links than content to rank higher in Google. Back then, links had more value. Building links on specific anchor texts was essential for SEO industries and to boost your search rankings. And since it began to have such a huge effect on rankings, all kinds of webmasters and SEO pros started to do link building just to create chunks of links, thinking only about quantity and not at all about quality. Google realized that people abused this technique and flooded the SERP with irrelevant and bad sites getting triggered there only by having bad inbound links with no value for the user.   The solution Google found was the Webspam Update, named Penguin afterward. This big change happened on April 24, 2012, when Penguin was released for the first time. Back then, it addressed problems such as keyword stuffing and link schemes. Later on, they took the problem into their own hands and penalized sites with unnatural, manipulative inbound link profiles.   Both Matt Cutts and Andrey Lipattsev confirmed that content, links and <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/15784/seo-terms-glossary/#R">RankBrain</a> are the first <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8VnZCcl9J4" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">3 rankings factors</a>. All of them are equally important. None of them is more important than the other (according to Google).   But here is just one of the myths you should leave behind: links value more than content. Put your ideas into action and start creating an abundance of new pieces of content or improve the ones you already have. Information is in your pocket.   A natural link profile and <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/14919/keyword-tool-content-assistant/#4">good content can bring you high rankings</a>. And the best way to do it comes from the SEO masters and people that went through all Google dances and managed to dance all the way up to the present.   Bill Sebald, from Greenlane, managed to improve the rank from #5 to #2 for the period of time they optimized the content with the help of <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/keyword-tool/">Content Assistant</a>. And he’s not the only one. The knowledge and tools are here; you just have to create the strategy and take some time to do it.   <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">Within 24 hours, we saw our rank improve from #5 for the term we were optimizing for to #2. This fluctuated over the next few days but then we settled into the #2 spot and have remained there since. <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/keyword-tool/pdfs/Greelanemarketing-Case-Study-cognitiveSEO.pdf">Read the full case study</a>.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-13837" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Bill-Sebald.jpg" alt="Bill Sebald" width="46" height="46" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Bill-Sebald.jpg 400w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Bill-Sebald-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Bill-Sebald-300x300.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 46px) 100vw, 46px" /></td> <td class="author-name">BILL SEBALD</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td>Founder Greenlane / <a href="https://twitter.com/billsebald" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@billsebald</a> ‏</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='4' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>4. The Disavow Tool Is Useless After Penguin 4.0</h2>   To disavow or not to disavow? That is the question.   We get tons of emails and questions from people saying they know disavow tools are useless and Google knows which links they built and which they didn’t.   Let’s take the example above that can prove our point: <blockquote> I saw that I have some links marked as unnatural, but I have never built those links. Google says if you never built the link then don’t worry about it. I only built the link to a single post which is 100 photoshop tutorials post so that is why I am shocked to see that all of my links are marked unnatural by your tool. </blockquote> The 100 photoshop tutorials post is unnatural itself. Google might ignore it, but it might not. Google doesn’t know if you built those links. They are pointing to your site and that’s it. Maybe someone did a negative SEO attack on your website. Google could see that as something you did and penalize you. What Matt Cutts and John Mueller say is different from what the algorithm does.   When Google Penguin 4.0 went live, Gary Illyes said: <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">Traditionally, webspam algorithms demoted whole sites. With this one, we managed to devalue spam instead of demoting AND it’s also more granular AND it’s real time. Once the rollout is complete, I strongly believe many people will be happier, and that makes me happy.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-17179" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Gary-Illyes.jpg" alt="Gary Illyes" width="46" height="48" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Gary-Illyes.jpg 320w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Gary-Illyes-286x300.jpg 286w" sizes="(max-width: 46px) 100vw, 46px" /></td> <td class="author-name">Gary Illyes</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td>Google spokesperson / <a href="https://twitter.com/methode" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@methode</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> People still asked if the disavow tool was still necessary, along with this update: <img class="aligncenter wp-image-17180" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Gary-Illyes-disavow-tool-1024x539.png" alt="Gary Illyes disavow tool" width="889" height="468" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Gary-Illyes-disavow-tool-1024x539.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Gary-Illyes-disavow-tool-300x158.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Gary-Illyes-disavow-tool-768x405.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Gary-Illyes-disavow-tool.png 1234w" sizes="(max-width: 889px) 100vw, 889px" /> <img class="aligncenter wp-image-17181" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/John-Mueller-disavow-tool-1024x415.png" alt="John Mueller disavow tool" width="909" height="368" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/John-Mueller-disavow-tool-1024x415.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/John-Mueller-disavow-tool-300x122.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/John-Mueller-disavow-tool-768x311.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/John-Mueller-disavow-tool.png 1244w" sizes="(max-width: 909px) 100vw, 909px" /> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='5' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>5. Links in Comments and Forums Will Attract Google Penalties</h2>   SEO myth busting again; here’s the urban legend that has been brought to life: all community engagement is toxic, such as links in comments and forums.   Don’t confuse blog commenting and forums with directories. The latter are more suspicious, but for sure in that case, also, there are white-hat directories. One of the clearest differences to emerge is that a forum is a discussion panel and a directory is an online list or catalog of websites.   The mirror has two faces. If we’re to take forums in general and links in comments (even nofollow links) we would say that they have low-quality, because there are a lot of spammers. Along the years, lots of forums were bombarded by constant spam messages from marketers trying to cash in on a captive audience and build lots and lots of spammy links. It was a time when forums were popular, that’s why the bad guys focused their attention on them.   Forums have some advantages: <ul> <li>Have niched users;</li> <li>They bring topical relevancy;</li> <li>Have loyal users, that help increase website traffic through repeated visits;</li> <li>Easily create a connection and build a relationship because you no longer have to search them and capture their attention;</li> <li>Easier to gain trust.</li> </ul>   So you can understand why spammers were attracted by building links there through comments. But with time, just like Google, proper forums that delivered relevant information started to have more restrictions on user-generated content (UGC). <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">The next wave of the Web is going to be user-generated content.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-17182" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/John-Doerr.jpg" alt="John Doerr" width="46" height="46" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/John-Doerr.jpg 416w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/John-Doerr-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/John-Doerr-300x300.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 46px) 100vw, 46px" /></td> <td class="author-name">John Doerr</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td>General partner KPCB / <a href="https://twitter.com/johndoerr" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@johndoerr</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> You can find lots of trustworthy forums and social communities built on user-generated content that provide valuable information from experts and pros. Reddit, WebmasterWorld, Moz Forum, Quora, Campus Society, Stumble Upon, Tumblr are just a few examples of communities built on user-generated content, each of them focusing on a specific audience.   Did you know that millennials spend <a href="https://ivetriedthat.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Social_Influence_Research_Paper.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">30% of their media consumption time</a> with content that is created by their peers (UGC) and consider it to be more memorable than other media? But that’s not all, user-generated content is trusted more than traditional media (59%) according to a research made by Ipsos MediaCT/Crowdtap.   <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-17183" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/media-trusworthiness-1024x631.png" alt="media trusworthiness" width="1024" height="631" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/media-trusworthiness-1024x631.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/media-trusworthiness-300x185.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/media-trusworthiness-768x473.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/media-trusworthiness.png 1422w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   Millennials are also committed to engaging with social media on a daily basis above all other media types.   Let’s debunk this myth together. Community engagement is not toxic if it observes Google’s quality guidelines and comment links from forums and user-generated communities are naturally placed there. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='6' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>6. Social Signals Don’t Impact SEO</h2>   Come into the mythical place named Narnia, where everything is possible and social activity has no value for SEO. Well, let’s see why it is a myth and which is the truth behind it.   I hear lots of people saying things like: <blockquote> “Is it true that likes on Facebook, Twitter, and so on, do not count towards Google rankings? Well, why bother improving my social activity?” </blockquote> Or even asking: <blockquote> What would be the SEO benefit of linking to Instagram/Facebook/Twitter posts? </blockquote>   <blockquote> But the real question should be “Is your site providing added-value for your users?” rather than thinking of the “SEO benefits”. </blockquote>   Let’s get one thing straight: it is true that a “like” on a social account doesn’t influence Google rankings, but they have a positive influence among shares, engagement. John Mueller <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udqtSM-6QbQ" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">states</a> that there is no direct ranking signal in Google’s ranking algorithm. Google treats Facebook and Twitter posts like any other web pages for search, but NOT as a ranking factor. But this doesn’t mean social signal has no value for SEO. It indirectly influences website rankings.   Social signals have a lot of value in this manner. You build your brand and drive traffic to your website, therefore influencing your rank on Google.   <div id="attachment_17170" style="width: 684px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-17170" class="size-full wp-image-17170" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Social-Signals-and-SEO.png" alt="Social Signals and SEO" width="674" height="240" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Social-Signals-and-SEO.png 674w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Social-Signals-and-SEO-300x107.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 674px) 100vw, 674px" />Source: blindfiveyearold.com</div>   We conducted a study on this topic and the numbers were clear: a strong presence on social networks is<a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/11903/social-signals-seo-influence/#2"> correlated with better rankings</a>. This means that, in general, the higher the ranking of the website, the higher the chances that the average presence on social network is larger.   Another interesting discovery was the fact that Facebook post engagement has a strong connection with organic search CTR. Larry Kim <a href="https://moz.com/blog/relationship-between-organic-rankings-and-social-shares" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">saw</a> that Facebook posts with extraordinarily high engagement rates tended to have above expected organic search CTR.   <div id="attachment_17171" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-17171" class="size-large wp-image-17171" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/relationship-between-organic-rankings-social-shares-1024x641.png" alt="relationship between organic rankings & social shares" width="1024" height="641" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/relationship-between-organic-rankings-social-shares-1024x641.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/relationship-between-organic-rankings-social-shares-300x188.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/relationship-between-organic-rankings-social-shares-768x481.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/relationship-between-organic-rankings-social-shares.png 1028w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Source: wordstream.com</div>   In the end, it is about how engaging your content is.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-17172" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/goosebumps-gif.gif" alt="goosebumps " width="350" height="221" />   If you have a successful activity on your social accounts and create engagement, you have the possibility to attract a larger audience and send it to your site. On top of that, that audience can share the information and amplify it, organically. Influencers come to your site and in no time you can increase the number of links, which boosts your SEO efforts. <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">Links are the confound in the correlation between social shares and rankings.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-17173" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/AJ-Kohn.jpeg" alt="AJ Kohn" width="46" height="46" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/AJ-Kohn.jpeg 400w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/AJ-Kohn-150x150.jpeg 150w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/AJ-Kohn-300x300.jpeg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 46px) 100vw, 46px" /></td> <td class="author-name">AJ Kohn</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td>Owner, Blind Five Year Old / <a href="https://twitter.com/ajkohn" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@ajkohn</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Remember that <a href="https://www.socialbakers.com/blog/social-media-engagement" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">social engagement</a> sends positive signals to Google. Long story short, social signals have an indirect impact on SEO and a powerful impact on search rankings. The result of the social activity is more valuable than the action per se. That’s the one that counts. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='7' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>7. All Backlinks Are Created Equally</h2>   Oh boy! Oh boy! They never stop coming. I’ll boil this down to the bare facts.   You know and I know that there are bad and good links. Getting at this point, we can see that backlinks are not created equal. But let’s not stop here.   Let’s go on with the good links and say that they are created equally. At this point, I have to ask you: is a link on Forbes equal with bananaroots.wordpress. com? The first domain is an American business magazine and the second one is a blog about bananas. Firstly, the two domains are different by the industry, secondly by the domain influence/authority and page influence/authority.   There are so many aspects to take into consideration when we talk about backlinks that this could take an entire post and lots of coffee to bare all the SEO myths that are out there and debunk them. But, I’ll save your energy and go with the one that interests us today, at this moment.   To figure out this backlink equality issue, let me present you two situations. If you search for “brown recluse” you’ll see search engine results from EmedicineHealth and LiveScience. The first page has a well-covered topic with lots of on-topic content as you can see in the next screenshot:   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5546" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/2emedicinehealth.png" alt="emedicinehealth" width="680" height="870" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/2emedicinehealth.png 680w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/2emedicinehealth-234x300.png 234w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" />   The second page was a short article, poorly-covered with a lot of general information about a lot of things.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5547" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/3livescience.png" alt="livescience" width="708" height="855" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/3livescience.png 708w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/3livescience-248x300.png 248w" sizes="(max-width: 708px) 100vw, 708px" />   And then we checked the number of links. If we were to compare the two sites, the LiveScience has lots of links, it is a big site.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-17184" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/links-for-2-different-domains-1.jpg" alt="links for 2 different domains 1" width="773" height="367" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/links-for-2-different-domains-1.jpg 773w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/links-for-2-different-domains-1-300x142.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/links-for-2-different-domains-1-768x365.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 773px) 100vw, 773px" />   If I had to choose, a link on EmedicineHealth would be more valuable than LiveScience.   Equality is not always the answer. Equity is.   <div id="attachment_17185" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-17185" class="size-large wp-image-17185" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Backlinks-equality-and-equity-1024x767.png" alt="Backlinks equality and equity" width="1024" height="767" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Backlinks-equality-and-equity-1024x767.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Backlinks-equality-and-equity-300x225.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Backlinks-equality-and-equity-768x575.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Backlinks-equality-and-equity.png 1460w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Source: culturalorganizing.org</div>   Link equity (formerly named <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/15784/seo-terms-glossary/">link juice</a>) is an important part of off-page SEO since it passes value and authority from one page to another.   Let’s accept and embrace the fact that backlinks are not created equal and focus on those which are more “juicy” or equitable. <blockquote> Some links are more equal than others. </blockquote> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='8' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>8. Keyword Optimization Matters Most in SEO</h2>   Targeted keywords optimization is one step in all the SEO process that happens on-site. The first would have to be <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/9170/long-tail-keywords-technique-seo-strategy-2015/#5">keyword research</a>. You can do that through multiple alternatives. Keyword Planner from Google Adwords has been one of the most popular options for a long period of time, but since SEO evolved, lots of agencies have proposed lots of other tools.   Some other opportunities that we can find in Google are the autocomplete suggestions we can see when we start typing in the search bar for a specific query (as represented in the next screenshot). Or, review the list of searches related to autocomplete suggestions that we can find at the bottom of the first page.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-17169" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/funny-google-searches-autocomplete.png" alt="funny google searches autocomplete" width="787" height="290" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/funny-google-searches-autocomplete.png 787w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/funny-google-searches-autocomplete-300x111.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/funny-google-searches-autocomplete-768x283.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 787px) 100vw, 787px" />   There is also the Keyword tool and Content Assistant which is a complete option that includes the keyword research, competitor spying for that keyword, keyword and content optimization.   All the keyword phrases we use in a content create a vocabulary and therefore give a context to the topic we’ve written about. Due to that, Google uses Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) to understand if your <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/16966/context-is-king/#7">content is related to a search query</a>. In case you need guidance using keywords suggestions that take this algorithm into consideration, Content Assistance can give it to you in seconds. The tool uses the same algorithm for extracting keyword recommendation you could use in your content.   But keywords do not represent everything, context does. It just started to have a major impact on search results. And let’s not forget RankBrain, which helps Google process its search results through artificial intelligence. So Google will start to offer more personalized results based on each individual behavior. It goes through billions of pages and selects only the most relevant for particular queries.   Nowadays, as we mentioned several times, Google’s trying to optimize the page for the user. So if you’re trying to use specific words over and over again just to optimize for the search engines, it will only weaken your website. In the end, you might get penalized and suffer a great loss.   Taking into consideration the SEO process we talked about, keyword optimization is not the crucial SEO element or the most important one, but it is the first one. It is a dwarf among giants. There are arguably even more relevant aspects. At the moment, we can not point to a specific SEO element that is the most important one, but rather there is a handful of steps and aspects that create a synergy. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='9' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>9. Artificial Social Shares Will Boost Your Rankings</h2>   We’ll start by saying that artificial or fake social shares are considered to be black hat social media techniques.   We talked before about social signals and you know by now that they are emerging as ranking factors as search engines try to understand our social interaction and behavior. In this manner, a page with lots of shares and links has the advantage to rank higher. But just like any abuse of guidelines, these tricks that fool the system are penalized.   That being the case, Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/business/a/page/fake-likes" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">says</a> that buying fake likes, shares will only hurt you; it might get harder for those who want to advertise, too. Not once did it happen for Facebook to suspend advertising accounts. And it’s not so easy to reactivate such an account. <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">Pages with artificially inflated like counts are harming themselves, making it harder and more expensive to reach the people they care about most.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-17187" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/facebook.png" alt="facebook" width="46" height="46" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/facebook.png 399w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/facebook-150x150.png 150w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/facebook-300x300.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 46px) 100vw, 46px" /></td> <td class="author-name">Facebook</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Facebook adds that they value real connection and support strong relationships created through the platform. <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">We have a strong incentive to aggressively go after the bad actors behind fake likes because businesses and people who use our platform want real connections and results.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-17187" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/facebook.png" alt="facebook" width="46" height="46" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/facebook.png 399w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/facebook-150x150.png 150w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/facebook-300x300.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 46px) 100vw, 46px" /></td> <td class="author-name">Facebook</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Experts value the power of social signals but only used for the right reasons, not for inflating with artificial shares and likes that pollute the social platform. <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">Social media is a set of modern communications channels that can be used to transmit “content” and communications to an audience. As such, it can be used, in this context, to publicize “content” and news so that more people hear about you and then link to you. And those links can help your rankings.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-17188" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Samuel-Scott.jpg" alt="Samuel Scott" width="46" height="46" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Samuel-Scott.jpg 400w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Samuel-Scott-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Samuel-Scott-300x300.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 46px) 100vw, 46px" /></td> <td class="author-name">Samuel Scott</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td>Marketing speaker and tech contrarian / <a href="https://twitter.com/samueljscott" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@samueljscott</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> The bottom line is artificial social shares don’t help in keyword ranking. In the best case scenario, you should call yourself lucky if your account isn’t suspended. Facebook is using AI to penalize spammy websites in its News Feed. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='10' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>10. Keyword Density Should Be at Least 2% to Increase Your Rankings</h2>   Keywords, in all its forms for SEO, seems to be a hotly contested topic.   At this point, I barely have strength left to argue. It starts to get funnier or is it rather me feeling nervous-funny. <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-17189" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Nervous-laugh.gif" alt="Nervous laugh" width="500" height="281" />   The never-ending talk about keyword density that should be 10%, 4,5% or 7 %. We’re starting to ask ourselves if is so hard to be natural these days?! <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-17152" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/unnatural-vs-natural.jpg" alt="unnatural vs natural" width="500" height="500" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/unnatural-vs-natural.jpg 500w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/unnatural-vs-natural-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/unnatural-vs-natural-300x300.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /> It’s ironic, you’re asking “What would the algorithm think about this?” and the algorithm is asking, “What would a real human think about this?”   During a Google Webmaster Central office-hours hangout, last year, John Mueller <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NyZypIfOzI&feature=youtu.be&t=3144" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">said</a> that the focus should be on the readability and not on the keyword density. <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">We expect content to be written naturally, so focusing on keyword density is not a good use of your time. Focusing too much on keyword density makes it look like your content is unnatural.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-16873" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/johnmu-seozrh_400x400.png" alt="John Mueller SEO" width="46" height="46" /></td> <td class="author-name">John Mueller</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td>Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google / <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnMu" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@JohnMu</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/14057/google-webmaster-hangouts/#10">Keyword density</a> might lead to keyword stuffing if you try and program everything like it is a machine. <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">A lot of people think there’s one recipe and you can follow it like baking cookies. And if you follow it to the letter, you’ll rank number one. That’s not the way it works.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-17118" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/matt-cutts-small.jpg" alt="Matt Cutts about nofollow links" width="46" height="46" /></td> <td class="author-name">Matt Cutts</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td>Former head of the webspam team at Google / <a href="https://twitter.com/mattcutts" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@mattcutts</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> That’s not how the search engines work. Google will recognize the pattern.   The sad part is that we are in 2018 and we’re still hearing questions such as “what is the ideal keyword density percentage to improve rankings in Google in 2018?” (*facepalm* and *heavy breathing*).   Then you go back to quality, the naturalness of things. So no, you should not focus on maintaining your keyword density a specific percentage to rank higher. There is no IDEAL % for keyword density. Rather have a vocabulary, semantics, a long copy to avoid keyword stuffing. In the end, be very careful not to have too much of one keyword. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='11' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>11. A High Number of Links Is All You Need to Rank on the Top</h2>   The myth goes something like this: once you have so many links, you don’t really need anymore. And it should be enough for helping you rank higher. No numbers are thrown out (apparently it might differ from one industry to another), but it is really such a thing of having too many links that it doesn’t matter in terms of ranking if you get more?   In the ante-Penguin Era, a high number of links might be enough for ranking on top if you wanted to believe that.   Obviously, there is no such thing as too many links. Maybe for unnatural links, though. Because if you have too many unnatural links you might get penalized. But here we are talking about good links as ranking signals. Smart marketers and webmasters wouldn’t pursue this, because they know (spoiler alert: debunking a myth right now) links is not the only ranking factor and neither is the number of those links. The focus should be on content marketing, social activities, natural links, since we talked so much about them. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='12' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>12. You Don’t Need an SEO Specialist; Anyone Can Do It</h2>   Whoever said SEO is something any IT guy can do, fooled you.   There is, indeed, technical SEO, which as the name says, requires some technical expertise. It is an SEO component, entirely something else. If you hear technical it doesn’t necessarily have to be IT. The job of an SEO expert is different from an IT expert; it requires wider knowledge on content, <a href="https://northcutt.com/seo/covid19-impact-search-behavior/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">user behaviour</a>, equity, semantics and context, and a lot more. <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">Think of SEO this way: If a customer-focused content marketing program is the sandwich, then SEO is the mayonnaise. It touches nearly everything and enhances the overall flavor of the sandwich, but on its own, it’s not very appetizing.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-17190" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Lee-Odden.jpg" alt="Lee Odden" width="46" height="46" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Lee-Odden.jpg 400w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Lee-Odden-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Lee-Odden-300x300.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 46px) 100vw, 46px" /></td> <td class="author-name">Lee Odden</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td>CEO at TopRank Marketing / <a href="https://twitter.com/leeodden" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@leeodden</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Of course, you need the knowledge of an IT person that can handle some things better than an SEO pro. You can not give or expect from somebody experienced in IT to do the SEO duties and expect best practices and great results. Some things go hand in hand.   An IT professional can help you with issues such as website crawling (errors, XML sitemap, URL parameters, indexing errors), redirects, website audit (for internal links), loading page speed, some local SEO issues, and many more.   In the end, SEO isn’t something you can handle to an IT person, in case you want to rank and have a site and visitors.   <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='13' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>13. SEO Is All About Rankings</h2>   Search engine optimization is the process for naturally placing the website in search results by the search engines. If we think from the on-site perspective, then the <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/16966/context-is-king/">keywords used in context</a>, the meta descriptions, the images selected for the content, the title are significant among all the on-site SEO elements.   Getting this straight, we need to understand that SEO, at this level, must answer to the user need and intent. That is the future: the <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/16966/context-is-king/#1">user-intent-based content</a>. Google’s moving the attention on user intent for more accurate and personalized results.   Relevant and well-optimized (not over-optimized) content remains a top ranking factor. Think of that this way: you are on the first page of Google and rank for a keyword you optimized your content for. You want the users to enter your website or not? If the answer is yes and they will do so it means you optimized correctly your content, you have relevant meta description, title, URL. If on the contrary, the user doesn’t enter your website it means it’s not relevant, you optimized the content for the search engines, and that won’t last for long. <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">My rule of thumb is: build a site for a user, not a spider.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-17167" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Dave-Naylor.jpeg" alt="Dave Naylor" width="46" height="46" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Dave-Naylor.jpeg 400w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Dave-Naylor-150x150.jpeg 150w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Dave-Naylor-300x300.jpeg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 46px) 100vw, 46px" /></td> <td class="author-name">Dave Naylor</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td>Head of Search Marketing and Speaker at Bronco / <a href="https://twitter.com/DaveNaylor" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@DaveNaylor</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Lost are the days when over-optimization was doing all the job for ranking your content higher and higher ‘till it reached the sky, because sky is the limit. But no more!   Over-optimization for the sole purpose of ranking isn’t a technique approved by Google according to the Quality Guidelines. <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">Google only loves you when everyone else loves you first.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-17168" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Wendy-Piersall.jpg" alt="Wendy Piersall" width="46" height="46" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Wendy-Piersall.jpg 400w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Wendy-Piersall-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Wendy-Piersall-300x300.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 46px) 100vw, 46px" /></td> <td class="author-name">Wendy Piersall</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td>Blogger & author at wendypiersall.com / <a href="https://twitter.com/emom" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@emom</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> But for some other reason, if you have over-optimized content, you have a chance to clear your past and <a href="https://www.searchenginejournal.com/over-optimized-content/209698/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">deoptimize</a> it. At this stage, you have to evaluate your content and see if there is anything you can adjust, redirect or rewrite and re-optimize to fulfill the actual requirements for quality.   If you got it until here, I must congratulate you and ask you to debunk another SEO myth, and tell the truth, that SEO is not all about rankings, but rather quality, natural language, context and earning links (named just a few, because we could keep it like this all night).   <h2>Conclusion</h2>   13 is an unlucky number, not to mention when it is placed near SEO myths. The internet is full of them, and people follow them blindfoldedly. You decide what is best for your business and what SEO strategies to apply or not. Yet, we wanted to share and debunk with you the most common SEO myths, the ones that we are constantly asked about.   In the online marketing world, there will always be tons of detours, easy fixes, or “a complete guide to SEO and conversion rate optimization” that will increase your search engine rankings on the spot. We’ve tried to cover some of the biggest SEO myths; yet, we know that there other highly debatable topics in the industry worth tackled, like voice search or guest blogging. Whenever we’ll feel the need, we’ll update this list and we hope we’ll get updates from your side as well.   We are always trying to provide you with valuable content and information in the SEO world, with facts that can be applied and aspects you should stay away from and never challenge Google or other search engines. These SEO myths are in the last category and we hope that this article was a helping hand. If you have some other SEO myths you want to share or discuss with us, feel free to write about them at the comments section below.   The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/17151/seo-myths/">13 SEO Myths That Will Probably Kill Your Ranks in 2024</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog">SEO Blog | cognitiveSEO Blog on SEO Tactics & Strategies</a>.
Affordable SEO Services for Small Business – The 2024 List

Wed, 04 Aug 2021 08:45:29 -0000

Finding affordable SEO services for small businesses isn’t an easy task for sure. With SEO being such a complex field, it’s hard to know what services do you need or whether a company’s gonna do a good job or not. That’s why it’s important to have at least an idea of what SEO services […]

The post Affordable SEO Services for Small Business – The 2024 List appeared first on SEO Blog | cognitiveSEO Blog on SEO Tactics & Strategies.

Finding affordable SEO services for small businesses isn’t an easy task for sure. With SEO being such a complex field, it’s hard to know what services do you need or whether a company’s gonna do a good job or not.   That’s why it’s important to have at least an idea of what SEO services are important, which practices are useful and which are harmful.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-24490" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/affordable-seo-services-for-small-business.jpg" alt="affordable seo services for small business" width="1024" height="538" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/affordable-seo-services-for-small-business.jpg 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/affordable-seo-services-for-small-business-300x158.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/affordable-seo-services-for-small-business-768x404.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   Many times, SEO companies offer their services in the form of a monthly SEO package. While it’s easy for search engine marketers to manage their work this way, and a lot easier for you to understand what you get for the buck, it’s also a big indication of automatization, which stands, generally, at the base of SEO penalties.   This article will not be a list of companies to pick from, but a guide on which services you should be looking for and how to choose the right company.   So, read this guide till the end to get the insights you need.   <ol class="summaryext"> <li><a href="#1">Why Should Small Businesses Invest in SEO?</a></li> <li><a href="#2">What SEO Services Do Small Businesses Need?</a></li> <li><a href="#3">Types of Affordable SEO Services for Small Business</a> <ol> <li><a href="#4">For Technical SEO</a></li> <li><a href="#5">For Content Marketing</a></li> <li><a href="#6">For Link Building</a></li> <li><a href="#7">For Rank Tracking</a></li> <li><a href="#8">For Local SEO</a></li> <li><a href="#9">For Video SEO</a></li> <li><a href="#10">For Ecommerce SEO</a></li> </ol> </li> <li><a href="#11">The Top 5 Must-Have Affordable SEO Services for Small Business</a></li> <li><a href="#12">How to Pick The Right SEO Company to Work With</a></li> </ol> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='1' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Why Should Small Businesses Invest in SEO?</h2>   If you’re a small business looking for affordable SEO services, you’ve probably just started out as an entrepreneur.   But why choose SEO as a marketing channel?   The main reason why small businesses should consider SEO as a marketing channel is that you can either invest time or money into it.   That gives you some liberty, in case you don’t have one or the other.   While other channels, such as PPC, can offer faster results, SEO is a long-term game, but can bring in the greatest ROI.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-24461 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/money-2724241_640.jpg" alt="Affordable SEO Services for Small Businesses SEO ROI" width="640" height="432" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/money-2724241_640.jpg 640w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/money-2724241_640-300x203.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" />   The key here is to start it as early as possible, so you can benefit off it for as long as possible. Postponing it will only allow your competition to get ahead, making your job harder.   If you’re interested in the pros and cons of these two marketing channels, take a look at this <a title="SEO vs PPC" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/19704/seo-vs-ppc/">article about SEO vs PPC</a>.   But again, if PPC seems like a more viable option for you now, you should still start investing in SEO as soon as possible. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='2' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>What SEO Services Do Small Businesses Need?</h2>   It’s hard to say what SEO services a business needs because it differs from business to business.   Do you have a local store? Or an online one? Are you a blogger or an affiliate or do you offer services, be them physically, such as plumbing, or online, such as consulting?   In general, small businesses lack quality content and promotion.   Quality websites are easy to build these days using templates and content management systems, but quality content isn’t easy to write.   Also, once the website is live and even with quality content on it, it’s still not enough. You need to know how to promote it to show Google that it’s valuable. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='3' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Types of Affordable SEO Services for Small Business</h2>   We’ll go through multiple categories so that you can have a better idea what affordable seo services for small business you might need, depending on your case.   In the end, you’ll need a bit of everything, so consider this list as a set of priorities. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='4' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>1. For Technical SEO</h3>   The truth about technical SEO is that it is, in general, a one-time fix. While you have to change things from time to time as the internet evolves, if you set things right from the beginning, they will last.   Here are the top Technical SEO issues that small businesses should focus on in their online marketing strategy:   <ul> <li>URL and Site structure: While you can do this on your own, it’s probably a good idea to ask an SEO consultant for advice. The most difficult site to structure is an eCommerce one. You want to get it right from the beginning to avoid issues in the future. This will save you a lot of money. Find out more about a <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/23628/url-structure/">good website and URL structure</a>.</li> <li>Image Compression: Images are probably the biggest problem when it comes to technical SEO and load times. In many cases, it can be done for free with tools such as Smush for WordPress, but similar free plugins are also available for other platforms.</li> <li>Caching: If you use caching, your site will load even faster. Again, good caching can be achieved for free with plugins such as W3 Total Cache or Autoptimize. Some hosting providers have LiteSpeed Caching on their server, which also allows you to cache your content properly.</li> <li>Structured data: This should be the last thing you focus on as a small business. However, in certain cases it can have a good impact. Just make sure you don’t focus on this technical aspect instead of what’s really important, which is quality content and promotion.</li> </ul>   Here are some tools that can help you ensure you won’t be spending much on Technical SEO issues:   WordPress:   The best affordable SEO service for Technical SEO when it comes to small businesses is WordPress.   You need an optimized, mobile friendly website over which you have control and can maximize potential without spending too much.   Web Designers are quite expensive, so WordPress is the way to go. You can find a variety of templates for a nice web design, many even for free.   Sure, there are other SaaS website builders there such as Wix or Squarespace (you’ve probably seen the ads by now), but they are very limited in terms of what you can do for your business’s SEO.   <img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-24458" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/WordPress-logotype-wmark-300x300.png" alt="Improve website with WordPress" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/WordPress-logotype-wmark-300x300.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/WordPress-logotype-wmark-150x150.png 150w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/WordPress-logotype-wmark-768x768.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/WordPress-logotype-wmark.png 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />   If you want to go with PPC only, SaaS website builders might be a good option, but for search engine optimization, even renowned SEO companies will have a hard time.   Even WordPress has its own SaaS packages, so make sure you compare both the open source version and the SaaS one.   In the open source one, you’ll need your own hosting, while the SaaS one will cover it.   In the long run, if you want to get the most out of it, the open source version is the best option, but it will be more difficult to manage.   GT Metrix:   GT-Metrix is a great service that will tell you about a variety of technical SEO issues your site is facing.   The most important things you want to make sure you fix are large images and caching.   <blockquote> While all these tips are useful, what you should be focusing on is the load speed of the website, in seconds. </blockquote>   PageSpeed Insights:   Just like GT Metrix, Google offers a similar tool, called PageSpeed Insights.   You can view a variety of technical issues which Google considers you should fix.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-24457 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/pagespeedinsightsseoservice.png" alt="Search engine optimizer seo" width="690" height="792" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/pagespeedinsightsseoservice.png 690w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/pagespeedinsightsseoservice-261x300.png 261w" sizes="(max-width: 690px) 100vw, 690px" />   The most important one, again, is the speed at which your website loads (First Contentful Paing and Time to interactive)   Xenu Link Sleuth:   Xenu Lunk Sleuth is a free tool you can use to crawl your website and identify missing title tags or 404 errors.   You can also use this to quickly map titles to URLs if you’re in the process of rewriting your titles in order to improve OnPage SEO.   In the tool itself you can also visualize where a pages is linked from internally within your site.   CognitiveSEO Toolset:   The <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/">CognitiveSEO Toolset</a> is an affordable seo services for small business that can help you with more complex issues like website structure. Instead of analyzing everything on a page by page basis like other tools, our tool lets you take advantage of APIs to analyze your entire site at once.   Furthermore, you’ll be able to view the entire structured in an easy to understand manner, inside the dashboard.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-21516 size-large" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/internal-linking-audit-tool-1024x353.png" alt="Internal Linking Structure Audit Tool for SEO" width="1024" height="353" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/internal-linking-audit-tool-1024x353.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/internal-linking-audit-tool-300x103.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/internal-linking-audit-tool-768x265.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/internal-linking-audit-tool.png 1325w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='5' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>2. For Content Marketing</h3>   <ul> <li>Keyword research: Keyword Research is crucial if you want to set the basis of your OnPage SEO strategy on content marketing. If you don’t know what people are searching for, you don’t know what to optimize your pages for.</li> <li>Copywriting: While good copywriting isn’t cheap, it’s worth investing in it. Good copy sells, and that’s what you need on your website, especially if you’re just starting out. Sure, a content marketing strategy is based on information not sales, but what if you could give out information that sells? That’s where copywriting kicks in.</li> <li>Editorial Calendar: Content marketing is a long-term game, so developing a schedule can really help you move things forward with ease. It’s mostly based on keyword research, but you have to map things out into hubs or silos and decide which ones to prioritize and how they can better facilitate and consolidate your site’s structure.</li> </ul>   Here are some services and tools which you can use to find keywords and develop a better content strategy.   Google Autosuggest & Keyword Planner:   The Google Autosuggest tool can be really helpful in finding out what people are searching for on the web in real time.   Just start typing in a seed keyword and Google will fill you in on the details.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-24460 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/googleautosuggestseo.png" alt="Google AutoSuggest" width="638" height="349" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/googleautosuggestseo.png 638w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/googleautosuggestseo-300x164.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 638px) 100vw, 638px" />   Moreover, at the bottom of any results page you’ll see a list of related keywords which you can use.   Furthermore, if you’re already using Google Adwords, why not use the keywords you’ve found there for organic search as well?   Reddit:   Reddit is a great source for finding new hot topics in your domain. You just have to look at subreddits relevant to your niche.   Sometimes, it might not be easy to find them but try to think outside the box. Once you’re close, start following that thread.   Don’t just rush on adding links to your website, or you’ll get banned quick enough. First, you’ll have to build your profile by answering threads and even starting popular ones.   If you’re a consultant, you can start by answering threads to some extent, then offering individuals to help them further in Private Messages.   There you can determine if you’re a good fit and offer your services.   Eventually, once you’ve gained enough karma, you can start answering people partially and adding a link to your blog where you expand on the topic, for those interested in finding out more.   CognitiveSEO:   The CognitiveSEO Content Assistant is a great tool that can help you quickly improve Google rankings, only by changing your content a little bit.   You can <a href="/keyword-tool/">try it for free here</a>.   First, type in what keyword you want to optimize for, then go to the Content Assistant section and the tool will provide you with a list of keywords you should use in your content to improve your site’s rank in Google.   It’s that simple!   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-24045 size-large" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/content-audit-content-assistant-before-1024x670.png" alt="content-audit-content-assistant-before" width="1024" height="670" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/content-audit-content-assistant-before-1024x670.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/content-audit-content-assistant-before-300x196.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/content-audit-content-assistant-before-768x502.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/content-audit-content-assistant-before.png 1364w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   Of course, take it with a grain of salt. You don’t have to force a keyword in if it doesn’t fit. You can change it a little so that it makes sense. Think of the important keywords there as topics of subjects you need to address in your page. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='6' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>3. For Link Building</h3>   Link building is probably the hardest thing to do these days. Everyone is aware of it, nobody wants to link to you (without money) and even Google is on it, penalizing you for it.   Use the Link Reclamation Tool   Building white-hat links of high value and in accordance with Google’s guidelines have been a pain point for years now.   The broken pages and link reclamation technique might be familiar to you as they are quite old school strategies.   We documented this technique a lot, so find out way more about the<a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/9961/link-reclamation-tool-technique/"> link reclamation technique</a>, when and how to use it to deliver maximum results.   Analyze Your Competitor’s Links   More often than not, your competitors, especially the ones ranking high in search results, are doing some things very well.   Why not use what they are doing to improve your own SEO rankings?   The CognitiveSEO Backlink Analysis tool can identify what backlinks your competitors are using to rank high. Even more than that, you can use the Unnatural Link detection to filter bad links and focus only on the best ones.   You can also use it for competitive analysis, to see where you are positioned compared to your competitors. This can help you identify websites ranking to multiple competitors, indicating that it might be easier to obtain.   Blog Commenting:   Many SEO experts consider this to be a spammy method, but in fact, it isn’t. It can be. However, I’m not recommending spam in any way.   I’m talking about identifying websites and blogs talking about related topics to your small business and engaging with them, just as you would do on Social Media.   You’ll often see companies offer services such as blog commenting in their ‘affordable’ SEO packages, but be wary, as more often than not, it’s spam.   The goal here is to build connections with other websites or bloggers in the field. Then maybe you can land a deal with them to promote your website.   Guest Posting:   By engaging with relevant bloggers through blog commenting, you might get to know a blogger well enough to ask them for a guest post.   Guest Posting is when you write an article for another website, under your name. Usually, you’ll be able to link back to your website.   Expanding this is now considered a dangerous practice, but doing it in moderation won’t affect your site in any way.   Outreach:   Guest posts or simply links can also be obtained through direct outreach.   However, you have to build some sort of connection first. Being genuine is the best way and I’ve had the most success with it.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-24465 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/email-3249062_640.png" alt="SEO Link Building Outreach" width="640" height="358" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/email-3249062_640.png 640w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/email-3249062_640-300x168.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" />   Always start by giving something and not expecting something in return. Once you’ve got a reply, you can push a request, but don’t be demanding.   Many people sell links on their websites for hundreds of dollars. So when they give you one for free, you should really appreciate it.   Check out these <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/10444/outreach-examples-boost-sharing/">outreach examples</a> to boost your response rate.   Blogging (with a twist):   Last but not least, content marketing can be really useful for search engine optimization in the long run. However, it won’t be enough to write articles in order to get links.   You’ll have to write articles that people want to share and that’s not easy.   You can do it the tricky way, by identifying an influencer and writing about something you know they’ll share, or following another strategy such as writing case studies or funny things.   Either way, even if blogging and content marketing won’t help you get links in the end, it’s still a good way of consolidating and optimizing your website’s structure. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='7' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>4. For Rank Tracking</h3>   Measuring an SEO strategy is crucial for determining the success of an SEO campaign. Whether you work with an SEO firm or not, it’s a good idea to monitor the results on your own.   Here are some methods you can use to effectively track your rankings and results:   Google itself: The oldest method in the basket. Just open Google and type your keyword. Make sure you do it in Incognito mode, to get rid of personalized search results. Google Search Console: The Google Search Console is a free tool provided by Google which will monitor where your site’s getting traffic from, as well as the average positions for the keywords that brought the traffic. CognitiveSEO Rank Tracker: If you’re looking for something a little bit more advanced, take a look at our <a href="/ranktracker/">rank tracker</a>. Not only will it show your SEO rankings, but it can also notify you of drops and will provide a graph for each particular keyword. Using our tool you’ll also be able to monitor your competitor’s rankings, if that interests you.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-22534 size-large" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/rank-tracking-cognitiveSEO-1024x317.png" alt="rank tracking cognitiveSEO" width="1024" height="317" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/rank-tracking-cognitiveSEO-1024x317.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/rank-tracking-cognitiveSEO-300x93.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/rank-tracking-cognitiveSEO-768x238.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/rank-tracking-cognitiveSEO.png 1562w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='8' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>5. For Local SEO</h3>   When it comes to local SEO, you can actually completely <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/18625/google-multiple-listings/">dominate the entire page of Google with multiple positions</a>.   Here are the most affordable things you can focus on to improve rankings:   Google MyBusiness:   Google MyBusiness is the most important SEO service you should focus on as a small local business.   Setting up a GMB listing isn’t particularly difficult. Just make sure you use your keywords in the name and description and fill in all the information correctly.   However, ranking Google MyBusiness listings high isn’t as easy, but it can be achieved by implementing a set of practices in your company, such as asking for reviews or getting in the local newspaper.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-20244 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/google-mybusiness-1.jpg" alt="Google MyBusiness Maps Listing for SEO" width="489" height="399" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/google-mybusiness-1.jpg 489w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/google-mybusiness-1-300x245.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 489px) 100vw, 489px" />   Social Media Accounts & Posting:   In local search results, Facebook pages can actually rank pretty high for particular keywords.   Make sure you use that to your advantage by optimizing the title and description on Facebook to also include the keyword you’re trying to target.   Also, posting regularly on Facebook can help you bring some traffic to your website. Just remember the 80 20 rule, in which you only try to sell them 20% of the time.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-20247 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/social-media-for-seo.jpg" alt="social media for seo" width="640" height="426" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/social-media-for-seo.jpg 640w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/social-media-for-seo-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" />   If your posts are only promotional, people won’t engage with them and the reach of all your posts will be reduced over time. You have to attract engagement and also engage with your audience yourself.   You might think that small local businesses can’t go viral, but the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/WhiteMooseCafe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The White Moose Café</a> would prove you wrong.   Citations & Accurate NAP:   Citations are like backlinks, but they only mention your brand’s name and don’t necessarily contain a link back to your site.   NAP stands for Name, Address and Phone and you want to make sure these are consistent across the web.   Therefore, using a different phone or address or different opening hours across different platforms such as Google and Facebook might look confusing to Google, just as it would to your clients.   In a way, you’re bringing all these channels and platforms together to form a stronger union that will rank better overall.   You can also purchase advertising in local media, if they are affordable. If you’re in a small town, that works, but in big cities such as New York… though luck!   Local Adjacent Niches Partnerships:   A great way of getting some traction with local SEO is to partner up with other local businesses in your proximity.   The businesses can promote each other locally in their own store, as well as online on their websites.   <img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-24466" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/hand-shake-4092737_640-300x183.png" alt="Local SEO Partnerships" width="300" height="183" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/hand-shake-4092737_640-300x183.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/hand-shake-4092737_640.png 640w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />   They don’t have to be competitors, but at least somehow related or relevant to your niche.   So if you sell hunting rifles, it’s probably not a good idea to try to partner up with a vegan restaurant.   For example, if you sell luxury watches, why not partner up with the luxury suits store across the road? Everybody wins! <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='9' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>6. For Video SEO</h3>   Video SEO can help you grow your business. More and more people prefer video content over traditional, written one.   It’s hard to pinpoint an affordable seo services for small business for video, as you can’t really optimize videos the same way you optimize blog posts. Once you’ve published it… it’s done.   Sure, you can still change titles and descriptions to better optimize them but, as a whole, you have to get things right from the start.   Here are a few tips you can follow to rank better with video or complement your content marketing strategy with a video SEO as well.   <ul> <li>Keyword Research: Just as with regular SEO, you want to know what people are searching for before you create a video. Sometimes, it’s hard to match a topic or new idea you have to a keyword, but try your best to do it. This way you’ll get the best out of both worlds.</li> <li>Optimized titles & descriptions: Use the identified keywords in your title and description. Don’t cheap out on the description, even if not many people will read it. Populate it with complementary info such as links to sources.</li> <li>Short Product Presentation Clips: If you sell products online, make sure you have video presentations of them. People are busy, so short and to the point ones will be best. These days, you can do everything with a phone. There is a multitude of video editing software for both Android and Apple.</li> <li>Consistency: While posting a few clips here and there might work if they rank high for your target keyword, if you want to have real success with video, you’ll have to do it on a regular basis.</li> <li>Interlinking between videos: Let’s face it: most video content happens on YouTube. And YouTube wants its users to stay on YouTube. So have multiple videos related to one another. Send people from one video to another so that they spend more time on YouTube and YouTube will reward you.</li> <li>Repurpose content: If you’ve already been blogging for a while, you can use those topics to create video content. Then, simple interlink the video and blog post. You can do this vice-versa, if you’ve been focusing your time on video content instead.</li> </ul> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='10' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>7. For Ecommerce SEO</h3>   eCommerce SEO services are the hardest to find at affordable prices. If you have a small eCommerce SEO business, consider spending your own time in learning SEO, as services might be expensive and the cheap ones will most probably not be very effective. Site Structure: Structure is the most important thing for eCommerce websites, because of filters and <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/22235/faceted-navigation-seo/">faceted navigation</a>. So make sure you get it right from the beginning. It might be expensive for big sites, but it’s very effective and it will save you a lot of time and money in the future.   You can use the <a href="/site-audit/">CognitiveSEO Site Audit Tool</a> to analyze your site and ensure a proper structure. From URLs, 301 redirects and canonicals to internal linking, the tool has everything covered. <img class="aligncenter wp-image-24238 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Audit-Your-Site-for-Improved-SEO-and-Conversions-illustration.png" alt="Audit-Your-Site-for-Improved-SEO-and-Conversions-illustration" width="1024" height="597" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Audit-Your-Site-for-Improved-SEO-and-Conversions-illustration.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Audit-Your-Site-for-Improved-SEO-and-Conversions-illustration-300x175.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Audit-Your-Site-for-Improved-SEO-and-Conversions-illustration-768x448.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> Well optimized titles: Very often, people ignore the basics. They focus on ‘secret’ strategies and completely forget that their titles aren’t optimized. Of course, this assuming that you’ve done your keyword research already.   Blogging: eCommerce sites lack quality content. Most products have short descriptions and the structure itself is only built as a silo between categories and products. However, you can consolidate that structure with interesting articles. They will also ease your job into bringing natural backlinks to your website.   Copywriting: Many eCommerce store owners ignore copywriting. However, each product page is, in fact, a landing page. And landing pages need copy. You need copy to sell. Most copywriters are also good at <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/21096/how-to-write-for-seo/">writing for SEO</a> as well, which will also benefit your site.   Structured Data: While structured data is the last thing you should think about (keywords, titles, content, speed are more important), it’s very relevant for eCommerce websites, as they can help enhance Google results for products. <img class="aligncenter wp-image-24468 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/richresults.png" alt="Structured Data SEO Small Business" width="658" height="141" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/richresults.png 658w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/richresults-300x64.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 658px) 100vw, 658px" /> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='11' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>The Top 5 Must-Have Affordable SEO Services for Small Business</h2>   If it was to draw the line at the most important ones, in general, for all types of websites and businesses, it would be this:   <ol> <li>Keyword Research: You can’t have an effective SEO strategy without proper keyword research.</li> <li>Well optimized titles: People ignore the basics more often than you’d think. Make sure your titles are properly optimized.</li> <li>Google MyBusiness: GMB is a very effective tool and it’s also free. Spend some time optimizing it and it will bring good results.</li> <li>Copywriting & Blogging: Content is still very important, and copywriting can greatly help you increase sales, which is your goal in the end, isn’t it?</li> <li>Social Media Posts: Social media can help you promote your website easily, even without paying for it. With a little bit of talent and some knowledge, you can generate decent traffic.</li> </ol>   However, in some cases, many better others apply. The best thing you can do is get in touch with an independent SEO consultant to get some tips. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='12' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>How to Pick The Right SEO Company to Work With</h2>   If you’re looking for affordable SEO services, that’s an indication you’re already looking to invest money, so you’re probably looking for an SEO firm.   While I can’t provide a list of companies (there are too many factors to take into consideration, such as language, location, type of website and others) I can provide some tips on how to how to find a good one.   To be honest, the secret here isn’t finding the best service at the lowest price, but to avoid bad/destructive cheap services. Here are some questions you can <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/12444/seo-company-avoid-getting-tricked/">ask SEO companies</a> to avoid being tricked.   Cheapness and quality is a rare combination, so if you’re on the hunt for it, you have to be very well prepared with knowledge.   There are many reasons cheap services can be bad: spinned content, cheap links or PBNs, for example.   If an SEO company offers affordable SEO packages on a monthly basis, be suspicious.   It’s not that companies that offer packages aren’t good, but it’s a good indication they are automating everything, which leads to patterns, which can lead to penalties.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-24463 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/business-4075625_640.jpg" alt="Choosing the right SEO Company" width="640" height="412" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/business-4075625_640.jpg 640w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/business-4075625_640-300x193.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" />   You should talk to one of the SEO experts in the company before signing.   If you just purchase the package and receive the “SEO audit” via e-mail a few days later, be sure that it was automated.   They should be asking questions about your business. How else would they know how to properly promote you if they don’t know anything about you?   First, ask them if their strategies are what most search engine marketers would call ‘white hat’ or safe.   If the answer is no… I think you know what to do.   If the answer is yes, then you should also follow up with these important questions:   <ul> <li>Do you use Spam?</li> <li>Do you use PBNs?</li> <li>Do you use automation tools? If yes, which ones?</li> </ul>   If the answers to those questions are yes, you might want to avoid the company. Some automation tools, such as ones for e-mail newsletters or for scheduling posts are fine, but others such as scraping content or spinning it are not.   Additionally, you should ask the SEO firm:   <ul> <li>How long have you been working in the field?</li> <li>Can you give me some examples of websites you’ve optimized before? What strategies have you used on them?</li> <li>Will a real person perform an audit or at least analyze it?</li> <li>Who will write the content on my website?</li> <li>How will we measure the performance of the SEO campaign?</li> <li>Can you tell me what exactly my money will go to? Will you execute all the work or do you outsource?</li> </ul>   If you get a competent and clear answer to these questions, it’s a good indication that who you’ll work with knows what they’re doing and are well-intended.   Ultimately, it’s up to you who you sign with but, hopefully, by now you have a better understanding of how to choose good affordable SEO services for your small business.   What affordable SEO services for small business do you think are the best? Let us know in the comments section. The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/24451/affordable-seo-services-for-small-business/">Affordable SEO Services for Small Business – The 2024 List</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog">SEO Blog | cognitiveSEO Blog on SEO Tactics & Strategies</a>.
10 Major SEO Mistakes You Might Make in 2024 How to Deal With Them – Backed by SEO Experts

Wed, 27 Jan 2021 07:17:03 -0000

There are many attributes that an SEO must have in order to be successful, but one of the most important ones is being willing to improve all the time. Improvement doesn’t always come from making things right. In fact, the only way you’ll really improve is by failing, over and over again. However, when […]

The post 10 Major SEO Mistakes You Might Make in 2024 How to Deal With Them – Backed by SEO Experts appeared first on SEO Blog | cognitiveSEO Blog on SEO Tactics & Strategies.

There are many attributes that an SEO must have in order to be successful, but one of the most important ones is being willing to improve all the time. Improvement doesn’t always come from making things right. In fact, the only way you’ll really improve is by failing, over and over again.   However, when it comes to SEO, a mistake might pass by unnoticed. You might not have any idea that you’re doing something wrong. Now, there are thousands of horrible mistakes that you could be making, like not adding keywords in titles or engaging in low quality link building.   But here are some more subtle, modern mistakes that SEO might make these days.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-24721 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/major-seo-mistakes.jpg" alt="major seo mistakes" width="1024" height="538" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/major-seo-mistakes.jpg 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/major-seo-mistakes-300x158.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/major-seo-mistakes-768x404.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> In order to find out people’s most common modern SEO mistakes, I decided to ask a number of renowned SEO experts the following question:   <blockquote> Can you think of one major SEO mistake that is holding people’s websites back today? </blockquote>   Some of them were kind enough to take some of their time and share the wisdom with us, so keep reading because there’s top quality information lying ahead in this list of 10 SEO mistakes to avoid in 2020 and later on!   <ol class="summaryext"> <li><a href="#1">You Don’t Fix Broken Pages with Backlinks</a></li> <li><a href="#2">You Publish Too Many Poor Quality Pages</a></li> <li><a href="#3">You Have Duplicate Content Issues</a></li> <li><a href="#4">You Target out of Reach Keywords</a></li> <li><a href="#5">You Ignore the Organic Search Traffic You Already Have</a></li> <li><a href="#6">You’re Using Unconfirmed SEO Theories</a></li> <li><a href="#7">You Don’t Consider User Search Intent While Writing Content</a></li> <li><a href="#8">You Don’t Optimize for the Right Keywords & Use Improper Meta Description</a></li> <li><a href="#9">You Over-Complicate Things</a></li> <li><a href="#10">You’re Not Starting with SEO in Mind Early On</a></li> </ol> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='1' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>1. You Don’t Fix Broken Pages with Backlinks</h2>   Broken pages are really one major issue for websites, especially if they have backlinks pointing to them through those web pages. Ignoring broken pages can be a big mistake.   John Doherty, Founder & CEO at Credo, a portal for connecting digital marketing experts with businesses, knows this and marks it as one of the biggest mistakes people make, as well as one of his team’s top priorities when optimizing websites:   <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">One major SEO mistake that I see holding back websites these days is not fixing their site’s broken pages that have backlinks pointing to them. I work with a lot of very large (100,000+ page) websites, and the first thing I do when we begin our engagement is look at their 404s/410s and which ones of those have inbound external links. We then map out the 1:1 redirects and redirect those. This always shows a good gain in organic search traffic, and then we build on that momentum from there.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-16785 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/johndoherty-1.jpg" alt="" width="50" height="50" /></td> <td class="author-name">John Doherty</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td> CEO at <a title="Connecting Digital Marketing Experts with Businesses" href="https://www.getcredo.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Credo</a> / <a title="John Doherty" href="https://twitter.com/dohertyjf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@dohertyjf</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table>   In the answer, John mentions a few things:   Broken pages: First, we have the broken pages. Broken web pages are bad for the internet and, thus, bad for your website.   Why you ask?   Well, to understand why we first have to understand what a broken page actually is. A broken page is simply a page that doesn’t exist. You see, it’s not actually the broken page that matters, but the link that’s pointing to it.   <blockquote> A page doesn’t really exist until another page links to it. </blockquote>   When Google crawls a website, it always starts from the root domain. It crawls https://www.yoursite.com and then looks for links.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-20004" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/cognitiveseo-404.jpg" alt="404 page example" width="1042" height="626" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/cognitiveseo-404.jpg 1042w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/cognitiveseo-404-300x180.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/cognitiveseo-404-768x461.jpg 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/cognitiveseo-404-1024x615.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1042px) 100vw, 1042px" />   Let’s assume that the first link the crawler finds is under the About Us anchor text and it links to https://www.yoursite.com/about-us/ but the page returns <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/19933/do-404-errors-affect-seo/">a 404 response code</a>, because there’s no resource on the server at that address.   When Google’s crawler finds 404 pages, it wastes time and resources and it doesn’t like it.   In theory, there is an infinity of 404 pages, as you could type anything after the root domain, but a 404 page doesn’t really take form until some other page that exists links to it.   Now broken pages can occur due to two factors:   <ol> <li>You delete a page that has been linked to (broken link due to broken page)</li> <li>Someone misspells a URL (broken page due to broken link)</li> </ol>   Both the linking website as well as the linked website containing the 404 have to suffer. If you have too many broken links on your site, Google will be upset because you’re constantly wasting its resources.   Backlinks: The second point John makes is regarding the backlinks pointing to the broken pages. As previously mentioned, some may occur due to people misspelling a URL, which isn’t your fault.   However, if you have 10 websites that link to one of your pages and you delete that page because you think it’s no longer relevant, then you’re losing the equity that those 10 backlinks were providing. Bad for SEO!   The <a title="Site Explorer" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/site-explorer/">cognitiveSEO Site Explorer</a> is great for finding out backlinks that point to broken pages on your website:   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-20869 size-large" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/broken-pages-with-backlinks-1024x298.jpg" alt="find broken pages with the CognitiveSEO Site Explorer" width="1024" height="298" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/broken-pages-with-backlinks-1024x298.jpg 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/broken-pages-with-backlinks-300x87.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/broken-pages-with-backlinks-768x223.jpg 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/broken-pages-with-backlinks.jpg 1844w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   You can also have internal broken links, as well as external broken links pointing from your website to 404 pages on other sites and you should also fix those! Soon, on the 12 of December 2018, cognitiveSEO will launch its OnPage module which you’ll be able to use to determine if you have any broken internal links so make sure you check it out!. Here’s for the first time a quick preview to it.   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-20870 size-large" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/broken-internal-links-1024x487.jpg" alt="find seo issues and internal broken links with cognitiveseo onpaage module" width="1024" height="487" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/broken-internal-links-1024x487.jpg 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/broken-internal-links-300x143.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/broken-internal-links-768x365.jpg 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/broken-internal-links.jpg 1850w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   Big websites: After that, we see that John mentions something about big websites. Why? Pretty simple. It’s easier to mess things up on a big website. On a small website, you might have one or two 404s but they will be easy to spot and very easy to fix.   They might have some backlinks each, but not much is lost. However, when you have hundreds of thousands of pages, that link equity scales up pretty quickly.   Redirects: Lastly, there are the redirects. John tells us that to fix the issue, he always does the proper redirects. By using a 301 redirect from the broken link/page to another page that is relevant, we can pass the link equity from the wasted backlinks.   For maximum effect, don’t just redirect to the homepage or some page you want to rank if it’s not relevant. Instead, link to the most relevant page and then use internal links on relevant anchor texts surrounded by relevant content sections to pass the equity to more important pages.   This is the type of SEO fix that might bring invisible results ‘overnight’. Thanks, John, for this wonderful input! <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='2' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>2. You Publish Too Many Poor Quality Pages</h2>   Another issue that is generally related to bigger websites is the ‘thin content’ issue.   <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">One very common mistake sites make is that they publish way too many poor quality pages on their site. As a result, Google sees the site has a lot of “thin content” and lowers the site’s rankings across the board.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-16851 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/eric-enge.png" alt="Eric Enge" width="50" height="50" /></td> <td class="author-name">ERIC ENGE</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td> CEO at <a href="https://www.stonetemple.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Stone Temple</a> / <a title="StoneTemple" href="https://twitter.com/stonetemple" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@stonetemple</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table>   Although not always the case, when you have a small website, it’s pretty easy to come up with some decent pages. However, when you have a site with thousands of pages, the effort required to have qualitative content on all of them is a lot bigger.   Thin content pages are pages that have no added value to what’s already on the web. Google doesn’t really have a reason to index the site so you’ll either end up in the <a title="Google's Omitted Results" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/17778/google-omitted-results/">omitted results</a> or get this message in your Search Console:   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-20872" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/thin-content-warning.png" alt="thin content search console warning" width="902" height="368" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/thin-content-warning.png 902w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/thin-content-warning-300x122.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/thin-content-warning-768x313.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 902px) 100vw, 902px" />   The message above is a manual action, which means that you’ll have to submit a review request and someone hired by Google will actually take a look at your website to determine if you’ve fixed the issue. This might take a long time, so be careful! However, it’s possible that the algorithm ‘penalizes’ your website without any warnings, by simply not ranking it.   Matt Cutts, the former Head of Spam at Google puts it like this:   <iframe title="Thin content with little or no added value" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w3-obcXkyA4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>   The thing is, thin content doesn’t always mean the site requires text. Why am I saying this? Well, Matt Cutts mentions doorway pages as an example but doesn’t really give an alternative to them. What if you do have a website that offers the same service in 1,000 cities? Should you write ‘unique’ content for each page?   The truth is there’s no alternative to doorway pages. They’re either thin content or they have unique qualitative content. However, there’s much more than content when it comes to ranking. So if you have a car rental service, it’s not necessary to add filler content to every page, but you have to do other things well. Structure it very well, make sure your design is user-oriented and maybe consider having a blog to add relevant content to your website.   I talk more about this in <a title="An Alternative to Doorway Pages" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/18292/doorway-page-alternatives/">this article about doorway pages alternatives</a>.   However, although it does take a lot of time to add original content to every page, it might be worth the shot if you really want to stand out. Google has absolutely no reason to include you in the search results if the info you’re providing is already there, exactly in the same manner.   Again, the CognitiveSEO OnPage Tool which will be launched on December 12, 2018 can help you identify pages with thin content.   Thin content is a very big issue these days, especially for bigger eCommerce websites and should be treated as such. Thanks, Eric for this great addition to our list of mistakes!   You see, Google has a singular focus on delivering the most relevant and highest quality results to its users. Devesh Sharma, founder of DesignBombs explains how damaging are low-quality pages for your site.   <table class="author-quotes" style="width: 100%; height: 279px;" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row" style="height: 225px;"> <td class="author-text" style="height: 225px;" colspan="2">The days of churning out low-quality content that adds little-to-no value to Google’s users, in the hopes of ranking high, are long gone. In fact, low-quality content may even get your site penalized. Today, if you wish to rank with the help of content, it must be of the highest possible quality – comprehensive, well-researched, original, and engaging – so that the user completes their search journey satisfied.</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 31px;"> <td class="author-image" style="height: 54px;" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-24255" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Devesh-Sharma.jpg" alt="Devesh Sharma" width="46" height="46" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Devesh-Sharma.jpg 400w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Devesh-Sharma-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Devesh-Sharma-150x150.jpg 150w" sizes="(max-width: 46px) 100vw, 46px" /></td> <td class="author-name" style="height: 31px;">Devesh Sharma</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row" style="height: 23px;"> <td style="height: 23px;">Founder <a href="https://www.designbombs.com/">DesignBombs</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/devesh" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@devesh</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table>   Their strategy was quality and they’ve always focused on creating detailed, high-quality content on their blog. The results are rewarding and show how valuable high-quality content is. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='3' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>3. You Have Duplicate Content Issues</h2>   Very closely related to thin content pages are duplicate pages, which are even worse. Andy Drinkwater (I know, that’s his real name! Pretty cool, right?) from iQ SEO knows this very well:   <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">Probably the one that is the most prevalent through the audits that I conduct, is the duplication of pages. This tends to often be done because site owners might have read (or believe) that multiple pages targeting the same or similar phrases, is a good thing. Page duplication/keyword cannibalisation leads to Google seeing a site that is trying too hard with its SEO and is often heavily over-optimized (not something that they want site owners doing).</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-20876 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/andy-drinkwater-min.jpg" alt="andy drinkwater icon" width="50" height="50" /></td> <td class="author-name">ANDY DRINKWATER</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td> Founder at <a title="Andy Drinkwater Technical SEO Freelancer" href="https://www.iqseo.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iQ SEO</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/iqseo" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@iqseo</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table>   Duplicate pages can occur due to many factors. For example, one client of mine had a badly implemented translation plugin, which created duplicates of the main language for the pages that did not have any translations. Bad for SEO.   I have to admit, however, that I’m kind of surprised that any said people would do this voluntarily to themselves. Although… I did have one client that asked me why his competitors ranks with two pages for the same keyword. On his own, he might just have duplicated his pages, who knows?   Either way, duplicate content is bad. Not only that you’re not providing anything of value and you’ll get into Google’s omitted results, but you’re wasting Google’s resources and that might eventually affect your entire website.   I swear I did not cherry-pick these answers, but again, Andy’s input fits perfectly with our soon to release OnPage module. You’ll be able to use the tool to easily identify which pages are 100% exact copies of others and even which pages only have similar content.   Duplicate content is definitely an issue affecting many websites. Thanks, Andy, for sharing this with us! <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='4' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>4. You Target out of Reach Keywords</h2>   It’s good to have big dreams, but sometimes, too big dreams can overwhelm and demoralize you. If you want to be able to lift those 250 pounds, you first have to be able to lift 50.   Andy Crestodina from Orbit Media tells us that people should set realistic keywords:   <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">By far, the most common SEO mistake is to target phrases that are beyond reach. Even now a lot of marketers don’t understand competition. They target key phrases even when they have no chance of ranking. There are a lot of mistakes you can make in SEO and a million reason why a page doesn’t rank. But this is the big one.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-20881 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/andy-crestodina-min.jpg" alt="Andy Crestodina" width="50" height="50" /></td> <td class="author-name">Andy Crestodina</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td>Co-Founder at <a title="Orbit Media" href="http://orbitmedia.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Orbit Media</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/crestodina" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@crestodina</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table>   Often times, competition is hard to explain to clients because authority and page rank are often times misunderstood or far too complex subjects. Thus, Andy has come up with a little system to better and more easily explain how people should target their keywords.   Because it’s difficult to explain links and authority, I’ve started using a short-hand way to validate possible target phrases: <ul> <li>If you have a newer, smaller or non-famous website, target five-word phrases. </li> <li>If you’re relevant in your niche, but not a well-known brand, target four-word phrases. </li> <li>If you’re a serious player with a popular site, go ahead and target those three-word phrases.</li> </ul> Here’s a chart that helps make that recommendation…   <img class="wp-image-20860 size-full aligncenter" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/keyword-research-seo-mistake.jpg" alt="keyword research seo mistake" width="670" height="309" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/keyword-research-seo-mistake.jpg 670w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/keyword-research-seo-mistake-300x138.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 670px) 100vw, 670px" /> Source: <a href="https://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/how-to-research-keywords-tips/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Orbit Media</a>   I feel the need to point out that although there’s always been a correlation between lower search volume and higher word count, that’s not always the case. Many of you probably consider long tail keywords to be keywords with more words in the phrase but the term ‘long tail’ actually comes from the search graph:   <img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.oncrawl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/08.jpg" alt="keywords" />   So, theoretically, you can find high search volume, high word count keywords and also low search volume, low word count keywords. Some of these two or three keyword phrases might even have very low competition.   More on the true meaning of long tail keywords can be read <a title="What long tail keywords really are" href="https://www.oncrawl.com/oncrawl-seo-thoughts/long-tail-keywords-how-long-are-they-and-where-do-you-find-them/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.   However, as Andy stated above, it’s pretty difficult to understand what ‘low competition’ really is in terms of SEO so, since there’s a correlation between low search volume and high word count, there’s a big chance you won’t go wrong with it.   When you’re first starting out, it’s always better to start targeting lower competition keywords and build your way up. Thanks, Andy, for the input and also for the very useful chart! <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='5' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>5. You Ignore the Organic Search Traffic You Already Have</h2>   Since we’ve just talked about what keywords you want to rank for, why not talk a little about keywords you’re already ranking for? Cyrus Shepard, ex Mozzer and current founder of Zyppy knows the value of ranking keywords data very well:   <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">I regularly see websites make the mistake of only optimizing for the traffic they want, and ignoring the traffic they have. Lots of sites perform an “SEO optimization” when they create content: choosing keywords, writing titles, structuring headlines, etc. Sadly, a lot of folks stop there. After you publish and receive a few months of traffic, Google freely gives you a ton of data on how your content fits into the larger search ecosystem. This includes the exact queries people use to find you, which is also an indication of what Google thinks you deserve to rank for. By performing a “secondary optimization” around this real-world data, you take guessing out of the equation and take advantage of more targeted opportunities, hopefully leading to more traffic.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-16858 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/cyrus-shepard.png" alt="Cyrus Shepard" width="50" height="50" /></td> <td class="author-name">Cyrus Shepard</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td>Founder at <a title="Zyppy" href="https://zyppy.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Zyppy</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/CyrusShepard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@CyrusShepard</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table>   You know… you probably have no idea what keywords you’re actually ranking for. You’re probably thinking “I already rank for them, why should I care?”   Well… the truth is that you might get some traffic from keywords you already rank for, but not all of it. If you’re getting 5 searches from a keyword that has 100 monthly searches, you’re probably not on 1st position because the average CTR for 1st position is around 30%.   It’s either you’re number 5 or below or you have really bad CTR and won’t last long in the top spots. If you’re on position 5+, then there’s still room for improvement.   You can monitor the keywords you’re already ranking for in your website analytics or by using Google Tag Manager on your website and adding Google Analytics to it. There’s a good amount of info in the Search Console as well.   You can also use the <a title="Content & Keyword Tool" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/keyword-tool/">CognitiveSEO Content Optimization Tool</a> to easily identify terms which you should add to your content to make it more relevant for specific keywords:   <img class="aligncenter wp-image-20885 size-large" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/content-optimization-tool-1024x495.jpg" alt="optimize your content with cognitiveSEO" width="1024" height="495" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/content-optimization-tool-1024x495.jpg 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/content-optimization-tool-300x145.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/content-optimization-tool-768x371.jpg 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/content-optimization-tool.jpg 1838w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   Cyrus talks more about this <a href="https://moz.com/blog/single-best-seo-tip-for-improved-web-traffic" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">here</a>. Make sure you give it a good read! Cyrus, thanks so much for sharing your wisdom with us! <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='6' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>6. You’re Using Unconfirmed SEO Theories</h2>   If your SEO moves rely on unconfirmed theories, then it’s pretty much likely that you won’t be ranking high very quickly.   Josh Bachynski, science freak and renowned Google stalker, is very fond of this. He recommends that people should take a more scientific approach when it comes to search engine ranking factors because, in the end, it’s an algorithm:   <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">The biggest mistake people are making in SEO these days is in not using scientific methods to determine their theories about ranking factors and instead just wild guesses which of course are not as good and eventually will be completely off and they won’t be able to rank and have no idea why.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-14530 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/josh.jpg" alt="" width="50" height="50" /></td> <td class="author-name">Josh Bachynski</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td>Vlogger on <a title="Josh Bachynski SEO Channel" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_VoVYVFhtWDhYYXSiYQbNA" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">YouTube</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/joshbachynski" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@joshbachynski</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table>   The point Josh is trying to make is that you should always test your SEO methods before you actually implement them and you should test them the right way.   One good example here we can give is the content pruning technique. We tried it and it apparently worked. Our organic search rankings started to rise. However, the test was not isolated, so therefore it wasn’t really scientific. We don’t really know if the organic search traffic increase was due to the content pruning or other factors because this happened over a longer period of time.   This can be said about other tests, as well. Most of the time people approach search engine optimization from multiple angles at the same time and it really is difficult to attribute growth to only one factor. You can read <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/17548/content-pruning-for-seo/#2">more about the content pruning technique here</a>.   He also tells you not to trust Google a lot. I tend to agree. Here’s one example: “social media isn’t a ranking factor”. Take it as is and you will completely ignore building a social media marketing strategy. However, if you also take into account that social media can bring your website some backlinks, then you might reconsider things. Sure, blindly posting on Facebook daily while getting 0 likes is a waste of time, but get some engagement going and you’ll definitely see how it can boost you up.   You can check Josh’s YouTube for more on his scientific approach on things and how he determines his ranking factors. It’s also kind of funny to watch how he keeps poking Google officials with a stick.   <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='7' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>7. You Don’t Consider User Search Intent While Writing Content</h2>   Shane Barker, CEO at Shane Barker Consulting, considers that one big SEO mistake is never thinking on <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/22986/search-intent/">user search intent</a>. <table class="author-quotes" style="width: 100%; height: 204px;" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row" style="height: 150px;"> <td class="author-text" style="height: 150px;" colspan="2">One of the biggest mistake I have seen marketers make is to not consider user search intent while writing content. You can find hot industry topics and write good content, but it will all be in vain if it’s not targeted at the right people and is not useful to them. </td> </tr> <tr style="height: 31px;"> <td class="author-image" style="height: 54px;" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-24064" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Shane-Barker-150x150.jpeg" alt="Shane Barker" width="46" height="46" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Shane-Barker-150x150.jpeg 150w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Shane-Barker.jpeg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 46px) 100vw, 46px" /></td> <td class="author-name" style="height: 31px;">Shane Barker</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row" style="height: 23px;"> <td style="height: 23px;">CEO at <a href="https://shanebarker.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Shane Barker Consulting</a>/ <a href="https://twitter.com/shane_barker" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@shane_barker</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table>   So, when you do your keyword research or conduct your next SEO audit, check the user intent and the kind of content they expect when they search for a particular keyword. This will help you write quality content that is useful to your readers and optimize your existing content. This, in turn, will improve your search rankings. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='8' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>8. You Don’t Optimize for the Right Keywords & Use Improper Meta Description</h2>   When we’re thinking at on-site SEO, the very basic elements means <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/10236/5-keyword-research-tips/">keyword research</a> and content optimization.   When we’re doing keyword research we must make a good strategy: select relevant keyword based on their type of keywords (branded, informational, commercial), with high volume, then look at the competitors and see what approach do they follow and the structure of their content.   Afterwards think on making a structure for your content, that beats the competition. And write similar content to the type of keyword. For example if you have a branded keyword, write branded content. Apply the same strategy for informational and commercial keywords.   Make sure to proper optimize your images, metadescription, URL and follow the user intent to share all the valuable information in your post.   It is important to chose the right keywords. Lots of people make the mistake of choosing an irrelevant keyword for what they’re tying to write, or don’t even bother to optimize the content.   Jitendra Vaswani, founder of BloggersIdeas.com says that the big SEO mistake that most marketer do is improper meta description usage and incorrect keywor optimization. <table class="author-quotes" style="width: 100%; height: 317px;" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row" style="height: 263px;"> <td class="author-text" style="height: 263px;" colspan="2">Many times I have seen SEO experts never focus on right keywords for their website, they have generic Keywords which never gives them any customer, these keywords only bring free visitors. Focusing on keywords which can bring targeted leads is where your website will start having higher conversion rates. Also using of improper meta description hurt your ranking on search engines, so why no optimize with proper keywords & user intent.</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 31px;"> <td class="author-image" style="height: 54px;" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-24065" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Jitendra-Vaswani-1024x1024.jpg" alt="Jitendra Vaswani" width="46" height="46" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Jitendra-Vaswani-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Jitendra-Vaswani-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Jitendra-Vaswani-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Jitendra-Vaswani-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Jitendra-Vaswani.jpg 1186w" sizes="(max-width: 46px) 100vw, 46px" /></td> <td class="author-name" style="height: 31px;">Jitendra Vaswani</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row" style="height: 23px;"> <td style="height: 23px;">Founder of <a href="https://www.bloggersideas.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BloggersIdeas.com</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/JitendraBlogger" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@JitendraBlogger</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='9' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>9. You Over-Complicate Things</h2>   On a completely different note, many people over-complicate things when it comes to search engine optimization. This is mostly true, especially for beginners or startups that want high organic search rankings in a record amount of time.   Although what Josh says is true, that you should test your theories and choose your techniques wisely, most of the times it’s just better to stick to the basics.   Kevin Gibbons, CEO at Re:Signal knows this very well and points it out in his answer:   <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">The biggest mistake I find people making in SEO is that they over-complicate things. SEO can be very simple. Start with what’s the goal and find the easiest way to hit your target. If you start with identifying the real opportunity, you won’t go far wrong – but quite often people are doing what they think is best, without understanding what question they are answering. e.g. we just need more links… that might be correct, but first identify why – as it might not be the real problem to solve.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-20886 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/kevin-gibbons.jpg" alt="" width="50" height="50" /></td> <td class="author-name">Kevin Gibbons</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td>Founder & CEO at <a title="ReSignal SEO & Marketing Agency" href="https://resignal.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Re:Signal</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/kevgibbo" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@kevgibbo</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table>   Kevin makes a really good point. I’ve recently had a client that told me about her previous local SEO expert and his work. I was shocked! Over 100 backlinks built in the past 6 months (that’s a lot for the Romanian market), while the title of the homepage was still only the brand name, written in capital letters. Literally, no page on the website was targeting any keywords with the title! Unforgivable!   Thanks, Kevin for the answer and the awesome presentation you gave at the 2018 <a href="https://www.wecontent.ro/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WeContent</a> Content Marketers’ Conference in Bucharest, Romania.   On the same note we have Aleyda Solis, international SEO speaker and consultant with astonishing results:   <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">From SEOs: Overlooking the SEO pillars while trying to chase specific algorithm updates. I see many putting so much effort trying to identify the factors behind some of the latest updates that might have affected them while overlooking that at the end is about addressing the principles and fundamentals that will help them grow in the long-run: From relevance, organization and format of information to better addressing the targeted queries to user satisfaction, … It’s normal to have the need to keep updated and trying to identify potential causes that could potentially affect our SEO processes, but at the same time we should avoid getting obsessed with them and falling into the “can’t see the forest for the trees” situation.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-922 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/aleyda_solis.jpg" alt="" width="80" height="80" /></td> <td class="author-name">Aleyda Solis</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td>CEO at <a title="Orainti SEO Consultancy" href="https://www.orainti.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Orainti</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/aleyda" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@aleyda</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table>   SEO is an ever-changing domain and you have to constantly keep an eye for major updates such as the mobile-first index update. However, these updates follow a real issue, which is that most websites aren’t mobile friendly and most users now use mobile devices to perform their searches.   But constantly running after the next update, shifting your strategy 180 degrees or abandoning the essentials to pursue some rather unsure things won’t do any good.   Although it’s good to stay up to date with things (and you should), it would be a better idea if the foundation of your strategy were based on the basics of SEO, the long-lasting ones.   Aleyda was kind enough to give us two answers so keep reading: <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='10' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>10. You’re Not Starting with SEO in Mind Early On</h2>   Big words of wisdom here from Aleyda. I kept this one for the end because it’s so true and many SEO specialists will resonate with it. Most of the time, it’s not even the SEOs that make the biggest SEO mistakes, but the clients themselves:   <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">From other specialists (developers, designers, copywriters) as well as business owners: Implementing certain actions thinking that SEO “can wait” to be included later on in the process, without taking into consideration than doing it so might mean to having to “re-do” the whole project sometimes just because there wasn’t a timely validation in the first place, that can help to save so much in the long-run.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-922 size-full" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/aleyda_solis.jpg" alt="" width="80" height="80" /></td> <td class="author-name">Aleyda Solis</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td>CEO at <a title="Orainti SEO Consultancy" href="https://www.orainti.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Orainti</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/aleyda" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@aleyda</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table>   SEO can often be postponed because it seems like other things are more important. Many people build their website with “I’ll start SEO later” in mind, just to wake up to the reality that their website is built completely wrong and major changes are required in order to make it SEO friendly.   Business owners would rather hire PPC experts than content marketers. They only ask an SEO consultant on their opinion after most of the development for the website has been done.   For example, <a href="https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2016/03/pagination-infinite-scrolling-load-more-buttons/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">this study</a> found out that ‘load more’ buttons convert better than pagination when it comes to eCommerce. Read it and you might immediately want to switch to ‘load more’ buttons or build your website that way from the beginning. However, you might completely ignore the fact that you’ll basically remove hundreds of pages from your site and hide their content under some JS that there’s no guarantee Google will ever see. Good for conversion, but bad for SEO.   If you want to see good results with SEO and also minimize costs, you should start with SEO as soon as you start developing your website. Otherwise, things will only be harder and they will take more time.   Thanks, Aleyda, for sharing your experience with us! <h2>Conclusion</h2>   If you’re an SEO or a digital marketing professional and you’re making any of these mistakes, take action immediately to fix them, as they affect your websites dramatically! Hopefully, this list of common SEO mistakes to avoid in 2020 and onward will be useful to you and your team.   What SEO mistakes have you done so far? Share it with us in the comments section so that we may all learn from it! The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/20859/major-seo-mistakes/">10 Major SEO Mistakes You Might Make in 2024 How to Deal With Them – Backed by SEO Experts</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog">SEO Blog | cognitiveSEO Blog on SEO Tactics & Strategies</a>.
How Better Visual Content Can Help You With Conversions

Thu, 03 Dec 2020 12:15:00 -0000

It's a fact that visual content helps with engaging potential <a href="https://www.wyzowl.com/video-social-media-2020/">customers on social media</a>, but did you also know that brands that use videos and other visual content can help with conversions? Whether you're just trying to get people to sign up for your newsletter, take a survey, or make a purchase, you're probably looking for sure-fire ways to build your conversion rate. Better visual content can do just that; here's how.<figure class="image regular "><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/better-visual-content-colorpeak_a56887dffd4e08f815feb664b7911793_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/better-visual-content-colorpeak_a56887dffd4e08f815feb664b7911793_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="How Better Visual Content Can Help You With Conversions" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/better-visual-content-colorpeak_a56887dffd4e08f815feb664b7911793_800.jpg" /></picture><figcaption>How Better Visual Content Can Help You With Conversions</figcaption></figure>First of all, your conversion rate isn't necessarily how many of your site visitors end up buying something. If you're trying to get people to your website, you could have any number of goals, like trying to convert a visitor into a lead (i.e. get them to request a free quote). Conversion rates are heavily tied to the effectiveness of your marketing; effective marketing can help convince a person that they need what you're selling.Visual content can do that in a way that words often can't. Humans process <a href="http://www.t-sciences.com/news/humans-process-visual-data-better">visual images much faster </a>than a block of words, so even though good copy is critical, you can get a lot more customers through visuals (which is one of the reasons you should spend some time creating a great logo with a free tool like <a href="https://logocreator.io/">Logo Creator</a>). Couple that with more and more people spending more and more time watching videos online, and you can't afford not to create engaging content.Convincing you to boost your conversion rate by incorporating visuals into your marketing is easy enough, but that leaves the question of how? Here are five quick tips on creating engaging visual content for online marketing.<h2 id="coj21">5 Top Tips on How Better Visual Content Can Help You With Conversions</h2>1. Choose a consistent colour palette - Your visuals should align with the colour you choose for your logo, to create a consistent message for customers. Pay attention to the colours you choose, because colours elicit different emotions for people.2. Practice with design apps - You're probably not an expert on visual design, but luckily, there are free apps out there to help you. The only way you'll get better at using them is to practice and work with them on a regular basis. You also should have a basic idea of visual design, like the <a href="https://digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds/">Rule of Thirds</a>.3. Stay on your brand message - Hopefully, your business is adopting a specific voice and tone, particularly in your marketing. You might adopt a more humorous voice or a serious, scholarly voice. The actual voice doesn't matter, but your visuals should capture that voice. You should also pay attention to keeping a consistent message to help your customers trust you.4. Engage your customers - Creating engaging content that people want to interact with online can help build conversions for you as well. Humour is almost always a win, but it's also important to stay on the message (see number 3). You can achieve this by being creative, incorporating animations, using stunning imagery; anything to get people to share your content and spread your message.5. Use videos - You've probably heard the statistics on videos on social media, but they keep getting more popular every year, and there's no reason to think that trend won't continue. A helpful video to help explain your product can help convince a potential customer that they want it, which will drive them to your site and turn them into a conversion. If they don't understand what you're selling, why would they buy it?<h2 id="1hpic">Conclusion</h2>Putting together better visual content is easier said than done, but it's not impossible, and it can really pay dividends in converting clicks into action. Great visuals should be a cornerstone of your marketing strategy.  <script> if(window.strchfSettings === undefined) window.strchfSettings = {}; window.strchfSettings.stats = {url: "https://colorpeak.storychief.io/en/how-better-visual-content-can-help-you-with-conversions?id=1256497123&type=12",title: "How Better Visual Content Can Help You With Conversions",id: "565b8427-1664-46d1-ae81-6e8e0925dae9"}; (function(d, s, id) { var js, sjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {window.strchf.update(); return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/scripts/v0/strchf.js"; js.async = true; sjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, sjs); }(document, 'script', 'storychief-jssdk')) </script>
Content Marketing Services | The Complete List for a Successful Digital Strategy

Tue, 10 Nov 2020 10:04:46 -0000

As your online business grows, it becomes obvious how important content marketing is for your business. And even if you’re the one working on your business’ strategy or you hire an agency to help you out, one thing is clear: you need to know the full list of content marketing services your company needs. […]

The post Content Marketing Services | The Complete List for a Successful Digital Strategy appeared first on SEO Blog | cognitiveSEO Blog on SEO Tactics & Strategies.

As your online business grows, it becomes obvious how important content marketing is for your business. And even if you’re the one working on your business’ strategy or you hire an agency to help you out, one thing is clear: you need to know the full list of content marketing services your company needs.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-24636" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Content_Marketing-services-1.jpg" alt="Content_Marketing services" width="1024" height="538" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Content_Marketing-services-1.jpg 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Content_Marketing-services-1-300x158.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Content_Marketing-services-1-768x404.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   Before saying that you don’t need to bother with this because you will hire a specialized digital agency to take care of all this, take this scenario: You get a great offer for a freelance or an agency, saying that they will take care of everything content related for you. That sounds appealing, yet, how can you hire them if you don’t know what they are supposed to deliver? Once you know what a complete list of content marketing services looks like, you’ll be able to set expectations, measure the efforts of the company you hired, and better understand the results.   So, here are the top content marketing services business owners should be aware of: <ol class="summaryext"> <li><a href="#1">Content Marketing Strategy</a> <ol> <li><a href="#11">Use Keyword Research Tools</a></li> <li><a href="#12">Check the Top-of-mind Keywords</a></li> <li><a href="#13">Look for Seed Keywords</a></li> <li><a href="#14">Prioritize the Keywords You Want to Rank For</a></li> <li><a href="#15">Select Top Keywords</a></li> </ol> </li> <li><a href="#2">Content Creation</a></li> <li><a href="#3">Content Distribution</a> <ol> <li><a href="#31">Link Building</a></li> <li><a href="#32">Social Media</a></li> <li><a href="#33">Community & Relations</a></li> </ol> </li> <li><a href="#4">Constant Content Update</a></li> <li><a href="#5">Content Analytics Reporting</a> <ol> <li><a href="#51">Organic Search Traffic</a></li> <li><a href="#52">Keyword Rankings</a></li> <li><a href="#53">Social Shares</a></li> <li><a href="#54">Backlink Volume</a></li> </ol> </li> </ol> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='1' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Content Marketing Strategy</h2>   <blockquote> A good content marketing strategy should respond to the question why. </blockquote>   Why do you want to create content? For whom? Why will your content be different than what already exists?   Content marketing strategy means more than a content strategy. This last one is focused more on content creation, which we are going to talk about later.   <blockquote> First thing first, you need to clarify what do you want to achieve with content marketing: Increased traffic? More leads? Educate customers? Increase online presence? </blockquote>   If you’ve been watching the trends lately, you’ve seen articles piling up about content marketing and how it’s changing the SEO game forever.   It seems that Google is dead set on providing visitors with pages that have the most relevant content to their search and the trend of creating quality content to be more relevant to your target audience seems to become more of a need than a game played only by the cool kids.   More and more SEO professionals are boarding this train and it’s no longer to be believed a hype and a way to reinvent the so-called “dead SEO”.   Once you got the “why” question responded, you can go to the next step within any content marketing strategy, the keyword research. You don’t want to write just for the sake of writing, right?   You want to create good content that will reach your audience. But to do so, you need to know what topics to tackle and what keywords you can create content for. So, check out the next steps, which are foundation stones for all the other content marketing services. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='11' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Use Keyword Research Tools</h3>   Finding keywords shouldn’t be hard, yet it’s not a walk in the park either. In the modern SEO landscape, a keyword research tool is not just a passing trend but a must.   The <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/keyword-tool/">Keyword Tool and Content Optimizer</a> is an awesome helper on this matter. It’s like your best buddy you can call in the middle of the night to get you out of trouble. You can find new topic ideas and keywords related to the one you are targeting.   You’ll be able to make an idea of how difficult it is to rank for those particular keywords. It also shows you how relevant other keywords are compared to the current ones.   When you perform the market research, it’s best if the keywords you’re trying to rank for have a high search volume and a low difficulty. High search volume means the phrase is popular and many people are typing it in their browsers. Low content and links difficulty means that it is fairly easy to rank on that keyword without many links or highly competitive content. Combining these three metrics will result in profitable phrases that are easy to rank for.   <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-24639" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/best-shoes-for-running-1024x597.png" alt="best shoes for running" width="1024" height="597" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/best-shoes-for-running-1024x597.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/best-shoes-for-running-300x175.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/best-shoes-for-running-768x448.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/best-shoes-for-running.png 1283w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   Why any analysis should start with a keyword research? Because if you don’t know the keywords you want to target, you can’t possibly know your true SEO competition. This step will also determine what level of difficulty you wish to perform the analysis at.   For example, let’s assume that we’re performing online marketing in the shoe business and wish to open a web store. Depending on our budget, we can either start targeting very high search volume keywords or lower search volume keywords. Keep it realistic.   <blockquote> It either takes money or time to get there. In fact, it takes time in both cases given you’re working with organic search. </blockquote>   <table class="author-quotes" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr class="author-quote-row"> <td class="author-text" colspan="2">Without a strategy, content is just stuff, and the world has enough stuff.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="author-image" rowspan="2"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-21102 lazy-loaded" src="https://cdn.cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Arjun_7992-min.jpg" alt="Arjun" width="46" height="46" data-lazy-type="image" data-src="https://cdn.cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Arjun_7992-min.jpg" data-srcset="" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Arjun_7992-min.jpg 2397w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Arjun_7992-min-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Arjun_7992-min-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Arjun_7992-min-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Arjun_7992-min-1024x1024.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 46px) 100vw, 46px" /></td> <td class="author-name">ARJUN BASU</td> </tr> <tr class="author-description-row"> <td>Award-nominated author</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>   The trick with ranking is not to force it. When everybody’s trying to rank for the same keywords, there’s not much room for long-term development. This is where you can improve and find keywords semantically related to your niche, but not necessarily used by your competitors. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='12' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Check the Top-of-mind Keywords</h3>   Top-of-mind keywords are phrases that pop up in your head right away when you think about a niche. It’s like a brainstorming process. They are also frequently called seed keywords.   You can use the Google search engine to get real-time suggestions. Simply go on Google and start typing your keywords, and new ideas will appear right under the search bar. A highly competitive keyword would be, in this case, “buy shoes online”.   Phrases with the word “buy” in them are called buyer’s keywords or transactional keywords. They are usually the most competitive, as we know from the phrase itself that people are already set to buy the product. Ranking for those keywords practically guarantees that some sales will indeed be made. Where sales are guaranteed, big players come.   A lower competition keyword can be “best shoes for …”.   More niched phrases tend to be less competitive. One reason might be the fact that they are untapped, meaning that not many people actually discovered them. They are called longtail keywords. Review and comparison sites often try to rank here. People are still inclined to buy, but for he moment, they might just be looking to compare products or find ideas. <img class="aligncenter wp-image-14141 size-large lazy-loaded" src="https://cdn.cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/topofmindcompetitors-1024x402.jpg" alt="Add top of mind competitors" width="1024" height="402" data-lazy-type="image" data-src="https://cdn.cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/topofmindcompetitors-1024x402.jpg" data-srcset="" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/topofmindcompetitors-1024x402.jpg 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/topofmindcompetitors-300x118.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/topofmindcompetitors.jpg 1326w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='13' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Look for Seed Keywords to the Keyword Explorer or Google Keyword Planner to Get New Ideas</h3>   Use the seed keywords you acquired from the previous step to generate a list of keywords.   You can go classic and use the <a href="https://adwords.google.com/home/tools/keyword-planner/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Google Keyword Planner</a>, though data is limited if you don’t have a paying PPC management account. You can try multiple keywords here, export the data as CSV, sort the keywords, and add some to your list.   <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-14147 lazy-loaded" src="https://cdn.cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/googlekeywordplanner-1024x449.jpg" alt="Make use of Google Keyword Planner" width="1024" height="449" data-lazy-type="image" data-src="https://cdn.cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/googlekeywordplanner-1024x449.jpg" data-srcset="" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/googlekeywordplanner-1024x449.jpg 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/googlekeywordplanner-300x132.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/googlekeywordplanner.jpg 1674w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   cognitiveSEO’s Keyword Tool can give you tons of keyword opportunities. It works like a content marketing agency that will work on most of your marketing plans, your pieces of content…you got the idea your whole marketing effort in general. You can check out for questions people are looking for an answer on Google. You can filter the keywords ideas by volume, relevancy and so on, so you can find the best keyword opportunities for you.   <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-24640" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/best-shoes-ideas-1024x513.png" alt="best shoes ideas" width="1024" height="513" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/best-shoes-ideas-1024x513.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/best-shoes-ideas-300x150.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/best-shoes-ideas-768x385.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/best-shoes-ideas.png 1144w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='14' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Prioritize the Keywords You Want to Rank For</h3>   Now comes the more difficult part.   For which of those keywords can you realistically rank in top Google search?   After you’ve determined a list of keywords you’ll go after, you have to take a look at two things:   Content Performance and Domain Performance.   You can use the Ranking Analysis section of the <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/keyword-tool/">Content Optimizer Tool</a>. Let’s take as example the keyword this article is talking about: content marketing services.   You can easily see a lot of important metrics, just one click away:   <ul> <li>how many links would this article need to be competitive?</li> <li>what is the monthly search for this keyword and how’s the searching trend for it? </li> <li>who is ranking in top 10 and how do their content looks like?</li> <li>how old/fresh is the content already ranking?</li> <li>what focus keywords did my competitor use within their content?</li> </ul>   <img class="lazy-loaded aligncenter wp-image-24641 size-large" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/content-marketing-services-content-tool-1024x572.png" alt="content marketing services - content tool" width="1024" height="572" data-lazy-type="image" data-src="https://cdn.cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/keyword-tool-seo-content-strategy-e1591187674368-1024x648.png" data-srcset="" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/content-marketing-services-content-tool-1024x572.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/content-marketing-services-content-tool-300x168.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/content-marketing-services-content-tool-768x429.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/content-marketing-services-content-tool.png 1329w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   While the Content Performance is something that we have control over and will improve in a future step, backlinks aren’t something we have that much control over.   So, you want to see websites with as few referring domains as possible compared to your site (which you can check with the <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/site-explorer/">Site Explorer</a>).   Of course, if you see a lower content score and/or word count, those are also good indicators that it will be easier to create content for or improve existing content. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='15' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Select Top Keywords Based on Relevancy and Search Volume</h3>   For the purpose of this analysis example, we’ll just stick to these keywords: “buy shoes online” and “best shoes for”. One is broader and the other is narrower, but both are attractive in terms of relevance and search volume. Let’s assume that we start from the bottom (narrower keywords), but leave room for expansion in the future (broader keywords).   From these two keywords, we can observe that the broader ones tend to return root domains as results, while narrower ones return pages from websites. This is a good indication of what our homepage should be targeting, and what we should target with pages.   <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-14180 lazy-loaded" src="https://cdn.cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/broadkwvsnarrowkw-1024x503.jpg" alt="Broad keywords vs narrow keywords" width="1024" height="503" data-lazy-type="image" data-src="https://cdn.cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/broadkwvsnarrowkw-1024x503.jpg" data-srcset="" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/broadkwvsnarrowkw-1024x503.jpg 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/broadkwvsnarrowkw-300x147.jpg 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/broadkwvsnarrowkw.jpg 1467w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />   The final list should include keywords around your general niche and some current or possible (future) sub-niches. You can group them into separate sheets. This way you’ll be able to select top competitors from multiple sub-niches easier. The more keywords you’re willing to analyze, the better you’ll understand what you’re dealing with in the long run. You can use the Google Search Console to easily determine the keyword you’re already ranking for. (the below screenshot is taken in June 2020).   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-24318 lazy-loaded" src="https://cdn.cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/search-console-queries.png" alt="Search Console Queries" width="830" height="615" data-lazy-type="image" data-src="https://cdn.cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/search-console-queries.png" data-srcset="" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/search-console-queries.png 830w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/search-console-queries-300x222.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/search-console-queries-768x569.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px" />   Can you improve this existing content? Or should you target new keywords? These are questions you should ask yourself when putting together your SEO content marketing strategy. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='2' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Content Creation</h2>   No worries, comparing to the previous section, content creation will feel like a breeze among the content marketing services list.   First, consider that it’s always best to consider landing page optimization for a single main keyword and a single search intent per page. You can sometimes combine very similar keywords, but try as much as possible to stick to one main keyword and one search intent. Feel free to find out <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/22986/search-intent/">more about search intent here</a>.   A great way to do this is to write content about questions that are very often asked in your industry, or case studies.   For example, this article about <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/19066/meta-description-affects-seo/">meta descriptions affect SEO or not</a> has been linked to multiple times by other SEO blogs trying to make a quick point without getting into too much detail.   <blockquote> Write content that stands out and is share worthy. </blockquote>   While doing so, also make sure to: <ul> <li>Have great Titles, Headlines and Descriptions.</li> <li>Optimize your titles with keywords for SEO, but also keep them catchy for Social Media.</li> <li>Use the Open Graph property to set different titles for SEO and Social Media.</li> </ul>   Longform content tends to perform better in organic search results. Yet, look at what type of content your competitor have. Is it long, short? What type of content is Google serving within its first page for the type of content you want to rank?   <blockquote> You keep on hearing: write content having readers, but also SEO in mind. But what does this really mean? </blockquote>   We can spend a lot of time on debating that, or we can use a tool that will help us write that exact type of content. As time is so precious these days, I’ll choose the second option.   <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/keyword-tool/"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-24643 size-large" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/content-marketing-services-content-optimization-1024x763.png" alt="content marketing services - content optimization" width="1024" height="763" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/content-marketing-services-content-optimization-1024x763.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/content-marketing-services-content-optimization-300x223.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/content-marketing-services-content-optimization-768x572.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/content-marketing-services-content-optimization.png 1094w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>   Open the Content Assistant section from the cognitiveSEO’s content optimizer and hit Start Optimizing. Once you do so, you’ll get everything you need there:   <ul> <li>the keywords you should use in your content</li> <li>the content score you should reach</li> <li>keywords ideas to use in your content</li> <li>the focus keywords that might help your content with ranking</li> <li>the keywords you shouldn’t use that much to avoid stuffing</li> </ul>   Basically, you’ll get all the resources you need to write content that is relevant for your users first of all, but also SEO oriented.   <blockquote> The idea is to think of the recommended keywords as subtopics or areas of interest that you should cover in your content. </blockquote>   When people search for something, you already know they are interested in it. That’s why SEM has such a high conversion rate and people spend time reading in-depth articles.   Regardless of the tools you’d be using, keep in mind that the best tool you have at your disposal is your own knowledge.   <blockquote> You should keep in mind that writing naturally is the best way to go. </blockquote>   I know: writing original content regularly might not be easy. Moreover optimized content. Even if you’re a marketing expert that wants to improve brand awareness, an account manager or a search engine optimization, <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/21096/how-to-write-for-seo/">writing with SEO in mind</a> is never easy. There are no perfect marketing guides that will drive results in no time. And copywriting implies extra marketing costs, video content creation costs, maybe website design, content promotion and so on. Yet, when creating your monthly reporting, you’ll check the return on investment and you’ll see that those marketing efforts did pay off. That monthly content and those business goals you struggle with, those SEO audits, they all bring great results. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='3' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Content Distribution</h2>   The journey shouldn’t stop when the article goes live. On the contrary, you should carry on with the process of boosting your content. You need to understand that content distribution isn’t a single technique or a one-time thing. It incorporates an umbrella of multiple unique techniques you need to follow in order to get better results.   We all had that moment when we gave our soul into a post and made it so shiny, with thorough research, relevant visuals but nobody read it. And then you start wondering what went wrong. What in the name of God happened? Or why did it happen to you? And the questions could go on.   But there is something that you missed. And that “something” could be content distribution and amplification.   Content distribution is a powerful method to reach a wider audience.   <blockquote> Amplifying your content should be mandatory if you want people to know about it and increase your website traffic. </blockquote>   You can look at the distribution process as a way of strengthening the signals of your post. And here are some channels to do so: <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='31' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Link Building</h3>   If, in the past, the traditional ways of building links meant to meaninglessly spread out all over the internet, without thinking of relevance and essence, through the help of web directories, blogrolls, keyword stuffing and others, now we need to think of our target audience.   <blockquote> Things have changed now, but links are still an important ranking signal and they are very helpful when trying to rank high in the search engines. </blockquote>   It’s a harsh reality but link generating through content marketing will surely become harder and harder. Yet, harder doesn’t mean impossible. Use blog posts, videos, infographics, eBooks and so on. Create resources that are valuable and that will earn links.   Also, don’t forget about <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/18796/internal-linking/">internal linking</a>.   <blockquote> If you’re looking for an SEO move that can quickly boost the position of your website, then internal linking is the move you want to make. </blockquote>   A proper internal linking strategy can really boost your ranking power because it does two things:   #1: It helps search engines understand the structure of your website, how different pages interact with one another and which pages are truly important withing the structure of your website.   #2: It helps users navigate the website and it keeps users on the website by providing relevant content through links that can be followed. This ultimately sends search engines another signal that your website is great, because it provides a good user experience.   If you’re interested in some valuable link building lessons, wrote from experience, <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/19318/ling-building-lessons/">check out this article</a>. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='32' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Social Media</h3>   I know it and you know it. The internet has become so fed up with marketing strategies, that people become immune to content in its mediocre form. Influencers from all marketing channels are no longer impressed so easily, and in order to put your brand “in their mouth” you need to do some wheel greasing.   So that’s why super important to create content that it’s worth sharing; content that “has something to say”, that brings added value. Invest in social media marketing as much as you can. Get dedicated account managers or marketing manager if possible. There are many social content marketing companies that are offering good services, just make sure to get the right one to grow your business.   There a lot of tips and tricks on how to perform better on social media. You can consult <a href="https://brandmentions.com/blog/">blogs like BrandMentions</a>‘ one for this.   <blockquote> Promote your content as much as possible but on the right social media channels for your niche. </blockquote>   Use paid media and social media advertising (like Twitter or Facebook advertising) if needed. Make use of partner programs, press releases, custom content, go for influencer marketing if needed. Yet, it is highly important to make yourself visible on social media. Even if this implies some graphic design activities or video production to steal your potential customers’ attention. Here’s a video production <a href="https://clipchamp.com/en/video-editor/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">tool</a> you can check it out. Social media management is as important as writing optimized pieces of content when it comes to building your brand. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='33' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Community & Relations</h3>   When I think of content marketing, a line from the movie Jerry Maguire comes to mind – Help me, help you!   We’ve seen common outreach methods of content marketing like guest blogging being abused in the past, because people misunderstood the idea behind it. <blockquote> Generating links through content marketing is not about trying to beg for them, it’s about creating relationships with other businesses and people that reside in the online medium. </blockquote>   You can no longer strive for the number one spot in Google’s eyes if you can’t create new pals that are willing to talk about you and share your content or vice versa.   <blockquote> “Link begging” your way out of a situation will do you more harm than good so we don’t recommend that. </blockquote>   There’s one way out of it and that’s creating content that others might find interesting enough to share it with their audience. Organic Links are a “hard to get” commodity these days and you’ll be happy to find and keep connections with influencers that like and distribute the content that you create.   In order to help yourself, you need to attend to the needs and interests of others first!   <blockquote> When you can’t create engaging content on your side of the street, try going to the place where the discussion is currently happening. </blockquote>   It may sound like a cheesy tactic but I assure you it’s not a laughing matter. You may include comments in your content marketing strategy as you can generate links and help the community at the same time, in real time.   Comments are a great way to:   <ul> <li>create meaningful content</li> <li>connect and engage with your target audience</li> <li>create links pointing to your site in a natural manner.</li> </ul>   Comments can prove to be a blade with two edges and you need to treat it with care.   Try and find the most important forums in your niche and where the discussions are taking place. Look at what people are asking and what questions they have. As long as you stay on topic and your comments are not only meant for link building, then you won’t have nothing to worry about.   Above are just a few content distribution ideas. For even more ideas for amplification, <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/13363/content-amplification/">check out this article</a>. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='4' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Constant Content Update</h2>   What if I were to tell you there’s another way, besides tapping into that creative juice barrel?   Nobody expects you to create original and engaging content all the time.   You just can’t create quality content on an assembly line and everybody knows that, and no, you shouldn’t resort to gimmick techniques to win your target audience’s attention.   <blockquote> What you can do is to recycle outdated content that may still be of interest to your target audience. </blockquote>   Some content has been geniously created in the past and widely distributed, but that doesn’t mean you cannot use that already developed interest to your advantage.   Those infographics that were widely distributed and shared, which created a lot of discussions over the internet can be refurbished using the same layout and the same structure but with fresher and more relevant data.   <blockquote> You can also improve old content by adding more information and thus more value for the viewer. </blockquote>   While this might be appealing for those looking for a shortcut method of generating content, it should be part of a balanced diet. It seems easily exploitable, but if done improperly, you might end up feeding your site with low quality content.   We’ve done an interested experiment some time ago: We’ve updated 40 blog posts with fresh, updated information. The result? 70% SEO visibility increase. So, it could be a tactic that could work for you to. You can <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/16542/improve-website-rankings/">check out the case study here</a>. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='5' style='height:50px'> </div> <h2>Content Analytics Reporting</h2>   You know the saying. No job is done until the paperwork is done. In our case, not literally paper, but reporting the results. This is an equally important part of the content marketing services list.   So, you’ve created a content marketing strategy; you’ve written awesome content or updated the existing one, you’ve highly distributed.   Now, what’s to do?   Check out the result!   But what should you check?   Measuring content marketing and SEO efforts is often easier said than done. Yet, here are some metrics you should definitely look at. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='51' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Organic Search Traffic</h3>   Organic search traffic refers to website visits that originated from search engine results and not through ads. Organic search traffic is a highly effective indicator of overall success. When a website’s content includes keywords that frequently match what users are searching for, that website is likely to appear in a larger number of search engine results pages (SERPs) than competing websites.   Using <a href="https://analytics.google.com/analytics/web/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Google Analytics</a>, open the Acquisition menu. From there, select All Traffic, then select Channels.   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-15523 lazy-loaded" src="https://cdn.cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/google-analytics.png" sizes="(max-width: 412px) 100vw, 412px" srcset="https://cdn.cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/google-analytics.png 412w, https://cdn.cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/google-analytics-149x300.png 149w" alt="google analytics" width="412" height="827" data-lazy-type="image" data-src="https://cdn.cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/google-analytics.png" data-srcset="" />   You’ll now be presented with a view of a website’s sources of traffic, which are sorted by channel. Select the Organic Search channel for a useful report that displays a site’s organic traffic stats.   This report is a versatile one. It gives SEO practitioners the ability to uncover critical information such as:   <ul> <li>Which landing pages are the most effective at attracting traffic</li> <li>Which keywords are delivering the highest amounts of traffic</li> <li>Which of the search engines are directing the highest amount of organic traffic to a website</li> <li>What pages are frequently the biggest exit pages (or the last page a visitor views before leaving the website)</li> <li>And many other vital stats</li> </ul> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='52' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Keyword Rankings</h3>   Keyword Ranking is how well or how poorly your content ranks in SERPs for a given search term.   Google analytics isn’t as helpful as some SEO practitioners would like it to be as far as tracking keyword rankings. Its keyword tab (within the campaign tab) often displays the phrase “not provided.”   Instead of Google analytics, consider the <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/ranktracker/">rank tracker provided by cognitiveSEO</a>. One of its advantages is that it allows you to track keywords at a universal level as well as at a local level. It also allows you to analyze the keyword performance of competitors.   So, add your keywords you created content for within the Rank Tracker and constantly check out the evolution.   <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-24649" src="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/rank-tracking-1024x516.png" alt="rank tracking" width="1024" height="516" srcset="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/rank-tracking-1024x516.png 1024w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/rank-tracking-300x151.png 300w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/rank-tracking-768x387.png 768w, https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/rank-tracking.png 1448w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='53' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Social Shares</h3>   Social shares can be defined simply as the sharing of your content by social media users. While it’s generally thought that Google does not take social signals and shares into consideration when ranking SERP results, social shares are still very important to your SEO efforts.   Tracking your social shares is beneficial because of the important impact social media plays in content marketing strategies. As more people share your content with their followers, the higher the chances that more people will view it and ultimately migrate over to your website. More visits to your website means a boost in organic search ranking. <div class='cgn-shortcode-anchor' id='54' style='height:50px'> </div> <h3>Backlink Volume</h3>   Useful for measuring the authority and popularity of your website, <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/13937/assess-backlink-quality/">backlinks</a> (often referred to as inbound links) are links to your website that originate from someone else’s website. Backlinks to your site can also originate from other pages on your own site.   Measuring this performance indicator will go a long way in helping you rank higher. By tracking it, you’ll always know where you stand with what some in the SEO industry view as the most important ranking factor used by Google. When you know whether you’re succeeding with your backlinks, you know how much you need to improve by.   Using Google Analytics, open the Acquisition menu. From there, select All Traffic, then select Referrals. You can now look at your referral traffic, which is Google’s way of saying “backlinks.”   <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-15530 lazy-loaded" src="https://cdn.cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/referrals-googla-analytics.png" sizes="(max-width: 342px) 100vw, 342px" srcset="https://cdn.cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/referrals-googla-analytics.png 342w, https://cdn.cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/referrals-googla-analytics-126x300.png 126w" alt="referrals googla analytics" width="342" height="814" data-lazy-type="image" data-src="https://cdn.cognitiveseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/referrals-googla-analytics.png" data-srcset="" />   Also, for a <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/backlinkanalysis/">comprehensive backlink analysis tool</a>, cognitiveSEO aggregates backlink data from trusted link databases and analyzes the links on demand for each of their clients.     I know, there are a lot of information from the digital marketing area to deal with. But even if you’re one the one who’ll be implementing all the content marketing services above, even if you’re hiring marketing agencys, it’s important to know what’s all about.   If you or your marketing team are out of breath after reading this post (or worse yet, discouraged,) don’t be overwhelmed! Take heart, force a smile, and accept the fact that victory never comes easy. I know, lots of things are involved: technical SEO, marketing budget, web design, content calendars or advertising costs. But it does pay off in the attempt of building brand that is strong and competitive.   Success and competitiveness are for those who are willing to work harder and get their hands dirtier. The bottom line here is that you can do this, and it will be worth it. The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/24549/content-marketing-services/">Content Marketing Services | The Complete List for a Successful Digital Strategy</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://cognitiveseo.com/blog">SEO Blog | cognitiveSEO Blog on SEO Tactics & Strategies</a>.
Frase Review – AI for Content Writers

Fri, 06 Nov 2020 12:08:00 -0000

<h4 id="8hml1">FRASE TOOL REVIEW</h4>This review of <a href="https://www.frase.io/">Frase</a> was originally posted on <a href="https://appsumo.com/frase/">AppSumo</a>, and since it made it to the top 3 of the most helpful reviews, I thought it’s worth sharing here as well. Especially since it became our main copywriting tool since then.From an SEO Agency perspective, this is truly a no-brainer. Learning about many different workflows and content optimisation techniques over the years and using several “mainstream” content-creation tools we’ve realised that – regardless of anyone’s approach – you will arrive at the same point as everyone else – content briefs, planning and research.Frase attempts to tackle all three of them. And they’re doing an amazing job at it.<figure class="image regular "><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/frase-ai-content-writing-tool-for-copywriters_1ee0e563f335df0ec921909c5f3c7909_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/frase-ai-content-writing-tool-for-copywriters_1ee0e563f335df0ec921909c5f3c7909_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/frase-ai-content-writing-tool-for-copywriters_1ee0e563f335df0ec921909c5f3c7909_800.jpg" /></picture><figcaption>Frase interface</figcaption></figure><h2 id="4v0mf">Frase Pros</h2><ul><li>Clean interface and no-fluff</li><li>Super intuitive and clear FAQ/Tutorials (as they should, given what the tool is for… )</li><li>I can’t see any apparent bugs and the tool looks robust – all the features I tried worked immediately</li><li>Within the first minutes of use, I already know that I will be saving 80-90% of my time on the research, planning and briefs</li><li>“Paste Brief” options – wow, just wow!</li></ul><h2 id="4bkna">Frase Cons</h2><ul><li>I am missing Google Ads scraping. You got everything you need to add “Ads Writing Assistant” feature – I hope the developers will consider it…</li><li>Same as a current one-click option “Paste Brief”, the tool should have “Paste Content” with an adjustable keyword count, where H2-H4 headers (including Questions) are all added automatically from the brief. It would be a perfect one-click article generator ready for rewriting or spin.</li></ul><h3 id="altun">Tools/workflow we’re using currently and where I see Frase replacing them:</h3><ol><li>Google (obviously…) – Frase will replace manual searches and scrapes;</li><li>Grammarly Pro – works with Frase;</li><li>CognitiveSEO – I don’t think Frase can replace that yet (CSEO is on another level);</li><li>PageOptimizerPro – same as Cognitive, not going anywhere;</li><li>Ahrefs Keyword Research – I’ll probably still use it, but Frase does a good job in providing the most relevant keywords/questions;</li><li>Keywords Everywhere/Answer the Public (for “related searches”/questions) – Frase replaces that;</li><li>Ahrefs Content Explorer (and SocialAnimal) – maybe not as good as Ahrefs but for content writing, Frase is excellent;</li><li>AutomaticScript.com – I’ll keep using it for Ads and newsletter content, I guess…</li></ol>andSEO Content Machine NEXT: SCM’s “Article Writer” comes closest to Frase but you don’t get a brief, and the scrapes are just too overwhelming in my opinion – even with filtering, provided snippets require a lot of manual sifting through. SCMN is amazing for other SEO-things, and it’s a subscription with a desktop-only application (no cloud, no extra “seats”).<h2 id="4gc0d">Use case:</h2>Last Monday I was assembling content for a solar panel company and using all tools above it took me a total of 12 hours to put together a medium-size company website with additional services, silo structure and MVP-keyword research.For fun, I’ve plugged “solar panels” to Frase’s “OpenWeb” – and right away, I can see that I could gather almost everything I need in 2-3 hours tops. That is 9-10 hours of free time I’d be getting using Frase.If you’re doing SEO and don’t see a value in this tool – you’re either using a better alternative tool or… you’re doing something wrong – in which case I recommend you trying Frase – it might be a game-changer for you. It is for us.  <script> if(window.strchfSettings === undefined) window.strchfSettings = {}; window.strchfSettings.stats = {url: "https://colorpeak.storychief.io/en/frase-review-ai-content-writers-copywriting?id=592326058&type=12",title: "Frase Review – AI for Content Writers",id: "565b8427-1664-46d1-ae81-6e8e0925dae9"}; (function(d, s, id) { var js, sjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {window.strchf.update(); return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/scripts/v0/strchf.js"; js.async = true; sjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, sjs); }(document, 'script', 'storychief-jssdk')) </script>
Spott Review - Yet another graphic design... NOPE!

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 19:31:00 -0000

Spott is very similar to <a href="https://app.storychief.io/create-interactive-websites-vistag-review/">Vistag that we reviewed by in 2018</a>, which has been shut down. Spott is already ahead offering video tagging (as opposed to Vistag, that only allowed to tag photos) and shows a lot of promise in future roadmap development.I originally posted this review of <a href="https://spott.ai/">Spott</a> on <a href="https://appsumo.com/spott/">AppSumo</a>, and if you're interested in purchasing Spott, I would encourage you to read more reviews there after you finish our take on it.<h2 id="d78kk">What is Spott?</h2>Spott is a unique tool that can change your entire e-commerce, sales landing page as well as your social media marketing strategy - to name just a few. Picture tagging and tooltips are underutilised in digital marketing, and the available tools (WP plugins) are either buggy or limited. That is why Spott stands out even harder, as there is nothing quite like it that I know of.<figure class="image regular "><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/spott-making-engagement-tool_34c9dfe0c95f9d8aa62c6912b93d5a50.gif 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/spott-making-engagement-tool_34c9dfe0c95f9d8aa62c6912b93d5a50.gif 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Spott marketing engagement tool" src="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/spott-making-engagement-tool_34c9dfe0c95f9d8aa62c6912b93d5a50.gif" /></picture><figcaption>Spott in action</figcaption></figure><h2 id="8fsa6">Spott Pros</h2><ul><li>video tagging - wow, that opens a lot of possibilities in gamification and making your videos and ads actually producing a sale,</li><li>the tags are responsive and consistent across the board - this is a massive issue for the majority of the other "tagging" tools I've tried in the past,</li><li>tags are very flexible and allow for plenty of different info to be input in the popups or tooltips - different types of URLs and additional CSS in styles help in nailing the design - again that amount of (somewhat common-sense) flexibility has never been the case with Vistag or other similar tools I've tried,</li><li>"Asset Feed" - looks to be an extremely interesting feature I will have to dig into - for now, extra tacos for attempting to automate some of the copy-paste tasks - such an approach always strikes confidence in the founders' vision for the SaaS,</li><li>intuitive interface and enough documentation to get you up to speed in less than an hour,</li><li>reporting will help in gauging the engagement and updating clients.</li></ul><h2 id="egr9s">Spott Cons</h2><ul><li>I don't see any workarounds for the lost SEO due to hosting pictures on Spott servers... Alt tags, picture title and description - would be nice to see input fields for those in your embed code at least,</li><li>more trigger options: currently only static or hover, but it would be nice to have an option for a timed trigger, e.g. "wait for 10s and open a popup", or on exit intent, etc..</li></ul><h3 id="56unb">The future of Spott</h3>I was waiting for something like it since Vistag literally pulled DOA on all of us in the SEO industry. This time the team behind the tool is set on the development and looks much more established. Contrary to what I see in some of the startup SaaS that never invested in SEO, Spott Team brand is ranking very nice and is targeting keywords that point to their long-term commitment and outside-of-LTD growth.There is one more thing that needs to be said here - our graphic designer will have to change her processes. And our agency will have to incorporate Spott to our entire design/video/CRO strategy moving forward. And this is a lot of work and changing things around.So, if you have an established way of making images, videos and ad-clips using some tools, your process will need to encompass Spott somehow - an extra step to do for your designer, so be mindful of that.But we feel this is going to be worth it.  <script> if(window.strchfSettings === undefined) window.strchfSettings = {}; window.strchfSettings.stats = {url: "https://colorpeak.storychief.io/en/spott-review-yet-another-graphic-design-nope?id=33928545&type=12",title: "Spott Review - Yet another graphic design... NOPE!",id: "565b8427-1664-46d1-ae81-6e8e0925dae9"}; (function(d, s, id) { var js, sjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {window.strchf.update(); return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/scripts/v0/strchf.js"; js.async = true; sjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, sjs); }(document, 'script', 'storychief-jssdk')) </script>
2021 Website Design Trends

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 13:56:00 -0000

At Colorpeak, we understand the importance of identifying new and upcoming trends in our area of expertise, web design, which s why we review them every year. Heading into a very different 2021, we’ve decided to compile our list of the future trends you should be aware of to continue to innovate and expand your marketplace through your website.<h2 id="bnuan">2021 Website Design Trends by Colorpeak</h2>Rather than focus on the comeback of Dark mode in website design, we’ll be looking at the more practical aspects for 2021 website design trends, based on the knowledge your website should be first and foremost, an effective lead generation tool. The visual aspect, whilst important for branding and recognition, is far more effective when driven by data and content creation based in UX design.So why not check out our list of 2021 website design trends based on the newest design ideas and some of Colorpeak’s extensive experience-driven insights:<figure class="image regular "><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/01-2021-website-design-trends-by-colorpeak_be78ca2d19845ec2901d26fe3cb99b96_800.JPG 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/01-2021-website-design-trends-by-colorpeak_be78ca2d19845ec2901d26fe3cb99b96_800.JPG 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="2021 Website Design Trends by Colorpeak" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/01-2021-website-design-trends-by-colorpeak_be78ca2d19845ec2901d26fe3cb99b96_800.JPG" /></picture><figcaption>2021 Website Design Trends by Colorpeak</figcaption></figure><h2 id="udmf">Effective, responsive design needs to be mobile-first oriented</h2>Smartphones are designed to grab peoples attention, and your website should have the same approach to make it a successful lead generation tool. Both your existing and potential customers now expect to access information, products and services through their mobile as the first point of contact. If your website isn’t designed for this type of access, you’re missing out on potential business and invaluable data insights. Delivering your information to the market on a smartphone means the navigation should keep the customer engaged, images and text will need to be adjusted to fit this format, so the user doesn’t get lost in unnecessary information. The average human concentration span is now just 8 seconds compared to 12 seconds in the year 2000. It’s vital your website delivers your message clearly and concisely, to maximise the 8 seconds of engagement you have available to you.<figure class="image regular "><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/02-2021-website-design-trends-by-colorpeak_733269cf2d2169a50ac60203a0d1d94c_800.JPG 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/02-2021-website-design-trends-by-colorpeak_733269cf2d2169a50ac60203a0d1d94c_800.JPG 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Data driven content for 2021 website design trends" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/02-2021-website-design-trends-by-colorpeak_733269cf2d2169a50ac60203a0d1d94c_800.JPG" /></picture><figcaption>Data driven content for 2021 website design trends</figcaption></figure><h2 id="fqo7t">Data-driven content</h2>Accessing your customer information is key to building a successful content-driven strategy and is at the forefront of 2021 website design trends. Neil Patel (SEO Professional) defines this data as:<blockquote>“Factual information generated from experiments, surveys, or testing that is used as a basis for forming conclusions.”</blockquote>This information builds customer profiles and establishes a digital relationship built on their personal preferences and interests. By making your website a place to come for industry expertise or guidance, through things like ebooks and how-to guides, your business becomes more than just its products or services. It can start to define you as an industry leader and reputable resource, building brand recognition and ensuring returning website traffic.Especially after the recent pandemic, video content and interaction have become a mainstay of communication and engagement. Your website should recognise and deliver insightful and thoughtful video communication and content to capture valuable data and build customer relationships.<h2 id="fv56f">Simple navigation with calls to action</h2>At Colorpeak, we understand there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. A simple, effective menu with contact or cart details should be available to click at any time. The buying process should be as straight forward as possible. If it appears to be too complicated, you’re likely to lose that business.Navigation directly affects the interactions your website creates and delivers, organising your information into the most effective workflow process can maximise the potential of your website.Each website will have its own set of objectives, and at Colorpeak we’re best placed to inform your design process and to deliver your unique data and communication objectives. Although this seems like this should be standard practice, many website designs miss this critical element, which is why it’s made our list of 2021 website design trends.<figure class="image regular "><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/03-2021-website-design-trends-by-colorpeak_3892bbc527db5f391178275fb5cb8ffa_800.JPG 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/03-2021-website-design-trends-by-colorpeak_3892bbc527db5f391178275fb5cb8ffa_800.JPG 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Mobile design oriented navigation" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/03-2021-website-design-trends-by-colorpeak_3892bbc527db5f391178275fb5cb8ffa_800.JPG" /></picture><figcaption>Mobile design oriented navigation</figcaption></figure><h2 id="cj8ro">Next level Lead generation solutions (chatbots and AI)</h2>Chatbots have come along way since their initial inception and can be a brilliant tool for gathering information and answering general queries. Their advancement has come from machine learning and the ability to ask questions in a more ‘human-like’ manner. Also, consumers have become more used to seeing and interacting with chatbots. If the information is delivered in the right way, more and more people will continue to utilise this type of feature. AI is moving forward and even has the ability to create advanced algorithms based on an initial set of code. More and more technology is removing the need for humans to carry out more mundane tasks such as gathering basic information. This may be a 2021 website design trend but it’s also a trend which is set to grow exponentially over the coming decades. At Colorpeak, we work with you to make sure your website has the most up to date features and capabilities. We have a proven record of our AI bot generating 6% leads within industry averaging around 1.7%. Get in touch if you want to find out how our AI technology can help your business grow.<h2 id="bksrf">E-commerce solutions do decrease cart abandon rate</h2>Our insights drive many of our approaches to website design. One of our key findings is the ease of purchasing a product or service is crucial. We make sure that ‘add to basket’ buttons are accessible from every page. This saves time searching for a specific page of an item to make the purchase, you can add it to the cart from any category page which displays multiple items. This delivers a seamless and frictionless shopping experience, which decreases the chance of cart abandonment due to customer frustration. According to a recent survey, the rate of cart abandonment of online shoppers stands at 75% across all industries. This is truly an astounding statistic. E-commerce solutions should be factored into your website design to ensure your business isn’t one of the ones needlessly losing sales and customers.<figure class="image regular "><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/04-2021-website-design-trends-by-colorpeak_a8cda702d08505ad40f8ec7d22751d9e_800.JPG 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/04-2021-website-design-trends-by-colorpeak_a8cda702d08505ad40f8ec7d22751d9e_800.JPG 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="2021 web design trends" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/04-2021-website-design-trends-by-colorpeak_a8cda702d08505ad40f8ec7d22751d9e_800.JPG" /></picture><figcaption>2021 web design trends</figcaption></figure><h2 id="e8upo">Multi-language solutions</h2>We’re increasingly operating within a global marketplace, so you need to capture and inform your customers no matter where in the world they might live. Translators can be an effective tool to reach someone in their language and increase your market share. The more languages you speak, the more people you reach, and your website is the best platform to generate leads and interest across the globe. As one of 2021 website design trends communication with the wider marketplace is an easy and straightforward way to ensure your reach goes further than you ever expected.<h3 id="4faot">2021 Website Design Trends Conclusion</h3>At Colorpeak, we work with you to deliver the most effective website for your organisation’s needs. We continue to be leaders in our field as we ensure we adapt, change and utilise technology that’s delivering new and exciting insights, information and most importantly, the growth of your business.This review was originally posted on <a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/2021-website-design-trends-draft/">colorpeak.co.uk/2021-website-design-trends</a>  <script> if(window.strchfSettings === undefined) window.strchfSettings = {}; window.strchfSettings.stats = {url: "https://colorpeak.storychief.io/en/2021-website-design-trends?id=494152310&type=12",title: "2021 Website Design Trends",id: "565b8427-1664-46d1-ae81-6e8e0925dae9"}; (function(d, s, id) { var js, sjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {window.strchf.update(); return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/scripts/v0/strchf.js"; js.async = true; sjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, sjs); }(document, 'script', 'storychief-jssdk')) </script>
How to Create Engaging Social Media Content

Tue, 18 Aug 2020 09:10:00 -0000

Building an engaged social media audience is one of the most rewarding marketing tasks that your business can achieve. It’s through these channels that you build a rapport with your customers and establish trust so that when you are ready to ask for a sale, they’re ready to provide.Here are some helpful tips to guide the process of creating engaging social media content.<h2 id="2vtv9">Tell a Story</h2>Social media is about storytelling, using both visual components and words. To do so effectively, you need to consider what story you’re trying to tell people about your business.When you <a target="_blank" href="https://theboostapps.com/video-maker/promo-video/">create a video</a> or graphic, consider how it ties into your brand. What thoughts and emotions do you hope to invoke when you hit post? How do you want your customers to feel and respond when they see a photo?Every good story has a beginning, middle, and end. When you write captions, start with a hook. You have one sentence to get your follower to stop scrolling and keep reading. Consider your goals for this story: are you trying to make an emotional connection or share valuable information?Every post you create should be intentional. Focus on quality over quantity to boost your engagement.<figure class="image regular "><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/Create-Engaging-Social-Media-Content_b72f319ff816b6ba35ce5d9ee8ab9330_800.png 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/Create-Engaging-Social-Media-Content_b72f319ff816b6ba35ce5d9ee8ab9330_800.png 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="engaging social media" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/Create-Engaging-Social-Media-Content_b72f319ff816b6ba35ce5d9ee8ab9330_800.png" /></picture><figcaption>Engaging social media</figcaption></figure><h2 id="fvple">Create a Consistent Aesthetic</h2>Creating a consistent aesthetic goes hand-in-hand with good social media content strategy creation. Your aesthetic is what creates consistency across the various social media channels while increasing brand recognition.Your colours and tone will play a significant role when developing a brand aesthetic. For example, if your business strives to be perceived as fun, bright, and lively, your colours, photo editing, and graphics should emulate that goal. Conversely, if you’re more serious and moody, having darker images and richer colours makes sense.Planning is key when creating a consistent aesthetic across social media channels.<h2 id="7sol8">Highlight Other Users</h2>User-generated content (UGC) is when brands encourage customers to share content featuring their purchases using account tagging and hashtags. In return, the user gets featured on the brand’s page. This is a fantastic opportunity for brands to curate content without having to create it from scratch.Sharing UGC also creates social proof, showing the audience that other people are happy with your business, thus boosting engagement.In addition to sharing UGC, you can also highlight other brands and businesses you admire. This <a target="_blank" href="https://www.elegantthemes.com/blog/tips-tricks/5-ways-to-cross-promote-social-media-posts">cross-promotional approach will attract more followers</a> from other accounts.<figure class="image regular "><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/engaging-social-media_d9e5f915c5da67783e15bd53bcc5dea4_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/engaging-social-media_d9e5f915c5da67783e15bd53bcc5dea4_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Highlight users on social media to engage" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/engaging-social-media_d9e5f915c5da67783e15bd53bcc5dea4_800.jpg" /></picture><figcaption>Highlight users on social media to engage</figcaption></figure><h2 id="cd5dr">Ask Questions</h2>Asking questions shifts the focus from your business to an individual on the other side of the screen. This focus encourages them to interact and share the spotlight. It generates a feeling of recognition and value. As a result, your engagement increases.Get creative when asking questions to see what works and what doesn’t. Mix it up with topical questions, inquiries that are relevant to your core offering, and conversation starters.<h2 id="jkma">Break Up Text</h2>One of the easiest things you can do to start improving social media engagement today is to break up blocks of text. If necessary, use a line-breaking app to prevent everything from posting in one overwhelming word jumble.You can also use emojis to intersperse visual stimulation within long-form social media content.<h2 id="4515k">Cater to Your Audience</h2>Remember that creating social media content isn’t about what you want to share; it’s about what your audience wants to see and hear. Catering to your audience will ensure that you’re providing value rather than being scrolled past every time you post an update.Take time to analyse your insights and determine which posts perform best and why. Then, shift your efforts to incorporate similar content. If you want to continuously engage your audience, you must always be open to adapting.Use this guide to start creating engaging social media content that gets your audience talking and your customers buying.  <script> if(window.strchfSettings === undefined) window.strchfSettings = {}; window.strchfSettings.stats = {url: "https://colorpeak.storychief.io/en/how-to-create-engaging-social-media-content?id=1189157623&type=12",title: "How to Create Engaging Social Media Content",id: "565b8427-1664-46d1-ae81-6e8e0925dae9"}; (function(d, s, id) { var js, sjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {window.strchf.update(); return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/scripts/v0/strchf.js"; js.async = true; sjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, sjs); }(document, 'script', 'storychief-jssdk')) </script>
Best Freelance Platforms to Grow Your Business - From Online Banking to Content Marketing

Tue, 23 Jun 2020 10:34:00 -0000

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcpWIrKi2VWDjtKjC7aGHI-IdXx0jrga5-PUXVxbDaWeR_W9ipHPFIZ8Zb8bb8QCRa3qe8DHR8MixmMnVyYdoFIJkgcrYwd1Uizp4zVzAlSOueNXjaugKuuqYAFTm3Qag-SeewPouNbsHU/s1600/featured-freelance-platforms.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="692" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcpWIrKi2VWDjtKjC7aGHI-IdXx0jrga5-PUXVxbDaWeR_W9ipHPFIZ8Zb8bb8QCRa3qe8DHR8MixmMnVyYdoFIJkgcrYwd1Uizp4zVzAlSOueNXjaugKuuqYAFTm3Qag-SeewPouNbsHU/s640/featured-freelance-platforms.png" width="640" /></a></div> Somedays, freelancing can be a struggle between trying to find new clients and getting actual work done. Using the right platforms and a standardized approach to pitching can help streamline those efforts. If you're a freelancer with goals of expanding your business in 2020, here are some expert tips and fantastic platforms to guide the process. <h2 id="cidus"> Important Considerations for Freelancers</h2> Before you start scaling your business, there are a few key areas of your business to tend to. First, plan to have your banking streamlined for your business needs. Processing payments <a href="https://amaiz.com/">through Amaiz</a> and taking advantage of the freelance-oriented set-up is one option for getting your financial ducks in a row. Another consideration is your approach to pitching potential clients. Ensuring you have consistent profiles crafted and your best work highlighted is a must. Create a standard pitch template and tracking sheet to record: <ul> <li>who you pitched,</li> <li>when you reached out,</li> <li>what platform you used, and</li> <li>when you should follow up.</li> </ul> With those core business issues in mind, here are the five best freelance platforms for growing your business in 2020. <figure class="image regular "><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/freelancer_de1b93e575e3d3f6594b309e6c38d346_800.png 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/freelancer_de1b93e575e3d3f6594b309e6c38d346_800.png 1x"></source><img alt="freelancer working from home" height="306" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/freelancer_de1b93e575e3d3f6594b309e6c38d346_800.png" width="400" /></picture></figure> <h2 id="4dibh"> 5 best freelance platforms for growing your business in 2020</h2> <h3 id="99ole"> CloudPeeps</h3> CloudPeeps launched in 2015, as a response to the shift toward more remote work and freelance opportunities. The goal of CloudPeeps is to connect determined, goal-oriented freelancers with reputable businesses to form a productive working community. CloudPeeps offers a variety of freelance opportunities, ranging from content writing and social media management to <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/seo-evolution/">SEO and keyword research</a>. This broad approach allows businesses to put together a team of freelancers in one centralized platform. CloudPeeps offers a tiered subscription plus commission membership option. The free version takes a 15% commission while the top-end option costs $29 per month and takes a 5% commission. <h3 id="7hdog"> Toptal</h3> Toptal is the cream of the crop when it comes to freelancing platforms. If you manage to secure a spot on Toptal, you'll open your business to exciting and profitable new opportunities. The platform pairs freelancers with big corporations and world-renowned startups, like Airbnb and Shopify. To become a freelancer on Toptal, you'll need to go through a rigorous screening process. The platform is currently open to developers, project managers, and financial freelancers. The screening process includes everything from skills tests to interviews. If you think you've got what it takes, it's well worth applying as you can earn <a href="https://www.toptal.com/faq#toptal-cost">thousands of dollars a week</a> on certain projects. <h3 id="fjka3"> Aquent</h3> A common challenge freelancers face when using a platform for finding clients, is tagging relevant experience. The incorrect use of tags can result in mismatches or missed opportunities. Aquent aims to solve that problem using an organic AI-driven approach that takes a deep dive into your portfolio and does the tagging for you. Aquent is for freelancers in the marketing and creative sectors and allows members to set their rates and negotiate accordingly. If you're unsure how to charge a competitive rate, they provide a guide to help you ensure you're getting what you're worth. <figure class="image regular "><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/freelancer-working_c6d0edf21c7adfa0b86122a16b710b0c_800.png 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/freelancer-working_c6d0edf21c7adfa0b86122a16b710b0c_800.png 1x"></source><img alt="freelancer" height="320" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/freelancer-working_c6d0edf21c7adfa0b86122a16b710b0c_800.png" width="400" /></picture></figure> <h3 id="6g3u7"> PubLoft</h3> PubLoft is a platform that focuses specifically on content marketing and freelancers who work within the B2B market. This robust platform helps you find clients, and it also helps you manage client relations in one centralized location. Additionally, PubLoft offers financial snapshots that can help you plan ahead. PubLoft handles invoicing and payments, paying freelancers biweekly. In return, freelancers pay a monthly subscription price. <h3 id="a4ru9"> SolidGigs</h3> SolidGigs takes a multifaceted approach to support freelance business growth. Their weekly roundup sends the best new freelance jobs of the week directly to your inbox for review. On the other side of things, SolidGigs offers a rotating collection of courses and templates to help you build your business. These tools cover everything from setting your rates to spreadsheet templates for tracking your progress. SolidGigs offers <a href="https://solidgigs.com/">a flat rate subscription of $19 per month</a>. You can get a free trial for $2 for the first month to give it a shot. Use these platforms and expert tips to help you grow your freelance business in 2020 and beyond. <span style="background-color: white; color: #161616; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">This article was originally posted on Colorpeak: <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/best-freelance-platforms-for-business/" rel="nofollow noopener" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact !important; background-color: white; cursor: pointer; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 16px; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">Best Freelance Platforms to Grow Your Business - From Online Banking to Content Marketing</a>  <script> if(window.strchfSettings === undefined) window.strchfSettings = {}; window.strchfSettings.stats = {url: "https://colorpeak.storychief.io/best-freelance-platforms-for-business?id=1706027748&type=12",title: "Best Freelance Platforms to Grow Your Business - From Online Banking to Content Marketing",id: "565b8427-1664-46d1-ae81-6e8e0925dae9"}; (function(d, s, id) { var js, sjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {window.strchf.update(); return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/scripts/v0/strchf.js"; js.async = true; sjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, sjs); }(document, 'script', 'storychief-jssdk')) </script>
How to add text below Collection in Shopify Flex Theme by Out of the Sandbox?

Tue, 19 May 2020 16:28:00 -0000

In this post, I’m going to explain how you can add some custom text below your items in any Collection Page specifically in Flex Theme by Out of the Sandbox. I will start with some explanation behind the idea, and I will talk you through simple principles to copy and amend existing collection Shopify template. Having said that, if you’re here looking for a step-by-step guide, simply jump to the end of this post.<h2 id="ddhtr">Why should you include any text below Collection page?</h2>As all SEO experts know, good content syndication is a key to promote your website on Google. This principle seems to be even more critical now after recent <a href="https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2019/08/core-updates.html">Google core algorithm update rolled out on May 4th, 2020</a> that caused quite a stir. Shopify has a high number of adjustments that allow you to optimise your content for better ranking results. And some themes like Flex enable you to design your store in no time with some additional customisations. However, there are still a few options that are essential to optimise your content that Flex is missing and one of them is the ability to add custom text underneath your items Collection.There is, of course, an option to include all your SEO tailored content with H2, H3 etc. elements in a standard page description, but you will end up with a massive block of text at the top of the page. This is not very UX friendly as your visitor is on your page most likely to view your products and not necessarily read a 1000 words description of the Collection. This is why the idea is to keep the top description short and sweet and move all the content that Google bots are after, below the collection items feed.<h2 id="ajja7">Using a custom Theme template for Collection</h2>Initially, I thought to hire somebody to code this option into Flex theme so it can be easily accessible from the Collections customisation page. After further thought, I realised that this custom code would somehow amend the collections input space (where you usually adjust your title, description and meta description). And then a custom code would have to be created to pull that information from the page and display it below items Collection feed. Although this is a more elegant solution, I have decided that since I only have several collection pages to update, a more straightforward solution can be put in place. And that’s where the idea to use Shopify theme templates came from.<h3 id="3q2jn">Collection template structure</h3>Every Collection in Flex Theme is put together from the following sections that you can adjust for your needs:<ul><li>Banner</li><li>Breadcrumbs</li><li>Collection title</li><li>Filters</li><li>Description</li><li>Sidebar area (optional)</li></ul><figure class="image regular "><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/01-intro-ul_9532ae597f96f56fac0f2c5ffd3cf985_800.png 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/01-intro-ul_9532ae597f96f56fac0f2c5ffd3cf985_800.png 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Flex theme Collection view" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/01-intro-ul_9532ae597f96f56fac0f2c5ffd3cf985_800.png" /></picture><figcaption>Flex theme Collection view</figcaption></figure><figure class="image regular "><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/02-intro-ul_491897180b06d544a3d42c6cec42e117_800.png 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/02-intro-ul_491897180b06d544a3d42c6cec42e117_800.png 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Flex theme Collection liquid code" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/02-intro-ul_491897180b06d544a3d42c6cec42e117_800.png" /></picture><figcaption>Flex theme Collection liquid code</figcaption></figure><h4 id="brb2u">HOW TO ADD TEXT BELOW COLLECTION FEED IN SHOPIFY FLEX THEME?</h4>The general idea is to use the main Collection template (collection.liquid) and duplicate it for every custom Collection in which we want to include the custom text. We will then insert a code that includes the custom text below Sidebar section. You can use basic HTML elements like H1-H6, paragraph, bold text for example, but if you want to include unsorted list you will have to create custom CSS styling as well. You can do that by creating custom.scss style sheet in the Assets folder or amending styles.scss.liquid file (remember though to back up it first before you make permanent changes). Once the custom collection template is created, you can simply go to your Product > Collections page and change the Theme template to your custom template. You then repeat that action for every Collection in which you want to include the custom text below collection feed.<h4 id="7kmcg">HOW TO ADD ACCORDION BELOW COLLECTION FEED?</h4>If your content is long adding text with simple styling might not be enough. In such a case, hiding paragraphs in toggles is a perfect solution. Fortunately, somebody smarter than me already came up with the ideas, so let me simply send you to this article by Leighton Taylor ‘<a href="https://www.envision.io/blogs/ecommerce-pulse/28832705-how-to-add-an-faq-accordion-to-your-shopify-store">How to add an FAQ accordion to your Shopify store</a>‘. The tutorial includes a super easy 5 step guide, including a quick video and a demo of the solution that you will be implementing on your site. All you need to do is tweak CSS a bit for your needs and voila. And before you ask, the image was added with basic img tag.<blockquote><code><img src="yourimage.png" alt="your alt tag" style="box-shadow: 0 4px 8px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2), 0 6px 20px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.19);" align="middle"></code></blockquote>By combining the three solutions with adding text, image and toggle below Shopify Collection feed in Flex Theme, here’s what I was able to achieve in one of our client’s stores.<figure class="image regular "><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/text-toggle-accordion-below-shopify-collection-flex-theme_268a0a23a02f9950ef769e974adb3fc7.gif 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/text-toggle-accordion-below-shopify-collection-flex-theme_268a0a23a02f9950ef769e974adb3fc7.gif 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Custom text in toggle with an image below" src="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/text-toggle-accordion-below-shopify-collection-flex-theme_268a0a23a02f9950ef769e974adb3fc7.gif" /></picture><figcaption>Custom text in toggle with an image below</figcaption></figure><h2 id="7qo5b">Step-by-step guide on how to add unique text below every Collection Page in Shopify Flex theme:</h2>1. Log in to your shop and navigate to ‘Online Store’ in ‘SALES CHANNELS’ section listed on the right-hand side of the screen;2. Hover over ‘Actions’ button (located in ‘LIVE THEME’ section) and select ‘Edit Code’ from the drop-down menu;3. Locate ‘Templates’ folder click blue command ‘Add new template’. In the pop-up window, select ‘collection’ after ‘Create a new template for’ and give it a name (stick to short names or if you need to use more than one word use dash instead of space bar). In our example we’ve chosen the name ‘coffee-tables’; then click ‘Create template’ button;<figure class="image regular "><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/03-add-new-template_166c5cb5ac0e480ecdf141ba0236be3c_800.png 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/03-add-new-template_166c5cb5ac0e480ecdf141ba0236be3c_800.png 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Creating custom collection" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/03-add-new-template_166c5cb5ac0e480ecdf141ba0236be3c_800.png" /></picture><figcaption>Creating custom collection</figcaption></figure>4. Go to your newly created Collection tab and scroll down to the bottom and locate last two lines of code<blockquote></section> </div></blockquote>5. Copy and paste the following ‘Custom code’ and paste it just before those two lines and after ‘Collection sidebar’ section (in example below the code is pasted on line 58); then Save<blockquote>{% comment %} Collection manual description {% endcomment %} {% if template contains 'your-collection-name' %} Your custom text {% endif %}</blockquote><figure class="image regular "><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/04-custom-code_a09cc7b83452292b4ec51bb01f0d8af8_800.png 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/04-custom-code_a09cc7b83452292b4ec51bb01f0d8af8_800.png 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Pasting custom text code below Sidebar section" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/04-custom-code_a09cc7b83452292b4ec51bb01f0d8af8_800.png" /></picture><figcaption>Pasting custom text code below Sidebar section</figcaption></figure>6. From right-hand side panel go to ‘Products’ > ‘Collections’ and look up your custom collection7. Once the collection is loaded, change ‘Collection template’ in ‘THEME TEMPLATES’ section in the bottom right corner from default ‘collection’ to ‘collection-your-collection-name’ (in case of this example ‘collection.coffee-tables); then Save<figure class="image regular "><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/06-shopify-select-collection_00600173fb324c9fdd0570a3d61cb9a2_800.png 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/06-shopify-select-collection_00600173fb324c9fdd0570a3d61cb9a2_800.png 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Changing Collection theme template" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/06-shopify-select-collection_00600173fb324c9fdd0570a3d61cb9a2_800.png" /></picture><figcaption>Changing Collection theme template</figcaption></figure>8. When you view your Collection page, you should now see ‘Your custom text’ below images.<figure class="image regular "><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/07-shopify-select-collection_01acf31af7d5eba5c1a6d0125cb3bb82_800.png 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/07-shopify-select-collection_01acf31af7d5eba5c1a6d0125cb3bb82_800.png 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Custom text placement below collection feed" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/07-shopify-select-collection_01acf31af7d5eba5c1a6d0125cb3bb82_800.png" /></picture><figcaption>Custom text placement below collection feed</figcaption></figure>I hope this tutorial gave you a better understanding on how to create custom collections. If you have any questions on how to add text below collection page in Shopify Flex Theme, just drop me an email and I will do my best to help you out.  <script> if(window.strchfSettings === undefined) window.strchfSettings = {}; window.strchfSettings.stats = {url: "https://colorpeak.storychief.io/how-to-add-text-below-collection-shopify-flex-theme?id=707468721&type=12",title: "How to add text below Collection in Shopify Flex Theme by Out of the Sandbox?",id: "565b8427-1664-46d1-ae81-6e8e0925dae9"}; (function(d, s, id) { var js, sjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {window.strchf.update(); return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/scripts/v0/strchf.js"; js.async = true; sjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, sjs); }(document, 'script', 'storychief-jssdk')) </script>
Divi Pixel Plugin Review for Divi WordPress Theme

Fri, 01 May 2020 11:49:00 -0000

 TODAY I AM REVIEWING <a target="_blank" href="https://www.divi-pixel.com/">DIVI PIXEL PLUGIN FROM OCTOLAB OÜ</a>. THIS IS NOT AN AFFILIATE REVIEW; HOWEVER, I HAVE BEEN GRANTED ACCESS TO THE EARLY VERSION OF THE PLUGIN FOR FREE FOR THE REVIEW PURPOSES. OK, SO WITHOUT ANY FURTHER ADO, HERE ARE MY THOUGHTS UPON TAKING DIVI PIXEL FOR A SPIN. <figure class="image regular "><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/divi-pixel-plugin-wordpress_a67be09da11f6cbef1bf9f6131faade1_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/divi-pixel-plugin-wordpress_a67be09da11f6cbef1bf9f6131faade1_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Divi Pixel Plugin for Divi Wordpress Theme" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/divi-pixel-plugin-wordpress_a67be09da11f6cbef1bf9f6131faade1_800.jpg" /></picture><figcaption>Divi Pixel Plugin for Divi Wordpress Theme</figcaption></figure>Divi Pixel is one of those tools compatible with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.elegantthemes.com/">Divi Builder by Elegant Themes</a> that makes your life easier when it comes to customising basic settings. In an ideal world, Divi should have implemented them a long time ago. Furthermore, Divi Pixel offers some advanced styling solutions that can only be achieved with custom CSS. I also think this plugin will save you some money since there is no need to purchase separate plugins to improve or speed up your design process. It combines many great solutions that are available as different plugins in one. The most important thing, however, is that if you do not need some of the options that Divi Pixel offers, then you can disable them and no additional scripts will load on your w website to slow it down.<h2 id="7ta4m">User Experience with Divi Pixel</h2>Upon Divi Pixel plugin installation, you will be able to access all its features through the left-hand side panel (Dashboard > Divi > Divi Pixel). Right of the bat, I can see that the developers knew exactly <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/tag/ux/">what UX is</a>. That is how to design with user experience in mind. I would be surprised if anyone ever had to skim through the documentation file as the set up of the plugin is pretty much self-explanatory. The design is great for the eye but most importantly, very clean and straightforward. You can jump onto customisations right away.<h2 id="d8ett">Divi Pixel Options</h2>When you open Divi Pixel panel, you will see that the plugin has seven main features or control settings if you like:<ol><li>General</li><li>Blog</li><li>Social Media</li><li>Mobile</li><li>Modules</li><li>Layout Injector</li><li>Settings</li></ol><figure class="image regular "><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/divi-pixel-settings-panel-02_06a8e1e8bce23e54a15734e9b8eca88d_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/divi-pixel-settings-panel-02_06a8e1e8bce23e54a15734e9b8eca88d_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Divi Pixel plugin Settings" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/divi-pixel-settings-panel-02_06a8e1e8bce23e54a15734e9b8eca88d_800.jpg" /></picture><figcaption>Divi Pixel plugin Settings Panel</figcaption></figure><h3 id="blbei">General Settings in Divi Pixel</h3>General settings take care of some basic items that allow you to make your website ‘yours’ or in other words, apply some branding in a sense. It also has some options that I am only guessing did not fit into any other category. However, they remain handy none the less.In terms of mentioned ‘personalisation’, you can adjust the login page, add a page preloader, custom browser scrollbar, change logo on scroll and zoom on it as well as customise back to top button. If you use Google API for maps instead of embedding them, you will appreciate an option to add Custom Map Marker. There are several options to customise your footer and one that allows you to upload SVG files which are blocked by WordPress by default.<h3 id="e1cck">Blog adjustments</h3>The Blog adjustments in Divi Pixel are a bit of a hit and miss for me. The reason being some of the options are already available in Divi Theme builder. For example, removal of sidebar or adjustment of Archive pages. But where the Divi Pixel Blog adjustments stand out is the Customisation of comments section that currently requires custom CSS, so it makes for a great addition. It gives you some additional customisations for Archive pages as well so if you want your blog related pages to look a bit fancier than the standard, this functionality will help.<figure class="image regular "><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/divi-pixel-blog-settings-03_99f9681279091f72efa7e485db2ec944_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/divi-pixel-blog-settings-03_99f9681279091f72efa7e485db2ec944_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Blog adjustments in Divi Pixel Plugin" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/divi-pixel-blog-settings-03_99f9681279091f72efa7e485db2ec944_800.jpg" /></picture><figcaption>Example of Blog adjustments in Divi Pixel Plugin</figcaption></figure><h3 id="9psh0">Social Media</h3>Social Media section will come in handy for those of you who are not graphic pros, and you would like to customise social media icons. Divi Pixel gives you more options when it comes to where you can display social media icons – be it the header, footer or mobile menu. It also gives you control over individual icons, so that you can choose the display location for them separately.<h3 id="9ege6">Mobile Settings</h3>Divi Pixel Mobile adjustments allow you to modify some essential mobile view settings, including making it full screen (make sure to Enable Custom Mobile menu Style first, so you don’t miss it ;). Yes, some options are available in Theme Builder already, like fixed position and swapping logo in mobile view. But the plugin gives you an opportunity to change breakpoint for mobile menu, collapse submenus on mobile and animate hamburger menu icon among others. Mobile menu settings are one of the best features of Divi Pixel plugin.<figure class="image regular "><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/divi-pixel-full-screen-menu-04_3b7c788422a55b3bb492c24f1f0432bd_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/divi-pixel-full-screen-menu-04_3b7c788422a55b3bb492c24f1f0432bd_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Full screen mobile menu in Divi Pixel Plugin" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/divi-pixel-full-screen-menu-04_3b7c788422a55b3bb492c24f1f0432bd_800.jpg" /></picture><figcaption>Example of Full screen mobile menu in Divi Pixel Plugin</figcaption></figure><h3 id="7p57b">Modules</h3>Where Divi Pixel stands out is the Modules section which adds 17 custom modules to the Divi Builder. You can, of course, review all of them directly on their website, so let me just mention my picks: before and after effect, tilt image, typing effect, masonry gallery, and my absolute favourite image hot spot and floating images.<h4 id="4k61v">IMAGE HOT SPOT BY DIVI PIXEL</h4>Divi Pixel is not the first plugin to have this feature, but I have yet to see one that does it so well. <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/create-interactive-websites-vistag-review/">We once reviewed Vistag tool</a> that allows you to tag any element on an image and display more info upon hovering over selected points, but the company closed in February 2020. So, I was pleased to see that the idea was implemented by somebody else. I would say the room for improvement is in expanding options for tablet and mobile view, but with the right mindset, you can make it work. And I hear further enhancements are in the development stage.<figure class="image regular "><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/divi-pixel-image-hotspot-05_6fd3807567e26cedd0a182a8912910b7_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/divi-pixel-image-hotspot-05_6fd3807567e26cedd0a182a8912910b7_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Divi Pixel Image Hotspot Module" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/divi-pixel-image-hotspot-05_6fd3807567e26cedd0a182a8912910b7_800.jpg" /></picture><figcaption>Divi Pixel Image Hotspot Module</figcaption></figure><h4 id="86v24">FLOATING IMAGES</h4>Yet another feature that will make your website stand out among others. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.divi-pixel.com/modules/floating-images/">Floating images</a> allows for a subtle animation of your images. In fact, the subtle animations trend started back in 2019, and it continues to be quite popular in 2020. A great feature to present your team photos, locations on a map or product highlights.<h3 id="er5lb">Layout Injector</h3>Divi Pixel allows you to inject any saved section in Divi Library where by default it was not possible. For example, before or after the navigation section, footer or on specific pages only. There are also several options for blog pages.<h3 id="p3da">Settings</h3>If you decide to return to default settings on your website, you can reset them in plugin Settings. Do not worry if you ever want to retrieve them, as Divi Pixel plugin allows you to import and export said settings. And if you would like to remain up to date with future developments, you can enable Beta Updates although you probably don’t want to use that option on your client websites.I have not listed all the options that Divi Pixel provides as I wanted to focus on those functionalities that I find most useful. So if you would like to learn what is the full scope of Divi Pixel Plugin, please head over to their Documentation page.<h2 id="lqmb">Divi Pixel Review Summary</h2>Upon using Divi Pixel I can state with confidence; this is a very handy plugin that will save you a lot of time when developing a website. It provides certain basic solutions which Divi should already have, in my opinion. If you often find yourself injecting the same template codes to disable footers, adjust menu breakpoints or blog layouts in your websites, Divi Pixel will save you a lot of time.In addition, Divi Pixel offers 17 design solutions that will take your website to the next level and help you build a unique design that does not look like thousands of other Divi websites.Before wrapping up, I think it would be a great addition if the developers included some templates to go along with this plugin, which would further speed up the design process. Time-saving and unique design options are my biggest takeaways from using Divi Pixel, and I would recommend it to those who are looking to speed up and improve their website design process.  <script> if(window.strchfSettings === undefined) window.strchfSettings = {}; window.strchfSettings.stats = {url: "https://colorpeak.storychief.io/divi-pixel-plugin-review-wordpress?id=703064332&type=12",title: "Divi Pixel Plugin Review for Divi WordPress Theme",id: "565b8427-1664-46d1-ae81-6e8e0925dae9"}; (function(d, s, id) { var js, sjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {window.strchf.update(); return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/scripts/v0/strchf.js"; js.async = true; sjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, sjs); }(document, 'script', 'storychief-jssdk')) </script>
CognitiveSEO Review: How All-in-One SEO Toolbox Can Help You With Your Organic Traffic

Sat, 04 Apr 2020 14:50:00 -0000

CognitiveSEO provided me with access to their SEO tools, and I thought I'll do something productive and review the entire tool collection. <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/marketing-automation-tools-for-business/" target="_blank">I like to look at the SEO tools</a> from a purely pragmatic angle or with the entrepreneurial mindset: "Get me the SEO data fast - the less friction, the better. And have some of it quickly copy-pasted/shown to my clients such that they understand it without me explaining too much." <figure class="image regular "><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-all-seo-tools_5d50dd6820329afdf54b8d8aa44b4ddc.gif 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-all-seo-tools_5d50dd6820329afdf54b8d8aa44b4ddc.gif 1x"></source><img alt="CognitiveSEO review of all-in-one SEO software to rank your business on top of SERP with Keyword Explorer, Content Optimizer, Site Explorer, Site Audit and other SEO Tools" height="324" src="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-all-seo-tools_5d50dd6820329afdf54b8d8aa44b4ddc.gif" width="640" /></picture><figcaption>Use CognitiveSEO all-in-one SEO software suite to rank your business on top of SERP with Keyword Explorer, Content Optimizer, Site Explorer, Site Audit and other SEO Tools</figcaption></figure> (TL;DR) After running my SEO errands through entire<a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/"> CognitiveSEO Tools Suite</a>, I've concluded that founders successfully built a highly specialised all-in-one SEO toolkit, especially for technical SEO and link building, organic ranking and affiliate marketing. Practical SEO uses you're getting with CognitiveSEO Tools: <ul> <li>detailed website analysis that can work for an SEO expert but also stand as a beginners guide to technical SEO (it can replace Screaming Frog SEO for most important SEO analysis)</li> <li>Keywords Rank monitoring lets you see the direction your SEO strategy is heading toward - all accessed with nifty data slicers for a super-fast ranking assessment and SEO analysis</li> <li>inBound Link Analysis follows the suite and presents all the data you may want to analyse your/competitors backlink profile and their relationship with your domain (note: the link explorer is surprisingly accurate - more on that below)</li> <li>(my personal favourite) Content Optimizer & Keyword Tool will make your content rank your pages and keywords better with half (or none!) of the backlinks that you'd normally need - super easy to use and built for 100% practicality in mind</li> <li>BONUS: they also have a reporting tool that alerts you on Google Search volatility, algorithm update changes and potential ranking alterations. In essence, it's great not only to make you aware of the "search algorithm updates", but you can also use it to inform your online marketing endeavours. And let your clients see that you have your finger on the pulse (by the way, that feature should be added to Google Webmaster Tools or Google Search Console by default).</li> </ul> <figure class="image regular "><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-google-algorithm-changes_fbe4c2cd54ea43874d16ed385c69c494.gif 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-google-algorithm-changes_fbe4c2cd54ea43874d16ed385c69c494.gif 1x"></source><img alt="CognitiveSEO Tool for measuring the Google Algorithm updates and its impact on the Search Ranking and SEO" height="327" src="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-google-algorithm-changes_fbe4c2cd54ea43874d16ed385c69c494.gif" width="640" /></picture><figcaption>CognitiveSEO Tool can help you monitor the Google Algorithm updates and its impact on the Search Ranking and SEO</figcaption></figure> <h2 id="ephu5"> SEO Campaigns </h2> <h3 id="eh2ar"> In-depth metrics for advanced SEO and search engine optimizing</h3> After the initial step-by-step campaign set up - I must say, it's very quick and to the point - the SEO Campaigns Dashboard welcomes you with "Quick Overview" modules similar to what you'd seen in other SEO Tools like SEMRush, Ahrefs and others. You got a standard set of: <ul> <li>Crawled Pages</li> <li>Referring Domains</li> <li>On-Page SEO errors</li> <li>Traffic/Sessions</li> <li>Data about Keywords and SEO Visibility</li> </ul> And scrolling below you'll see a selected data from your Google Search Console and Google Analytics (providing you've plugged them in during the initial campaign set up). <figure class="image regular "><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-dashboard_e1fe03c3b36e6deac7330d577a3a4c76.gif 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-dashboard_e1fe03c3b36e6deac7330d577a3a4c76.gif 1x"></source><img alt="Dashboard overview of all CognitiveSEO SEO Tools" height="327" src="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-dashboard_e1fe03c3b36e6deac7330d577a3a4c76.gif" width="640" /></picture><figcaption>Dashboard overview of all CognitiveSEO SEO Tools</figcaption></figure> <h4 id="62pvc"> So how can I use the data, and what is the point of those SEO metrics?</h4> I would mainly use it for the client meeting and to support the overall direction of my... well, SEO campaigns. The Dashboard could also easily replace separate <a href="https://reportz.io/" target="_blank">premium data analysis tools like Reportz.io</a>. Having everything in one place is convenient and greatly reduces the time you would spend on putting the entire SEO campaign together for yourself or your customers. CognitiveSEO even lets you add widgets or change the placement of the modules and shown data. For me, however, the default dashboard is spot on as I lean towards a quick general overview of the stats that it gives me right away. The Dashboard's reporting aspect is then further expanded under Reports & Schedules tab where you can plan and build branded PDF documents that get automatically delivered to your clients' inboxes (note, the full Whitelabel Reporting feature is only enabled with the Business Plan). <h2 id="cq2bq"> Site Audit</h2> <h3 id="6plpq"> You can use the On-Page SEO Auditing Tool as a beginners guide to technical SEO</h3> During the SEO Campaign set up, CognitiveSEO recommends to also sent an SEO spider to analyse a targeted domain thoroughly. So upon the first launch of the campaign, the spiders went and shortly after returned with expected large-number of in-depth data that they grabbed from my website. For any project I'm working with, I prefer to build websites correctly right from the beginning, and for any out-of-the-ordinary project, I use Screaming Frog SEO, which means that I use my on-page auditing tool sparsely. <figure class="image regular "><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-site-audit_14d5475974f50ccfcb5565dec40580a1.gif 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-site-audit_14d5475974f50ccfcb5565dec40580a1.gif 1x"></source><img alt="Ditch Screaming Frog SEO and use CognitiveSEO Site Audit as a beginners guide to SEO and start your Google Search Rank domination" height="327" src="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-site-audit_14d5475974f50ccfcb5565dec40580a1.gif" width="640" /></picture><figcaption>Use CognitiveSEO Site Audit and start your Google Search Rank domination</figcaption></figure> However, I was pleasantly surprised by CognitiveSEO's website analysis and the way it sorted out and displayed the data. They're doing that in a very concise and task-oriented manner. I can easily see myself just launching the Site Audit and after several minutes taking it for a spin squashing most of the "SEO bugs" on my sites: - all meta tags, title tags, image alt tags, etc. - broken link and duplicate content checks - XML sitemap and structured data review etc. etc. And if there is something I don't understand they've sprinkled informative tooltips all over the place so you could easily use it as a beginners guide to SEO analysis (and any SEO expert should also benefit). The PageSpeed Insights tab was also available, but "the data was missing" - this is possibly one of those SEO analysis tools that they still working on. For a to-the-point fast SEO website audit software, I actually prefer CognitiveSEO over <a href="https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/">Screaming Frog SEO</a>. The latter gets overwhelming sometimes. So well done CognitiveSEO. <figure class="image regular "><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveseo-custom-client-reports_d33b4f51697d272709a3cf3d68d52515_800.png 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveseo-custom-client-reports_d33b4f51697d272709a3cf3d68d52515_800.png 1x"></source><img alt="Schedule and send whitelabel SEO reports on automate via CognitiveSEO Reporting feature" height="328" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveseo-custom-client-reports_d33b4f51697d272709a3cf3d68d52515_800.png" width="640" /></picture><figcaption>Schedule and auto-send whitelabel SEO reports via CognitiveSEO Reporting feature</figcaption></figure> <h2 id="35jvj"> Rank Tracking</h2> <h3 id="71hdg"> Organic keyword rank tracker with a direct comparison to your competition keywords positioning</h3> CognitiveSEO goes in lengths analysing Google Search results to assess the daily keyword standing, and it does help you see if your SEO rank strategies are making dents in the search results grid. They also implemented "data slicers" or a type of quick view tabs that filter out the keywords in the areas of importance. For example: <ul> <li>Keywords Ranked in top 1-3 positions or 4-10 / 11-20 and so on until 100</li> <li>Keywords you're "not ranking" yet</li> <li>Only the keywords that "improved ranking" and also the ones that remained "static"</li> <li>and below the chart, you can find a timeline slider to narrow down to a point in your ranking project instantly</li> </ul> <figure class="image regular "><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveseo-rank-tracking_b5cb91852f001fc53e990500ffe8315e_800.png 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveseo-rank-tracking_b5cb91852f001fc53e990500ffe8315e_800.png 1x"></source><img alt="Monitor and measure how your domain ranks on Google Search Engine with targeted keywords, and compare your SERP positions against your competitors" height="328" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveseo-rank-tracking_b5cb91852f001fc53e990500ffe8315e_800.png" width="640" /></picture><figcaption>Monitor and measure how your domain ranks on Google Search Engine with targeted keywords, and compare your SERP positions against your competitors</figcaption></figure> These slicers are amazing, and with provided search volumes, you can quickly predict your expected organic traffic. The tracking tools also lets you pin the competitors' tabs with their keywords rankings and, later, check up on them and see if they're working on the same keywords positioning. However, it would be even better if there was some way of a direct side-by-side comparison between my focus-domain and my competitors. Maybe CognitiveSEO will figure it out at some point. To summarise CognitiveSEO Rank Tracking tool is decent for what it is, however, I'd like to see them expanding it into more automated organic keywords data gathering. A type of advanced SEO tool that encompasses LSI and recent Google's neural network-based technique for natural language processing (NLP) - <a href="https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-bert-update/332161/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BERT update from the end of 2019</a>. I think this is the future of keyword tools. <h2 id="3m86r"> CognitiveSEO Site Explorer and inBound Link Analysis</h2> <h3 id="34qam"> A great contender to Ahrefs Site Explorer</h3> Their backlink database and crawling scope are surprisingly accurate and resemble <a href="https://ahrefs.com/site-explorer">Ahrefs backlink checker</a> that is often touted as the "backlink gold-standard" in the SEO industry. I've made several side-by-side random domain comparisons, and in most instances, CognitiveSEO came very close in showing the number of backlinks to that of Ahrefs Site Explorer. <figure class="image regular "><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-site-explorer_aea214d83b4aec7311c49e33e9789e5d.gif 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-site-explorer_aea214d83b4aec7311c49e33e9789e5d.gif 1x"></source><img alt="Check your domain SEO score and analyse linking performance and anchor text distribution with CognitiveSEO Site Explorer" height="327" src="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-site-explorer_aea214d83b4aec7311c49e33e9789e5d.gif" width="640" /></picture><figcaption>Check your domain SEO score and analyse linking performance and anchor text distribution with CognitiveSEO Site Explorer</figcaption></figure> Although, this small sample is by no means a comprehensive study of "which SEO site analysis software found more backlinks" but a pleasant surprise I wasn't expecting to see. And the Ahrefs Site Explorer was still slightly better in any case. What is also interesting is that you can upload your own backlinks to increase the accuracy further. I can't recall that backlink feature with any other Site Explorers I've used, and I found it worth exploring. In summary, CognitiveSEO is a reliable source of SEO backlink analysis for sure. <h4 id="aqg8l"> Link Rank Checker</h4> It's worth mentioning the CognitiveSEO Link Rank (measured from 0-100). This is a more targeted SEO website grader that we already know from Majestic SEO Trust Flow (TF), MOZ Domain Authority (DA) or Ahrefs Domain Rank (DR). <figure class="image regular "><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-in-bound-link-analysis_dbd523032e42e4b1fed8af1dbc8e8ce3.gif 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-in-bound-link-analysis_dbd523032e42e4b1fed8af1dbc8e8ce3.gif 1x"></source><img alt="Dive-deep into the domain on-page and off-page SEO structure, analyse and monitor domain’s performance and plan fool-proof SEO link-building strategy" height="327" src="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-in-bound-link-analysis_dbd523032e42e4b1fed8af1dbc8e8ce3.gif" width="640" /></picture><figcaption>InBound Link Analysis helps you dive deep into the domain on-page and off-page SEO data</figcaption></figure> CognitiveSEO Link Rank is influenced by a host of different SEO metrics as calculated by their link explorer, website audit and other SEO analysis tools. The score I got my domain was the harshest of the above-mentioned research tools (and probably closest to Majestic SEO). Also, the Link Rank score is only accessible at the SEO Campaign level. When you research via the CognitiveSEO Site Explorer, the score is replaced with vague Page/Domain Influence score marked as either "Low", "Average" or "High". <figure class="image regular "><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveseo-site-explorer-score_9a7564c5683e15355404ff3959590975_800.png 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveseo-site-explorer-score_9a7564c5683e15355404ff3959590975_800.png 1x"></source><img alt="Assess your page and domain authority with deep-analysis of your backlinks and SEO ranking performance" height="328" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveseo-site-explorer-score_9a7564c5683e15355404ff3959590975_800.png" width="640" /></picture><figcaption>Peek at your competitors' websites, assess page and domain authority scores and check backlinks and SEO ranking performance</figcaption></figure> Among the other SEO metrics, the most prominent are: - Referring Domains - Total Links (note, they cap their backlink checker showing up to 20 strongest backlinks from any given domains) - Link Velocity with Visual Explorer that can stand as a link building guide Then there is a boat-load of SEO data, filters and slicers. Among all CognitiveSEO optimization tools, this one is the most overwhelming and requires a lot of time to familiarise yourself with. I'm using Ahrefs Site Explorer already, and I have a tough time to switch - its mechanics and the interface is much different than to what I'm used to. <blockquote> Side note: I suspect that as Ahrefs grows more and more popular, their web crawler bot will become a persona non-grata blocked now by various hosting providers in an effort to save server load. In such circumstance, the multi-source data agglomerates like CognitiveSEO may take precedence and show more accurate SEO stats in some areas.</blockquote> <h4 id="dm6bf"> How can Site Explorer help you in your SEO positioning?</h4> To me, the whole backlink checking option serves one purpose - recognise the general trend. Meaning, I want quick info on whether a particular domain/page holds any SEO authority or not. And also monitor what, if any, spam attach to my website backlink portfolio. I won't bother making sure the tool finds every single backlink. Why? Because it NEVER will. <figure class="image regular "><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-link-building-strategy_09a5cd7f5db1159475050b222b439bff.gif 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-link-building-strategy_09a5cd7f5db1159475050b222b439bff.gif 1x"></source><img alt="CognitiveSEO Link Building Strategy" height="360" src="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-link-building-strategy_09a5cd7f5db1159475050b222b439bff.gif" width="640" /></picture><figcaption>Use Link Velocity and backlink analysis to build an effective link building strategy</figcaption></figure> All SEO Tools will always just attempt to follow Google, but they will never be 100% accurate or even close to being correct. It has always been just a guestimation at best - and the Traffic Estimators, Backlink Checkers or Keywords Ranking tools role is just to show us the general trend and pointers for the next step in our SEO strategies. And same goes for CognitiveSEO Site Explorer - I use it for: <ul> <li>domain authority assessment (they have this great and straightforward Page Influence and Domain Influence at the top bar - by the way, it's NOT vague, it's perfect for showing your SEO clients and prospects on a sales meeting)</li> <li>backlink analysis and anchor text redistribution as a quick link building guide or to simply check my links health</li> <li>BONUS! Broken Pages: this is a unique feature most push to SEO Site Analysis only; I love that CognitiveSEO shows the 404-data in the Site Explorer, and they're making it a superbly useful to quickly analyse outdated content or subjects you could attempt to revive or repurpose. All without resorting to a tedious SEO Audit.</li> </ul> There is a slight difference between Site Explorer and inBound Link Analysis wherein the latter CognitiveSEO seems to combine multiple tab views from the Site Explorer detailed overview under one. The inBound Link Analysis appears only under Campaign SEO for a given project where the tracking and data measurement is also updated in real-time from several sources at the same time (including Google Analytics and Google Search Console if you've connected them). If you're doing some search engine positioning work and focusing on a particular domain, it would be advisable to launch a full-fledged SEO Campaign and monitor things that way rather than searching the Site Explorer each time. <h2 id="acofa"> Content Optimizer & Keyword Research Tool</h2> <h3 id="3dhce"> A secret SEO tool that gets your pages and content ranked on Google without link building</h3> I was <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/seo-content-optimization-cognitiveseo-vs-similarcontent/">raving about the CognitiveSEO Content Optimizer</a> in another post already. And I'm also planning to shoot a video about it soon. Here I just wanted to summarise quickly what it is and why I like it so much. <h4 id="8o7op"> What is CognitiveSEO Content Optimizer all about?</h4> CognitiveSEO Content Optimizer is a web text editor that scans your submitted text (article) and lists tons of supporting keywords and topics to improve your article and, ultimately, your content marketing strategy. The tool bases its recommendations on Google's complex algorithms (mostly LSI, NLP, and large data comparisons). Content Optimizer starts with a regular Keywords Explorer that we know from many other SEO tools. As per usual, you plug your main keyword idea (seed keyword), set the country and off you go. <figure class="image regular "><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-keyword-explorer_be544cc79be0bffa1e1f1d43f9ed8a16.gif 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-keyword-explorer_be544cc79be0bffa1e1f1d43f9ed8a16.gif 1x"></source><img alt="Search and analyse best performing keywords with CognitiveSEO Keyword Explorer suite" height="327" src="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-keyword-explorer_be544cc79be0bffa1e1f1d43f9ed8a16.gif" width="640" /></picture><figcaption>Search and analyse best performing keywords with CognitiveSEO Keyword Explorer suite</figcaption></figure> <h4 id="cjk7m"> Keyword Explorer</h4> I like the fact that CognitiveSEO decided to trim the fat, leaving us with the most important factors related to the <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/keyword-tool/" target="_blank">Keyword Explorer</a>: <ul> <li>Content difficulty from 0-100: it's calculated based on the top-performing articles on the subject - highly relevant score based on CognitiveSEO's LSI and sophisticated article scanning; this is one of the best keyword difficulty metrics I've seen around; as it informs you with what you'd be doing next - namely, optimising your content</li> <li>Links Difficulty 0-100: same as before but you should consider the amount of backlinking efforts that will go into the project</li> <li>Monthly Searches: a Google Trend graph to see the overall search volume course over the years</li> <li>Relevancy score 1-5 "stars": i.e. how close the (long-tail) keyword is to your seed keyword - this is great for a quick "search intent" assessment</li> <li>No. of words: you can check the "long-tail"-ness factor of any given keyword</li> <li>Search Volume: CognitiveSEO Keyword Explorer uses "from-to" brackets rather than absolute numbers - this is also my preference</li> <li>CPC $-value: this one is something I wouldn't expect there, and I'm a bit unsure about its ultimate purpose in that space - possibly to know if the keyword is monetised via PPC ads (?) (but what impact that would have on your optimisation decisions, I don't know...)</li> </ul> <figure class="image regular "><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-keyword-research_0821dcebe18de5fee68714aeacce695d.gif 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-keyword-research_0821dcebe18de5fee68714aeacce695d.gif 1x"></source><img alt="Research & Analyse thousands of money-making keywords, pick the most relevant and export them on CSV file " height="327" src="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-keyword-research_0821dcebe18de5fee68714aeacce695d.gif" width="640" /></picture><figcaption>Research & Analyse thousands of money-making keywords, pick the most relevant and export on CSV </figcaption></figure> Similarly to the Keyword Tracking approach, CognitiveSEO implemented a lot of data slicers to filter out the most important SEO bits from a substantial volume of keywords. So other than the filters referred to the data points mentioned above, you can refine your keyword search with: <ul> <li>Search Suggestions</li> <li>Focus Keywords</li> <li>Questions</li> </ul> And then you can also: <ul> <li>Group by Topic</li> <li>Copy All or</li> <li>Export All to CSV spreadsheet</li> </ul> I must say, the keywords research is comprehensive and lands a lot of keyword suggestions to look at. On the Standard plan, it may not be the biggest keywords database out there (Ahrefs lands about 10-30% more depending on the query), but CognitiveSEO keyword analysis serves you the most relevant SEO keyword ideas you should be considering on your website. And apparently, you can also expand the results count up to 3x on higher paid plans. There is so much more to keyword analysis than you could ever see on Google Trend or Keyword Planner from Google so give it a go. <blockquote> Side note: the "search intent" behind the keyword is one of the most important factors in generating revenue from the content that many SEOs struggle with, and I find CognitiveSEO's Keyword Explorer makes it a little bit easier.</blockquote> <h4 id="1pia9"> Rank Analysis</h4> CognitiveSEO also lists top 20 articles/pages that currently occupy the top search grid for a given "seed keyword". This is the next logical step (tab) in your SEO Content Optimization journey which reveals who you are up against via the following self-explanatory data points: <ul> <li>Content Performance</li> <li>Focus Keywords</li> <li>No. Of Words</li> <li>Domains To Url</li> <li>Domains To Site</li> <li>Date Published</li> </ul> <figure class="image regular "><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-serp-analysis_8e46de527b88d4e37570ec1db0148122.gif 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-serp-analysis_8e46de527b88d4e37570ec1db0148122.gif 1x"></source><img alt="SERP Analysis SEO tool is a part of CognitiveSEO Keyword Explorer suite" height="327" src="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-serp-analysis_8e46de527b88d4e37570ec1db0148122.gif" width="640" /></picture><figcaption>SERP Analysis SEO tool helps you see who ranks what, where and why</figcaption></figure> The most apparent is the Content Performance progression bar from 0-100 that you can eye-ball and immediately grasp who makes an SEO effort and where. I also found myself using the tool as a unique content curator: <ol> <li>The grid is a swift SEO checker and gives me a quick insight into the web pages that comprise of the juiciest content.</li> <li>While using it as a rank checker, I can filter-out a blog post or two that ranked due to backlinks alone, got a low number of keywords or were published a long time ago (and are possibly outdated).</li> <li>I can also click on the given record and analyse the LSI keywords that are prominent in the article! In any case, CognitiveSEO Ranking Analysis equips me with the most important data points that allow me to see what's behind the Google Search curtains.</li> </ol> I'd love to see CognitiveSEO expanding on that content curation theme a little bit more and provide the full top-100 pages breakdown with data slicers and filters. Note, you can expand to the top-100 articles on their higher-paid plans (but I'm not sure if it comes with any additional features). Again, they offer so much more than what you can find in other keyword explorer tools or even SEO toolbar and Chrome extension widgets. And definitely more than plain keyword suggestions you get out of Googles Keyword Planner. <h4 id="613kh"> Content Optimizer</h4> Once you know what you are writing about or you already have something that needs optimizing, you can go ahead and fire the Content Optimizer tool. Again, I've devoted a few good words in an attempt to perform the Content Optimizer's detailed analysis in my other article, so definitely check it. Here, I'll just quickly recap why I find their SEO optimizer so essential to my digital marketing activities. <figure class="image regular "><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-content-optimizer_7941f6615017d3ab4f63d0ff9e53c818.gif 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-content-optimizer_7941f6615017d3ab4f63d0ff9e53c818.gif 1x"></source><img alt="Content Optimizer helps you to create better articles by providing LSI keywords, long-tail keyword suggestions and NLP data from Google Search index" height="327" src="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-content-optimizer_7941f6615017d3ab4f63d0ff9e53c818.gif" width="640" /></picture><figcaption>Content Optimizer helps you to create better articles by providing LSI keywords, long-tail keyword suggestions and NLP data from Google Search index</figcaption></figure> Firstly, the Content Optimizer interface is superbly intuitive. With the use of colours and strategic layout, it takes very little guesswork on what you need to be doing there. This is essential for speed of implementation and handing it over to VA or someone who might not necessarily want to learn some complex SEO-tool (i.e. non-SEO content marketers) but would greatly benefit from it anyways. For any ambitious content marketer or resourceful digital marketing strategy, that tool is a must. Secondly, I've ranked unbelievable keywords for my clients on top of Google completely without launching any link building campaigns. Simply by using Content Optimizer and producing a great article. This isn't to say that "tHe bAcKlinKing iZ DeAd". I'm saying that there is more to the keywords LSI (and now Google BERT updates) than one might conclude from following a basic "beginners guide to SEO" or "SEO keyword research tutorial" on YouTube. Slapping all your H1-H3 with "{marketing consultant|consultants of marketings}", duplicate content and a broken grammar is slowly but surely a practice that Google is working hard NOT to reward anymore. And last but not least, I truly believe that with the proper use of Content Optimizer in your online marketing you're going to produce a much better, juicer and, what we like to call, well-researched articles. With this tool, I often find myself deriving new ideas as I'm optimising the content within the tool. The "Keywords you should use" or "you should use more often" suggestions, as well as "content ideas via questions people ask" are a fantastic resource in and of itself. Many times I found pointers to the new ideas and avenues about the subject that I've missed or not realised before I sat down to write the piece. To simply put, optimization tools like Content Optimizer make the Internet a better place. <figure class="image regular "><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-content-optimizer-editor_19f2478abcb7e3e939db4a015218746c.gif 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-content-optimizer-editor_19f2478abcb7e3e939db4a015218746c.gif 1x"></source><img alt="Content Optimizer can help you rank your website on Google Search Engine without backlinks" height="327" src="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-content-optimizer-editor_19f2478abcb7e3e939db4a015218746c.gif" width="640" /></picture><figcaption>Content Optimizer can help you rank your website on Google Search Engine without backlinks</figcaption></figure> <h3 id="7vik4"> What I'd like to improve about Content Optimizer</h3> The one thing that is apparent in the keywords software is how detached it is from the rest of the platform. It almost seems like it's done as a side-kick to the main SEO Campaign tools. At the moment, the articles are mixed up all over the "Continue Where You Left Off" section, and it would be nice to have them at least categorised or assigned to different projects (domains). So what I'd love to see is better integration with the rest of the SEO toolkit. For example, it would be nice to be able to launch an SEO campaign project and have the selected pages and articles listed for "content optimization". And while we're at it, why not have a trigger button for the tool to scrape the existing content from the selected pages for you to optimise it. Further, have it automatically calculating the improved LSI performance - listing the organic keywords ranking that are popping up on Google Search. This could be similar to the Site Auditor step-by-step SEO guides but for all your projects content optimisation instead. <h2 id="dvqe3"> CognitiveSEO Review Summary</h2> As Google Search Algorithm becomes more and more complicated and new layers of complexity are added on top of an already intricate network, an all-in-one SEO software companies will have to make a choice. <ul> <li>Either they'll attempt to predict and replicate what the biggest company in the world is up to next. That means pouring resources in an attempt to the ultimate SEO toolkit by combining everything there is while trying not to sacrifice baseline user experience (think how convoluted Google Analytics Dashboard is - and that's just analytics!).</li> <li>OR they will take a specific direction and put all their efforts to help their customers achieving targeted results (think MOZ Local)</li> </ul> From a pragmatic point of view to the whole SEO, I see the second possibility much more compelling. And fortunately, I see CognitiveSEO taking precisely that direction - to become a highly specialised SEO tool for organic SEO projects and affiliate campaigns. And this isn't to say they don't have their bases covered - quite the contrary. The software interface is very responsive and didn't take me long to learn the basics (apart maybe from the Site Explorer). I found all the SEO features highly practical and aligned to make a substantial difference in my organic SEO rankings - whether for my domain or my clients. There are also Free SEO Tools available to take a look but they are very limited. If you're an SEO beginner and you're looking for free SEO tools at CognitiveSEO you will need to supplement them with something else like <a href="https://answerthepublic.com/" target="_blank">Answer The Public</a>. <blockquote> The entry-level CognitiveSEO package cost $129, which is $30 more than popular SemRUSH or Ahrefs basic packages (or Majestic SEO / MOZ Pro). However, neither SemRUSH nor Ahrefs provides Content Optimizer, and eventually, you'll have to look for it somewhere anyway. Maybe it would be a good idea for CognitiveSEO to offer it separately for a smaller price?</blockquote> <figure class="image regular "><a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/pricing.php" target="_blank"><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-paid-plans-pricing_cbf60886693ec0fe1f8d160917eb819e.gif 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-paid-plans-pricing_cbf60886693ec0fe1f8d160917eb819e.gif 1x"></source><img alt="CognitiveSEO Paid Plans Pricing table" height="327" src="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/cognitiveseo-paid-plans-pricing_cbf60886693ec0fe1f8d160917eb819e.gif" width="640" /></picture></a><figcaption>CognitiveSEO Paid Plans Pricing - Monthly or Yearly (30% off) with 7-day Trial</figcaption></figure> Additionally, big "all-in-one" marketing agencies and everyone who also require PPC analysis, social media marketing or some complicated data associations while exporting hundreds of spreadsheets with unlimited data to play around with - those will need additional solutions anyway. Still, if you specialise in organic SEO or in search of fast and practical SEO guide both for SEO experts and beginners (even to jump start their SEO training), I recommend investing in CognitiveSEO. It'll be worth it, and the software will pay itself back faster than you think. Article originally posted on <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/cognitiveseo-review/" target="_blank">https://colorpeak.co.uk/cognitiveseo-review/</a>  <script> if(window.strchfSettings === undefined) window.strchfSettings = {}; window.strchfSettings.stats = {url: "https://colorpeak.storychief.io/cognitiveseo-review?id=586521178&type=12",title: "CognitiveSEO Review: How All-in-One SEO Toolbox Can Help You With Your Organic Traffic",id: "565b8427-1664-46d1-ae81-6e8e0925dae9"}; (function(d, s, id) { var js, sjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {window.strchf.update(); return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/scripts/v0/strchf.js"; js.async = true; sjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, sjs); }(document, 'script', 'storychief-jssdk')) </script>
SEO Content Optimization – CognitiveSEO vs SimilarContent

Sat, 09 Nov 2019 12:43:00 -0000

 WE’VE OPTIMIZED THIS ARTICLE WITH <a href="https://similarcontent.com/">SIMILARCONTENT SEARCH ENGINE CONTENT OPTIMIZATION TOOL</a> MARKETING AUTOMATION - The “marketing automation” keyword and the optimized content I’m referring to throughout the article is here: Marketing Automation Tools – The DIY for BeginnersNON-AFFILIATE REVIEW - This review is my honest feedback as a dedicated SEO enthusiast in constant pursue of optimisation tools that provide the best results.SPOILER ALERT! <a href="https://cognitiveseo.com/">COGNITIVESEO CONTENT OPTIMIZATION SOFTWARE</a> WINS (WITH A BIG CAVEAT WORKING IN FAVOUR OF <a href="https://similarcontent.com/">SIMILARCONTENT OPTIMIZER</a>, BUT MORE ON THAT BELOW). IF YOU’RE AFTER SEO CONTENT OPTIMIZATION IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, BOTH TOOLS WILL GIVE YOU VERY CLOSE RESULTS. AND THE RESULTS BEING HIGHER RANKINGS ON GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE FOR YOUR OPTIMIZED ARTICLES.SO, HERE’S HOW BOTH OF THE TOOLS GO ABOUT DOING CONTENT OPTIMIZATION.<h2 id="4a8f4">How To Do Content Optimization Correctly? – Seed Keyword Analysis</h2>First, both CognitiveSEO and SimilarContent analyse the top searches to find who gets the Google engine ranking right and who doesn’t. After the tools combine the findings, an equation is run to assess the outcome. The idea is to get you information that is easy to interpret and provide you with a general direction in which to take your raw, unoptimized article. As an example, I decided to drop a hard keyword: “marketing automation”.<h3 id="9cb6g">CognitiveSEO Keyword Analysis</h3>The tool does an excellent job of showing you the entire picture at first sight. Without clicking away, I see:<h4 id="7820n">🠮 CONTENT DIFFICULTY</h4>The “gist” of the keyword analysis step and the number from 0-100 that tells you how sharp your content optimization needs to be if you want to enter the content marketing competition at the top of Search Engine Result Page (SERP). “Marketing automation” scored 77, marking it as a “very hard” keyword.<h4 id="8ueng">🠮 LINKS DIFFICULTY</h4>CognitiveSEO goes an extra step here and also lets you know that the content optimization alone ain’t going to cut it. The same scale as before – from 0-100 – and “marketing automation” is marked at 72 (“very hard”). Underneath the Links difficulty score, I see an extra piece of information about how many referring domains do “Score 72” actually mean (“~49 sites” backlinking to my “marketing automation” article to enter the top SERP online competition).<h4 id="2d2cr">🠮 MONTHLY SEARCHES</h4>It shows a popularity trend (Google Trends) of a given keyword in the selected country. For “marketing automation” keyword in Google.co.uk the Monthly Searches feature did not work (the result was “N/A”). Surprisingly it did work for Poland or the USA but not for the UK.But it doesn’t end there. Still, in the same birds-eye view, CognitiveSEO goes even deeper with the Keyword Analysis. And if there was ever any doubt if you should spend the next several hours working on your SEO content optimization, Keyword Explorer and Rank Analysis features should swiftly dispell any uncertainty.<figure class="image regular"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveSEOgroup-by-topickeywordexplorer_70507a59eaa7217a2b2ba1c1cd1b0960_800.png 1x, https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveSEOgroup-by-topickeywordexplorer_70507a59eaa7217a2b2ba1c1cd1b0960_1600.png 2x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveSEOgroup-by-topickeywordexplorer_70507a59eaa7217a2b2ba1c1cd1b0960_800.png 1x, https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveSEOgroup-by-topickeywordexplorer_70507a59eaa7217a2b2ba1c1cd1b0960_1600.png 2x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="SPOILER ALERT! COGNITIVESEO CONTENT OPTIMIZATION SOFTWARE WINS (WITH A BIG CAVEAT WORKING IN FAVOUR OF SIMILARCONTENT OPTIMIZER, BUT MORE ON THAT BELOW). IF YOU’RE AFTER SEO CONTENT OPTIMIZATION IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, BOTH TOOLS WILL GIVE YOU VERY CLOSE RESULTS. AND THE RESULTS BEING HIGHER RANKINGS ON GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE FOR YOUR OPTIMIZED ARTICLES. SO, HERE’S HOW BOTH OF THE TOOLS GO ABOUT DOING CONTENT OPTIMIZATION. How To Do Content Optimization Correctly? – Seed Keyword Analysis First, both CognitiveSEO and SimilarContent analyse the top searches to find who gets the Google engine ranking right and who doesn’t. After the tools combine the findings, an equation is run to assess the outcome. The idea is to get you information that is easy to interpret and provide you with a general direction in which to take your raw, unoptimized article. As an example, I decided to drop a hard keyword: “marketing automation”. CognitiveSEO Keyword Analysis The tool does an excellent job of showing you the entire picture at first sight. Without clicking away, I see: 🠮 CONTENT DIFFICULTY The “gist” of the keyword analysis step and the number from 0-100 that tells you how sharp your content optimization needs to be if you want to enter the content marketing competition at the top of Search Engine Result Page (SERP). “Marketing automation” scored 77, marking it as a “very hard” keyword. 🠮 LINKS DIFFICULTY CognitiveSEO goes an extra step here and also lets you know that the content optimization alone ain’t going to cut it. The same scale as before – from 0-100 – and “marketing automation” is marked at 72 (“very hard”). Underneath the Links difficulty score, I see an extra piece of information about how many referring domains do “Score 72” actually mean (“~49 sites” backlinking to my “marketing automation” article to enter the top SERP online competition). 🠮 MONTHLY SEARCHES It shows a popularity trend (Google Trends) of a given keyword in the selected country. For “marketing automation” keyword in Google.co.uk the Monthly Searches feature did not work (the result was “N/A”). Surprisingly it did work for Poland or the USA but not for the UK. But it doesn’t end there. Still, in the same birds-eye view, CognitiveSEO goes even deeper with the Keyword Analysis. And if there was ever any doubt if you should spend the next several hours working on your SEO content optimization, Keyword Explorer and Rank Analysis features should swiftly dispell any uncertainty." src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveSEOgroup-by-topickeywordexplorer_70507a59eaa7217a2b2ba1c1cd1b0960_800.png" /></picture><figcaption> SimilarContent Topic Difficulty screenshot - establishing keyword difficulty for SEO content optimization</figcaption></figure><h4 id="8qo7o">🠮 KEYWORD EXPLORER</h4>The software breaks it down on a table with primary filters such as Search Suggestions, Focus Keywords and Questions. These I believe, are self-explanatory keyword categorisations that provide a full panoramic view of your seed keyword landscape.There is also “Filter” option for a more refined inspection and an excellent feature “Group by Topic” that in one click reveals the central themes around your chosen keyword. Here you can educate yourself on the search intent behind the chosen keyword. A handy feature and possibly a game-changer if the topic you attempt to target is new to you.Keyword Explorer also shows a set number of keywords they called “opportunities”. For “marketing automation” I was given 916 keyword ideas, that CognitiveSEO artificially limits on my “Starter Plan” ($129.99/mo). Apparently, I could enable the hidden data and “up to triple” the number of keyword opportunities listed if I was to upgrade to the “Business Plan” with “custom pricing”.<h4 id="cnca2">🠮 RANKING ANALYSIS</h4>The tool shows you the other performing websites and their optimized content ranked at the top of the Search Engine grid. It lists the main ingredients of your digital content optimization and marketing strategy you need in order to compete with the top contenders, such as:<ul><li>Content Performance (from 0-100),</li><li>Focus Keywords (the number of topically related keywords),</li><li>No. Of Words (of the entire article)</li><li>Domains To Url/Site (backlinks needed)</li><li>Date Published (how old is the original piece)</li></ul>I was able to review the Top 20 Pages on the Google Search, again with an option to expand it up to the Top 100 on a “Business Plan”.Finally, the Content Assistance tool is where the rubber hits the road. I’ll break it down right after I visit…<h3 id="dlbrb">SimilarContent Keyword Analysis</h3>The software splits it down to three separate tools. Suddenly I wasn’t getting the useful “birds-eye” overview that CognitiveSEO provides in one spot. I think the analysis and content strategy tips are much more partitioned and hard to follow when compared to the other software.<h4 id="3fjqf">🠮 TOPIC DIFFICULTY (TD)</h4>The gist of your keyword investigation will happen under Topic Difficulty tool. SC runs their formula against the top 20 articles on Google Search and presents you with the 0-100 scale of keyword difficulty at the top of the side panel. “Marketing automation” scored 79.9, which is similar to CognitiveSEO. There is no backlink analysis letting you know the number of referring domains needed for your optimized content, but rather a vague statement “Hard & Need High Authority Site”.Next to the Topic Difficulty score, SC presents you with a bar chart of the top 10 articles and their current SEO content Performance Score (from 0-100). I have to note that the Bar Chart was confusing to me at first, and I had to watch the instructional video to confirm what it actually shows (the Article Performance for each page ranked).A little bit below, I’m happy to see a summary of Google Entities (or Snippets) for my “marketing automation” keyword:<ol><li>Ads: 3</li><li>Video: 2</li><li>Questions: 0</li><li>AMP: 20 (and why 20 suddenly? Shouldn’t it be the top 10… ?)</li></ol>It is a nice feature and… utterly inaccurate in my case. I’m not sure if this is desktop or mobile SERP or both? The entities I see on “my Google” are (desktop/mobile version):<ol><li>Ads: 4/4</li><li>Video: 0/6</li><li>Questions: 4/4</li><li>AMP: 0/2</li></ol>Also missing from the tool are: Featured Snippet, People Also Search For, BoP (Bottom of the Page) Ads. I’d like to see those search engine services to be counted in the KD’s SERP guide.<figure class="image regular"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContentTopic-Difficultytoolmulti-languageSEOsupport_2882ede0538cb2ac1835b985fb797ac6_800.png 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContentTopic-Difficultytoolmulti-languageSEOsupport_2882ede0538cb2ac1835b985fb797ac6_800.png 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="SimilarContent Topic Difficulty screenshot - establishing keyword difficulty for seo content optimization" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContentTopic-Difficultytoolmulti-languageSEOsupport_2882ede0538cb2ac1835b985fb797ac6_800.png" /></picture><figcaption>SimilarContent Topic Difficulty screenshot - establishing keyword difficulty for seo content optimization</figcaption></figure> META Title/Description OptimizationFor some strange reason, SimilarContent thought to place “To Optimize Title/Description” suggestions and take 30% of the screen’s real-estate for that information. There, in fine-grain detail, SC tells you where you should put your focus/LSI/variable keywords to compete on organic searches. But why do I need to see these recommendations here?In any regular SEO content optimization workflow or blog creating practices, the META Title/description content optimization is the very last part that you sort out AFTER the entire article is thoroughly developed, optimized and implemented on your website or blog.Therefore at the early stages of the Topic Difficulty checks, the Title/Description content suggestion is an entirely unnecessary technical trivia. A one that you usually sort out at the end of the journey with different page optimization tools for your convenience (like Yoast or PageOptimizerPro). However, if SimilarContent insists on informing me of how the top 20 strategised their Titles/Descriptions and existing content, I’d rather had that info located somewhere on the main table grid. And use the saved space for something more useful, like Keyword Brainstorming or MicroNiche Finder that are separate tools but could easily fit in that view (and be much more relevant to what I intend to do at the Topic Difficulty search phase).Keyword “Synonym(s)”Then there is the “Synonym” feature that I can only describe as some kind of digital content creation helper or a keyword ideas/opportunities tool in its early-stage zygote form. For “marketing automation”, it revealed “About 5 results” (SIC!), and, I suspect, there are some issues with pulling in the data like search volume and frequency of appearance. Currently, it offers less than Google Suggestions but, hopefully, something better will come out of it. Although I can’t say if it’s a “boy” or a “girl” (or something else) yet…<figure class="image regular"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContentTopicDifficultySERPSEOcontentanalysis_1844d4c35cd958aecb198dc579b3b484_800.png 1x, https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContentTopicDifficultySERPSEOcontentanalysis_1844d4c35cd958aecb198dc579b3b484_1600.png 2x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContentTopicDifficultySERPSEOcontentanalysis_1844d4c35cd958aecb198dc579b3b484_800.png 1x, https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContentTopicDifficultySERPSEOcontentanalysis_1844d4c35cd958aecb198dc579b3b484_1600.png 2x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="SimilarContent Topic Difficulty screenshot - establishing keyword difficulty for seo content optimization" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContentTopicDifficultySERPSEOcontentanalysis_1844d4c35cd958aecb198dc579b3b484_800.png" /></picture><figcaption>SimilarContent Topic Difficulty screenshot - establishing keyword difficulty for seo content optimization</figcaption></figure> Topic Difficulty Competitive Breakdown and Content Optimization StrategyFinally, we have the Topic Difficulty table breakdown, and similarly to CognitiveSEO, they go about exploring the chosen topic and its digital landscape.But rather than listing keywords ideas or content “opportunities”, they focus your attention on the Top Sites that rank for the keyword in two different types of views: an existing page content data breakdown and a Search Engine list.In my opinion, both SimilarContent Data and SERP breakdown views show almost the same information (Rank, Domain, Score, Score Chart and Facebook Shares all repeat). Both views could easily be put together under one tab and have another tab(s) revealing something different and aiding your marketing research.In any case, the Keywords Difficulty keyword breakdown is more akin to what CognitiveSEO shows under Ranking Analysis tab. Although the table goes in-depth in some areas, I’m not sure about the practical use of what SC analyses:<ul><li>The table lists only the top 10 SERP results with no possibility to expand (CognitiveSEO shows 20 or more on a higher tier plan) – this is strange because SimilarContent claims they run analysis against the top 20 domains – so, why would they “hide” half of their data findings from us…?</li><li>for “marketing automation” the top 10 SERP are somewhat similar, but I find CognitiveSEO to be a bit closer to what I see when Googling “marketing automation” keyword in my (UK) browser – it is not a big difference though</li><li>both tools show the SEO content optimization performance/score for each ranked domain and, although the approach is different, the conclusions are very similar</li><li>KD displays the entire SERP snippet with META Title and Description (CognitiveSEO shows only the URL path) – I like that and find it useful to see there, but I’m missing the addition of Google Entities and Snippets (CognitiveSEO has it)</li><li>KD also shows the number of times the targeted keyword appeared in the description (it doesn’t count the title and the slug for some reason, so I find it half-done or not that useful)</li><li>Finally, KD goes into great detail to analyse how many times each focused/recommended/similar word is used in the competitive articles – but I’m struggling to understand the usefulness of that information at that particular stage of the keyword research. I mean, I’ll go and keep working on the article under a different tool/view – SC’s Content Optimization. There I’m expecting to find all the fine-grain keyword suggestions and where to put them. I find the Topic Difficulty detailed analysis – “who-used-how-many-keywords” examination – completely inconsequential at the point of reviewing target keywords and searching for opportunities. The “who-used-how-many-keywords” information has no weight whatsoever on whether I chose to pursue the keyword or not.</li></ul>The Topic Difficulty Tool is the weakest point of SimilarContent and a one that requires almost complete revamp to be able to compete with CognitiveSEO Keyword Explorer tool.<figure class="image regular"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContentTopicDifficultyKeywordSearch_30c6b0598fb4c015ed85ad195d26c51c_800.png 1x, https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContentTopicDifficultyKeywordSearch_30c6b0598fb4c015ed85ad195d26c51c_1600.png 2x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContentTopicDifficultyKeywordSearch_30c6b0598fb4c015ed85ad195d26c51c_800.png 1x, https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContentTopicDifficultyKeywordSearch_30c6b0598fb4c015ed85ad195d26c51c_1600.png 2x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="SimilarContent Topic Difficulty screenshot - establishing keyword difficulty for seo content optimization" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContentTopicDifficultyKeywordSearch_30c6b0598fb4c015ed85ad195d26c51c_800.png" /></picture><figcaption>SimilarContent Topic Difficulty screenshot - establishing keyword difficulty for seo content optimization</figcaption></figure> <h4 id="fnjnu">KEYWORD BRAINSTORMING/MICRONICHE FINDER (SEPARATE TOOLS/VIEWS)</h4>Once again, SimilarContent thought to split the Keyword Research onto separate tools/views. I don’t quite understand that. If you’ve done your Topic Difficulty due diligence already, surely Brainstorming and MicroNiche Finder are a step back at that point, no? Why are these tools/views “a next step” on the interface grid? Their placement makes no sense for any keyword search workflow I can think of.Keyword Brainstormingis just a list of keyword ideas that contain all of the terms of a target keyword in them, e.g. “marketing automation tools”. It also shows the frequency of their appearance in the top 10 search engine results. For my “marketing automation” I was presented with “About 15 results” under “Similar and top 1 words” (meaning a Target KW + 1 additional keyword) and “About 5 results” under “Similar and top 2 words” (TKW+2).The results were disappointing and knowing what other search engine optimization companies provide in the “keyword brainstorming” department; the tool is completely unreliable. For example, <a href="https://ahrefs.com/blog/keyword-research/">Ahrefs Keyword Explorer</a> “Having the same terms” tab for “marketing automation” suggested 2001 keywords for the UK alone and 8064 keyword suggestions for the USA (+ 500 “Questions” and 1641 “Also rank for”). Now THAT is what I call a “Brainstorming”. But even CognitiveSEO with its 916 “keyword opportunities” comes out much better. I use Google Suggestions or Answer the Public with much better outcomes than SC keyword ideas.Keyword Brainstorming gets F- and Gryffindor loses 150 points.<figure class="image regular"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContentkeywordbrainstormingtoolforSEO_5fbf71f70b5d8eb1d6043e8ec55bc75b_800.png 1x, https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContentkeywordbrainstormingtoolforSEO_5fbf71f70b5d8eb1d6043e8ec55bc75b_1600.png 2x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContentkeywordbrainstormingtoolforSEO_5fbf71f70b5d8eb1d6043e8ec55bc75b_800.png 1x, https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContentkeywordbrainstormingtoolforSEO_5fbf71f70b5d8eb1d6043e8ec55bc75b_1600.png 2x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="SimilarContent Topic Difficulty screenshot - establishing keyword difficulty for seo content optimization" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContentkeywordbrainstormingtoolforSEO_5fbf71f70b5d8eb1d6043e8ec55bc75b_800.png" /></picture><figcaption>SimilarContent Topic Difficulty screenshot - establishing keyword difficulty for seo content optimization</figcaption></figure> <h4 id="201d0">MICRONICHE FINDER</h4>this, on the other hand, is a very interesting idea that can aid your SEO content. Especially useful if you want to nail an accurate tag(s) or a category to your article. MicroNiche Finder is just a category path or a breadcrumb of the topical relevance of your targeted keyword. It listed seven different paths for my “marketing automation” keyword, and I found it uniquely missing from other tools, including CognitiveSEO or even Ahrefs.Ahrefs “Parent Topic” or CognitiveSEO’s “Group by Topic” could be considered a similar option. Still, it’s not entirely the same, and SimilarContent seems to define the “root path” or the theme’s origin of the keyword more in-depth.I can also see myself using the paths for topical interlinking within my website content. Or at least as an optimized content tiering and content creation strategy.I think if applied correctly across a website or blog, MicroNiche Finder feature could make a positive difference for your search engine optimization ranking.<figure class="image regular"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContent-microniche-content-breadcrumbs_4aa0e2b83c51493a85fa71c1b5b148d6_800.png 1x, https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContent-microniche-content-breadcrumbs_4aa0e2b83c51493a85fa71c1b5b148d6_1600.png 2x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContent-microniche-content-breadcrumbs_4aa0e2b83c51493a85fa71c1b5b148d6_800.png 1x, https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContent-microniche-content-breadcrumbs_4aa0e2b83c51493a85fa71c1b5b148d6_1600.png 2x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="SimilarContent Topic Difficulty screenshot - establishing keyword difficulty for seo content optimization" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/SimilarContent-microniche-content-breadcrumbs_4aa0e2b83c51493a85fa71c1b5b148d6_800.png" /></picture><figcaption>SimilarContent Topic Difficulty screenshot - establishing keyword difficulty for seo content optimization</figcaption></figure> <h4 id="ecv8f">CONTENT REWRITER</h4>Like the name suggests it is an article spinner. I use other tools for that already and don’t find it particularly beneficial. SC claims to use “advanced AI” in the text spinning and suggests to use it only in “chunks” of no more than 100 words for the best results. I tried a couple of short eCommerce product content descriptions I’m working on at the moment. The results were mediocre, not terrible and better than some “mainstream” content spinners. Although it is a nice addition and SC says they’ll keep improving it, I won’t hold my breath, because this isn’t something I’m after when I’m logging in to SimilarContent dashboard.<h4 id="3s7qu">TODAY’S FRESH KEYWORDS</h4>This is just a Google Trends with the most popular search terms for a given day. This feature is cute, but not particularly useful in my opinion (unless you’re working on a gossip/news niche – but even then would “Today’s Fresh Keywords” feature be a real “game-changer” for you? … ).<h2 id="2j5as">Content Optimization vs Content Optimisation</h2>We arrived at the heart of the matter. The point of all those previous searches and crafting strategy was to figure out the subject and write what I call a “raw version of an article”. I’ll take a step back and introduce my 7-step workflow for an optimized content creation that looks roughly like this:<ol><li>An idea pops in my head, or I’m ranking client’s website/blog.</li><li>I do keyword research.</li><li>I create a raw version of an article.</li><li>I drop it to the content optimization tool and edit it.</li><li>I launch it on the website.</li><li>I further optimize page content and run the URL through SEO on-page optimization tool.</li><li>The fully optimized page or blog gets officially launched and spreads on my IFTTT and social media network.</li></ol>I use multiple SEO, content optimization and marketing strategy tools to wrap it all up. CognitiveSEO or SimilarContent can only play a partial role in all that, but an important one. Here’s how each plays it.<h3 id="cmqth">CognitiveSEO’s Content Optimization</h3>You drop an article to the editor, and a list of suggestions appear on the right-hand sidebar. CognitiveSEO groups the suggestions into five “dropdowns” or lists where numerous “focus keywords” are given:<ol><li>Keywords already used</li><li>Keywords you should use</li><li>Keywords you should use more often</li><li>Keywords stuffing (so the ones you’ve used too many times)</li><li>Content Ideas via Questions People Ask</li></ol>The sidebar also provides you with current Performance Score of your article (0-100), a number of focus keywords used, Flesch-Kincaid readability score (0-100) and the overall number of words you used in the article. Further, underneath the article Performance Score, the tool tells you whether your optimized content “can rank in the top 3 Google results”, and what the possible Searchers Intent is for the targeted keyword. CognitiveSEO Keyword Highlighter (FTW)However, the real highlight of the CognitiveSEO Content Optimization editor is the “Highlight Keywords” feature. I love that feature. It highlights all the keywords in your article with colours matching the keyword suggestion dropdowns. That way, you can really see the spread of keywords in your article, strategise the placement and have your material, literally, coming to light right in front of your eyes. CognitiveSEO Keyword Highlighter is a simple feature aiding your content strategy, and it’s an unbelievably fun one. It motivates me to pursue the content optimization further and max-out the performance score of my articles. Well done, CognitiveSEO!The keyword suggestions given are spot on as CognitiveSEO uses a complex <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/seo-evolution/">Search Engines LSI</a> with multiple other indicators and formulas to lay them down for you and transform your text into a search engine friendly content. In fact, all the articles that I’ve treated with CognitiveSEO content optimization immediately ranked in top 20 without any backlinks, while the “marketing automation” – which is a tough keyword – picks up in the top 50 (without backlinks).The overall <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/flat-vs-depth-web-design/">interface is clean, sharp</a> and extremely well-thought-out. CognitiveSEO Content Optimization Tool is an A++ product and a true highlight of their search engine optimization software package.If you want an excellent content optimization software and can afford it, this is it, folks!<figure class="image regular"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveSEOkeywordhighlightercontentstrategy_2785ece3cdc1f6eedd8c80c872575858_800.png 1x, https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveSEOkeywordhighlightercontentstrategy_2785ece3cdc1f6eedd8c80c872575858_1600.png 2x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveSEOkeywordhighlightercontentstrategy_2785ece3cdc1f6eedd8c80c872575858_800.png 1x, https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveSEOkeywordhighlightercontentstrategy_2785ece3cdc1f6eedd8c80c872575858_1600.png 2x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="CognitiveSEO content optimization tool screenshot - how to position your article using LSI, keyword highlighter and keyword research" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveSEOkeywordhighlightercontentstrategy_2785ece3cdc1f6eedd8c80c872575858_800.png" /></picture><figcaption>CognitiveSEO content optimization tool screenshot - how to position your article using LSI, keyword highlighter and keyword research</figcaption></figure> <h3 id="25q90">SimilarContent’s Content Optimization</h3>Similarly to CognitiveSEO, SimilarContent uses a sidebar to list keyword suggestions grouped in three distinct tabs:<ol><li>One word (meaning single-word suggestions)</li><li>Multi-word</li><li>Questions</li></ol>SC computes each tab’s keyword suggestions under four distinct indicators:<ol><li>Not found</li><li>Low</li><li>Good</li><li>Extremely (poor choice of words, should be “overused”, “excessive” or something…)</li></ol>The content strategy implications are similar to that of CogniticeSEO list dropdown, but I see a potential to fine-grain the keyword placement. I am starting to like the idea of “one-word” and “multi-word” suggestions, and I’m beginning to see how it could work to my advantage. CognitiveSEO is much more rigid in that, and the suggestions are fixed – which has its own pros, like keeping it simple, and making it easy to implement. The main thing is the SimilarContent keyword suggestions overlap with CognitiveSEO ones, and I suspect they use similar formulas to pull them out.Worth noting is that SimilarContent uses “AI text analysis” that is available only in English. I believe that feature makes all the difference in the quality of the keywords scoring and suggestions. That makes the optimization in other languages inferior.SimilarContent also gives you a Relevancy Score, which is the same as Performance Score on CognitiveSEO but works a bit different. While the first tool gets you to score from 0 to 100, SC makes you land somewhere between 55-75 points for the best results. More would be over-optimized, which is a strong (negative) signal for Search Engines. CognitiveSEO has its Keyword Stuffing list of course, but SC might be more risk-aware in not letting you go overboard. “Marketing automation” example on CognitivSEO has nothing listed under Keywords Stuffing, while the same article on SimilarContent lists 36 keywords under “Extremely”. These are all suggestions only, but important ones and SC does a great job at letting you know whenever you’re trying too hard.Finally, there is a current article data breakdown, and SC’s Content Optimization tool informs you what language you use (duh!) and the number of words in your article; but also, the tool computes the number of letters, phrases, and even sentences. These are great additions to the overall excellent content optimization SaaS for <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/seo-agency/">SEO</a>.The main thing that I miss is the Keyword Highlighter, which makes working on SimilarContent dull. But once the content strategy highlighter is implemented, and they get the interface cleaned up a bit, SimilarContent Content Optimization offer is going to be hard to dismiss. And all those $100+ ticket SEO tools may struggle to make a case against it.Overall, SimilarContent Content Optimization for SEO is extremely well priced and well done for a product in just under a year of development.<h2 id="e705i">Multi-Language Content Optimization</h2>I primarily work in the realm of the English language, but I always felt that the part reason for my reluctance to work in my native language is the lack of focus and effective tools that support search engine optimization in non-English (hence, lack of awareness). And I don’t blame anyone. I can’t expect an SEO SaaS companies “from California” to focus on some small country with an obscure language no-one else is using. Traffic and users behaviour will dictate what we bet all our chips on. However, the fact is that the non-English language countries are left behind, only catching-up to the SEO cutting edge. This ultimately can mean only one thing: the audience from these countries hold keys to uncharted Gold Mines. Some of these digital markets are like Lost Cities of Z waiting to be explored by Westerners looking for treasures and fame.<figure class="image regular"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/Lost-City-of-Z_20ddf84266140f81cf1c6a9334f8f9b7_800.JPG 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/Lost-City-of-Z_20ddf84266140f81cf1c6a9334f8f9b7_800.JPG 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/Lost-City-of-Z_20ddf84266140f81cf1c6a9334f8f9b7_800.JPG" /></picture></figure> My point is that there is a massive discrepancy in the way SEO works in the UK when compared to the USA. There is an even bigger difference when I compare the UK to other European countries. Some premium tools already support general Keyword Research in multiple languages, but we need more focus on niche languages.At the beginning of October 2019, CognitiveSEO added all Google supported languages in their Content Optimization Tool. I checked the Polish language option, and I can see that I could use the tool right away.I think this is a sign of maturity in the industry when such advanced tools start including other languages than just English. Although I find CognitiveSEO Content Optimization for Polish slightly miscalculated in difficulty scoring, it is extremely helpful to have that in my SEO tool kit.SimilarContent already supports 15 languages and claims to add more. Unfortunately, my language (Polish) is not one of the supported (yet) and the fact I didn’t pay attention to my German teacher in school; I just couldn’t test the multi-language options. Hopefully, when they update the software to include the Polish language, I check it out and submit my findings in this article. In any case, kudos to both for a great attempt to include more languages and open more countries to an advanced SEO.<figure class="image regular"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveseo-polish_8bfe4ca9572727767844e407b01ce84a_800.png 1x, https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveseo-polish_8bfe4ca9572727767844e407b01ce84a_1600.png 2x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveseo-polish_8bfe4ca9572727767844e407b01ce84a_800.png 1x, https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveseo-polish_8bfe4ca9572727767844e407b01ce84a_1600.png 2x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="planer słów kluczowych seo - pozycjonowanie stron przy użyciu CognitiveSEO " src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveseo-polish_8bfe4ca9572727767844e407b01ce84a_800.png" /></picture></figure><figure class="image regular"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveSEO-polish-content-optimiser_a8ae1034cc4b7dcae76e758c95162c92_800.png 1x, https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveSEO-polish-content-optimiser_a8ae1034cc4b7dcae76e758c95162c92_1600.png 2x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveSEO-polish-content-optimiser_a8ae1034cc4b7dcae76e758c95162c92_800.png 1x, https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveSEO-polish-content-optimiser_a8ae1034cc4b7dcae76e758c95162c92_1600.png 2x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="seo copywriting - jak pisać teksty seo i pozycjonować bloga przy użyciu narzędzia CognitiveSEO" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/cognitiveSEO-polish-content-optimiser_a8ae1034cc4b7dcae76e758c95162c92_800.png" /></picture></figure> <h2 id="bksnq">How much SEO content optimization tools cost</h2>Content optimization tools follow a <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/ppc-ads/">“pay-per-click” pricing</a> model we know from Google, Facebook Ads. In that, certain operations cost you “a credit/query balance”. This means that you will have to work on optimizing all your clicks to get the most out of each tool. The prices range wildly and I’ll try to explain the value you get out of each SEO package below.CognitiveSEO starts at $129 per month and has its balance calculation simplified. They give you one pile of credits/points (“queries” they call it), 250 points per month on the Starter Plan, and every “Submit” costs one point. If you’re not careful, you can nuke the entire balance at the beginning of the month. And with the way CognitiveSEO approaches the thing, it is easy to do. For example, I found that when I click the “back” button on my browser, points disappear. When I do a repetitive search, something I searched a second ago without an update, points disappear. Or I merely open previously edited article, again, points disappear. I also find it vial that clicking to analyse the entire existing content carries the same point value as peeking at some obscure long-tail keyword in their keyword database. Because I don’t use their Keyword Search or Site Explorer tools much, I was lucky enough to have never run out of my credit balance, but I hate that aggressive approach to quota, anyway, and I see it as the weakest point of CognitiveSEO package.SimilarContent range from $19 to $79 per month and handles the balance computation much better than CognitiveSEO. SC splits the clicks into four different segments and count each separately: Keyword Ranking, Analyze Article, Keyword Research, Niche Discovery. The best thing is that the quota resets every day rather than every month. So there is some freedom in that, and if you go overboard one afternoon, you only need to wait till the next day to have a blast again. Also, SimilarContent gives you plenty of options to scale your use as different pricing tiers are available – starting from only $19/m is a tremendous value. CognitiveSEO shoves you at one fixed tier ($129/m) and then offers a “business plan with custom pricing”, which I guess means higher costs. SimilarContent is a clear winner here.<h2 id="ds797">What about CognitiveSEO Campaign Tools and the Site Explorer?</h2>I deliberately skipped the more fundamental SEO tools that CognitiveSEO offers, because I don’t think they hold any relevance to the subject of this comparison (SimilarContent doesn’t offer anything like it). Ahrefs or Semrush would be more suitable to line up against CognitiveSEO, and that is a <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/blog/">subject for another article</a>.<h2 id="a0dj7">Summary and which content optimization tool should you choose</h2>While I find the Content Optimizers a head-to-head competition, CognitiveSEO wins with SimilarContent in the Keyword Analysis department by a long shot. But here’s the thing: both are sore losers to Ahrefs. I find it especially saddening information for CognitiveSEO that put a lot of effort to provide as much information as Ahrefs Keyword Explorer does. And for a price of $129 – CognitiveSEO is not even close, I’m afraid. I can have Ahrefs with all their bells and whistles for a not-far-off price of $179/m and completely smash whatever I can find on CognitiveSEO’s Keyword Explorer and all other tools they provide. Which is precisely what I do: I use Ahrefs for all the keywords, backlinks, content/site explorers and web-audit analysis. Then I use CognitiveSEO/SimilarContent for LSI Content Analysis and Content Optimization. And even further, I use <a href="https://pageoptimizer.pro/">PageOptimizationPro</a> for a technical onPage SEO. That way, I can enjoy the best of all worlds without taking half-measures.In that sense, I find SimilarContent a much better option than CognitiveSEO somewhat steep entry point package. If you use Ahrefs/Semrush for keyword research/backlink analysis already, you really should consider checking out <a href="https://similarcontent.com/pricing/">SimilarContent offer</a>. If you work in English, for a price of $19/m you get enough to put your articles next to whatever comes out of CognitiveSEO’s Content Optimization soft. Just make sure you’ve done your due diligence on Ahref/Semrush keyword explorer tools first. Otherwise, if you like to keep all your essential SEO tools in one place and looking for an accurate, extremely well thought-out and fricktionless Content Optimization tool, CognitiveSEO should be the one. A high ticket price but no comprimises on the optimizations either.<h2 id="2kq25">Epilogue</h2>SimilarContent is a startup, and an exciting roadmap is in place. They have a long journey ahead of them. Still, if they stay the course and keep themselves out of depth (e.g. not trying to be second Ahrefs), they may be one of the top contenders in their particular “multi-language diverse and multi-national inclusive content optimization niche”.I truly wish them well and not just because I had the opportunity to <a href="https://appsumo.com/similarcontent/">get my spot at the front seat</a> but, because, SEO is so much more than “Yoast and backlinks”. Better content optimization tools = better content = better Internet. <h2 id="40rmi">Things I’d like to see SimilarContent focusing on:</h2><ol><li>Keyword Highlighter – I love that feature on CognitiveSEO. I think many people do. CognitiveSEO gives you a visual overview of your entire keyword placement strategy right inside your text. It is also a strange psychological trick that motivates me to keep filling-in the text with “more colours” (missing LSI keywords). Looking at the block of boring text on SC takes all the fun away.</li><li>Article History – this obvious feature is a must… I wasn’t happy when I discovered that I could not reaccess the past articles I worked on… Or still working on – the optimization takes time and often cannot be done in one sitting! Now I need to go through the entire process back again, copy-paste (fortunately I’ve made an external copy!) and waste additional credit. Really?!</li><li>Default Settings – I’d like to have my default country and language saved in my profile. Majority of my searches go against the UK market and are in English. I don’t want to set it all up every time I log in to commit another search.</li><li>Topic Difficulty (TD) – the Bar Chart with the Article Performance Score has the same purple colour as the Topic Difficulty Score placed next to it. It is, therefore, confusing on what score the bar chart shows as there is no tooltip explanation. There are multiple places on the dashboard where I’d like to see tooltips and different colours used to make it more clear. Also, some of the descriptions are inaccurate or confusing (e.g. “Extreme”… ?).</li><li>The option “To Optimize Title/Description” in Topic Difficulty is unnecessary. Keyword Brainstorming/MicroNiche Finder tools are unnecessarily separate and in the wrong place on the dashboard. SC needs to rethink the whole KD and other supportive tools from scratch. </li><li>Google Entities / Snippets summary in KD are inaccurate and they could be upgraded with additional Snippets that are missing (Bottom of the Page Ads, People also ask/Related Questions.</li></ol><h2 id="14qdu">Check out YouTube Channel for more SimilarContent and Cognitive SEO info</h2><ul><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQMrMnn9ySK7ieo3fi9bsZA/videos">Cognitive SEO YouTube Channel</a></li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa00gZqaSLlGBaJ6Wh9YHmQ/videos">SimilarContent YouTube Channel</a></li></ul>This article was originally posted on Colorpeak Blog - <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/seo-content-optimization-cognitiveseo-vs-similarcontent/">SEO Content Optimization – CognitiveSEO vs SimilarContent</a>.<a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/cognitiveSEOgroup-by-topickeywordexplorer.png"> </a>  <script> if(window.strchfSettings === undefined) window.strchfSettings = {}; window.strchfSettings.stats = {url: "https://colorpeak.storychief.io/seo-content-optimization-cognitiveseo-vs-similarcontent?id=429297578&type=12",title: "SEO Content Optimization – CognitiveSEO vs SimilarContent",id: "565b8427-1664-46d1-ae81-6e8e0925dae9"}; (function(d, s, id) { var js, sjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {window.strchf.update(); return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/scripts/v0/strchf.js"; js.async = true; sjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, sjs); }(document, 'script', 'storychief-jssdk')) </script>
How to Get Facebook & Google Pixel Ad Tracking using PixelMe

Sun, 22 Sep 2019 12:51:00 -0000

It's important that you understand, how people move around your website. The business intelligence you gather, compile and make sense of provides a big picture of your company direction. Online tracking or pixel ad tracking is a fundamental instrument in your marketing automation tool-kit.Whether you like it or not, savvy-marketeers and modern businesses use pixel ad tracking to tailor their products and services to sell more, serve better and grow faster. It is then not surprising that several companies built entire businesses to serve just this single purpose – tracking you. Web analytics are a must these days and tracking user behaviour cannot be guesswork if you want to optimise your ads.<figure class="image regular"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/remarketing-pixelme-colorpeak_31c5ad411ad2af27dea357a2354fefe3_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/remarketing-pixelme-colorpeak_31c5ad411ad2af27dea357a2354fefe3_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Graphic representation of Pixel Ad Tracking" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/remarketing-pixelme-colorpeak_31c5ad411ad2af27dea357a2354fefe3_800.jpg" /></picture><figcaption>Remarketing</figcaption></figure><h2 id="910hg">Marketing Analytics – the Key to Your Company Success</h2>Nowadays, you can find many tracking and marketing automation tools to provide an almost infinite amount of data to track users and user behaviour. Most heard of (or used) is Google Analytics and their pixel tracking– a staple among online marketing communities. And Google’s Secret Weapon used to dominate the Digital World (ever asked yourself why such a sophisticated marketing tool is… free?). Some even go as far as to say <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/07/how-google-analytics-ruined-marketing/">it ruined the marketing</a>.Whatever your opinion is, Analytics is a powerful piece of marketing software for conversion tracking that you shouldn’t underestimate. But does it end there? Certainly not!<figure class="image regular"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/test_2ec9c893159aba5e0a886c053a05a3d4_800.png 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/test_2ec9c893159aba5e0a886c053a05a3d4_800.png 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Google Analytics dashboard" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/test_2ec9c893159aba5e0a886c053a05a3d4_800.png" /></picture><figcaption>Google Analytics dashboard</figcaption></figure><h2 id="3146k">Google Analytics – The Easiest Most Difficult Marketing Tool to Implement</h2>One of the Analytics problems is its interface and complexity. Or its ‘sandboxiness’. Google indeed puts all the effort to make it super-easy for virtually everyone to plaster their tool on their websites. But once it’s there and you enter Analytics, it kind of leaves you hanging. It takes a lot of time and knowledge to understand the jargon, the mechanics of the tool, and how to set things up like tracking pixel or conversion tracking for yourself – not only on your website but also on the overview dashboard. We’ve seen many business owners withdraw to just tracking… traffic instead of tracking user behaviour. Or whatever the default GA dashboard shows. With many not even understanding what “Bounce Rate” is.<blockquote>I once had someone ask me why their website "got only 43% of the <a href="https://i.chzbgr.com/full/6400116736/hE1C20CE8/">"bouncy score"</a> – thinking it's Google's "coolness" metric of some sort… indeed, the "bouncy score" should be the next big (bouncy) thing in internet marketing.</blockquote><h2 id="fdb9m">PixelMe – Going Beyond Google Analytics</h2>No wonder many marketers took their expertise in data analysis to and decided to build a tool that gave their own spin around Pixel Ad tracking and business intelligence. One of those tools is <a href="https://pixelme.grsm.io/colorpeak">PixelMe</a>.Folks at <a href="https://pixelme.grsm.io/colorpeak">PixelMe</a> looked at all that GA-sandbox confusion and decided to just cut to the chase. "What do marketers and website owners need to really know from people visiting their websites?". They created a tool that is 100x easier to understand, navigate around, and implement than Google Analytics ever has been. And it’s great!<figure class="image regular"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/pixelme-dashboard-pixel-tracking_98d93fb2b22dce95a80ce09316852692_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/pixelme-dashboard-pixel-tracking_98d93fb2b22dce95a80ce09316852692_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="PixelMe Dasboard tool for Pixel Ad Tracking" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/pixelme-dashboard-pixel-tracking_98d93fb2b22dce95a80ce09316852692_800.jpg" /></picture><figcaption>PixelMe Dasboard</figcaption></figure><h2 id="8d7ss">How does a pixel tracker work?</h2>To better understand Pixel ad tracking, first, you need to understand what a tracking pixel is. In a majority of cases, it is a code snippet that is triggered when a visitor lands on your website, clicks on a link or opens an email. The pixel script communicates with the source server, which registers a user-triggered action. Meanwhile, the user is “tagged” with a unique ID, and the entire website session gets recorded in “a browser cookie” file.It is worth noting that the Internet browsers refer back to cookie files every time users come back to websites. And, as you already suspect, the pixel server is then getting informed as well.For example, every <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/pixelme-divi-cta-tracking-onclick-events/">click made by the user</a> can be captured and tracked so you can adjust your conversion actions. In other words, tracking pixel allows you to gather data to improve your digital ad and marketing strategy. All that is based on the user behaviour tracking data that is provided by a pixel code. By collecting all that data about user behaviour, you can optimise your ads, content and improve retargeting.<h2 id="6r4ao">Here are Top 5 Benefits that make PixelMe worth giving a shot and what you should expect from their Pixel ad tracking tool:</h2><ol><li>Retargeting (re-marketing) via Short-Links – you can develop super-effective retargeting audience groups from any link you share. <a href="https://pixelme.grsm.io/colorpeak">PixelMe</a> starts as a web-link shortener but then allows you to incorporate them with advertisement retargeting pixels, attributions and various marketing automation hacks.</li><li>Assign Urchin Tracking Module (UTM) – with the ability to include UTM tags to all your web links you will know where every website conversion comes from. When used in your marketing campaigns, you can further evaluate and also enhance your financial investments through the first touch, multi-touch, or last touch attribution versions.</li><li>Serve as your All-in-One Marketing Platform – PixelMe automatically combines data from multiple platforms in one convenient dashboard. Within few minutes, you can plug most of your ads’ systems (Facebook, Google, etc.), many CRM platforms, as well as various analytics platforms (like Segment or Google Tag Manager).</li><li>Test and decide what works for you – test and see which of your marketing channel brings the highest ROI and which should you abandon. Because PixelMe allows you to measure the influence of any kind of paid or natural network, you no longer have to guess if a given investment is worth throwing money at it.</li><li>Map your customer journeys – all that data means nothing if you can’t test your assumed touchpoints and paths to conversion. PixelMe allows you to look at each customer touchpoint and help you to understand its contribution in making or breaking the sale.</li></ol><h2 id="5obcm">Business Analysis, Marketing Attribution And Tracking – Making It All Count</h2>The one thing shared among many business marketers (and especially social media influencers) is the obsession with data hoarding. Everyone seems to obsess around clicks, likes, followers, subscribers… But not many take it to the next level and ask a question – “what it all really means to my business?!“. Because so many of those “stats” are just completely arbitrary. We call them the “Vanity Metrics” for a reason. But thanks to marketing tools like <a href="https://pixelme.grsm.io/colorpeak">PixelMe</a>, we can look at the pixel ad tracking data and the real-world examples that it provides. And then take an information-based action. If you dig deep enough, you may even find your own “Bouncy Score”.<h2 id="co47h">Using Divi Theme with PixelMe together</h2> See <a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.fleeq.io/l/y279wyz36b-3t6kf6xk25">here</a> how you can track every click via the Event Tracker on your website! <h3 id="52l3">Check our YouTube Channel for more Divi Tips & Trick and Marketing Tutorials:</h3><ul><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjnCza-fV81-ub-xxY63jrQ/videos">Colorpeak YouTube Channel</a></li></ul>  <script> if(window.strchfSettings === undefined) window.strchfSettings = {}; window.strchfSettings.stats = {url: "https://colorpeak.storychief.io/how-to-facebook-google-pixel-ad-tracking?id=1041467792&type=12",title: "How to Get Facebook & Google Pixel Ad Tracking using PixelMe",id: "565b8427-1664-46d1-ae81-6e8e0925dae9"}; (function(d, s, id) { var js, sjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {window.strchf.update(); return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/scripts/v0/strchf.js"; js.async = true; sjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, sjs); }(document, 'script', 'storychief-jssdk')) </script>
Tracking (onclick) CTA’s via PixelMe in DIVI Theme

Wed, 11 Sep 2019 11:09:00 -0000

<figure class="video regular"><div class="embed-container"><div style="max-width: 100%; position: relative; padding-top: 74.9455%;"><iframe width="459" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tdegFfpIM1A?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%;"></iframe></div></div><figcaption>PixelMe set up in DIVI</figcaption></figure>We make it easy for you! Follow <a target="_blank" href="http://social.clrpeak.com/vDQJVBQw">this step-by-step process on our Fleeq</a> page to implement <a target="_blank" href="https://pixelme.grsm.io/colorpeak">PixelMe</a> in Divi.If you work with Divi Theme and <a target="_blank" href="https://pixelme.grsm.io/colorpeak">PixelMe</a>, you quickly realise that adding a simple 'onclick event' to their Call-To-Action buttons isn't straightforward (Divi's buttons are styled anchor tags rather than regular HTML wrappers). <figure class="image regular"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/Pixelme-divi-tracking-onclick-set-up_27718070a4f84c55e5c3552c7bdfa2ba_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/Pixelme-divi-tracking-onclick-set-up_27718070a4f84c55e5c3552c7bdfa2ba_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Event Tracker of PixelMe in Divi promo image" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/Pixelme-divi-tracking-onclick-set-up_27718070a4f84c55e5c3552c7bdfa2ba_800.jpg" /></picture><figcaption>How to implement Event Tracker of PixelMe in Divi</figcaption></figure><h2 id="6k0gj">Here's how to implement Event Tracker of PixelMe in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.elegantthemes.com/">Divi Theme by Elegant Themes</a> in 5 easy steps:</h2><ol><li>Pick a button you want to track - either for a single CTA button or all buttons at once.</li><li>For ALL CTA's, identify the default CSS Class of your DIVI Theme buttons (e.g. ".et_pb_button"). Use your browser's default inspector to confirm the right Class name for your button. Or to narrow down to a single CTA - input a custom CSS Class name in DIVI CTA Module Settings - Advance Setting - Custom CSS field (e.g. "callus")</li><li>Next, log in to your PixelMe Dashboard and go to Smart Attribution - Settings - Tracking code</li><li>Select "Tracked events" from the dropdown. You should choose whatever is closest to your CTAs event you are trying to record. Copy the generated event script.</li><li>Log in to your WP Dash and go to Divi - Integration - Header. Insert the following jQuery script with the button's Class and your copied script from PixelMe:</li></ol><figure class="image regular"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/pixelme-divi-tracking-script_c9bdd47cc43ced46f623776f4976e9b9_800.PNG 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/pixelme-divi-tracking-script_c9bdd47cc43ced46f623776f4976e9b9_800.PNG 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="PixelMe in Divi event tracker example" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/pixelme-divi-tracking-script_c9bdd47cc43ced46f623776f4976e9b9_800.PNG" /></picture><figcaption>PixelMe in Divi event tracker example</figcaption></figure>Now every time someone clicks on the CTA(s) the event gets recorded on your <a target="_blank" href="https://pixelme.grsm.io/colorpeak">PixelMe</a> Dashboard.This article was originally posted on Colorpeak.co.uk: <a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/pixelme-divi-cta-tracking-onclick-events">Tracking (onclick) CTA’s via PixelMe in DIVI Theme </a>  <script> if(window.strchfSettings === undefined) window.strchfSettings = {}; window.strchfSettings.stats = {url: "https://colorpeak.storychief.io/pixelme-divi-cta-tracking-onclick-events?id=1141346471&type=12",title: "Tracking (onclick) CTA’s via PixelMe in DIVI Theme",id: "565b8427-1664-46d1-ae81-6e8e0925dae9"}; (function(d, s, id) { var js, sjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {window.strchf.update(); return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/scripts/v0/strchf.js"; js.async = true; sjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, sjs); }(document, 'script', 'storychief-jssdk')) </script>
4 key skills of a WordPress web designer – a beginners guide

Thu, 14 Mar 2019 17:14:00 -0000

AS A PERSON WHO WENT FROM HAVING NO DESIGNER SKILLS TO BUILDING WEBSITES FOR A LIVING, I THINK IT’S WORTH SHARING SOME BASIC PRINCIPLES THAT HELPED ME BECOME A WORDPRESS WEB DESIGNER. TODAY I WILL TALK YOU THROUGH SOME CRITICAL SKILLS THAT ONE SHOULD DEVELOP TO BECOME A FULL-TIME WEB DESIGNER.If you’ve ever considered becoming a web designer, but you’re not interested in learning to code, now is a great time to give it a try. Why may you ask? The answer is simple – there are so many tools that allow you to design without the back-end knowledge that you can become a WordPress web designer with a bit of imagination and some skills. But to become a successful web designer I would advise you to start with research. The reason why is because there is much more to <a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/web-design/">web design</a> than just translating your vision into a working and functional website using some software (that I will talk about as well).<figure class="image regular"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/wordpress-web-designer_a5e4a5d940ea0df38604fcd82525b9fa_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/wordpress-web-designer_a5e4a5d940ea0df38604fcd82525b9fa_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Wordpress Web Designer" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/wordpress-web-designer_a5e4a5d940ea0df38604fcd82525b9fa_800.jpg" /></picture><figcaption>WordPress Web Designer</figcaption></figure><h2 id="3ldh2">1. Plan to become a WordPress web designer</h2>First, to build a website you need to have an understanding of who is it for, what features are required and what are your client’s expectations. Don’t have a client yet? Perfect! You don’t want your first website, which is going to be a disaster anyway, affect your confidence. Start small. Does your mum have a hobby? That’s how I started. I had built a website where she could showcase her cat sweaters. I was not ready for e-Commerce yet to sell them to other animal lovers, but I could start with a nice portfolio showcasing her creations (and my basic WordPress web <a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/tag/designer/">designer </a>skills). So, whether it’s your mum or a neighbour sit down with them and ask all the questions that you think will be important to build a website. I would discourage you from skipping this step and interviewing yourself. There are certain things you can learn only when you’re surprised. Therefore, an interaction with somebody else is the best way to do it.<figure class="image regular"><a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/web-design-company/"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/wordpress-web-designer-questionnaire_35a6bf223b195a9cf5cafe08fb70e7d3_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/wordpress-web-designer-questionnaire_35a6bf223b195a9cf5cafe08fb70e7d3_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="WordPress Web Designer Questionnaire " src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/wordpress-web-designer-questionnaire_35a6bf223b195a9cf5cafe08fb70e7d3_800.jpg" /></picture></a><figcaption>We design questionnaire </figcaption></figure><h4 id="3ua9b">The Importance of a Questionnaire </h4>Check out our basic web design questionnaire that I used at the early stage before Colorpeak was an agency. It does not matter whether you’re a WordPress web designer or developer. If you’re building a website, then you need one. Below, I also included some additional links with other questions that may turn out handy for your project specifically. Be cautious though as too many questions will bore your client. Be accurate but don’t go overboard with three pages of questions. As part of a large marketing agency, there will come a time for fancy shmancy questions about the company’s vision or whether their solutions are better than their competitors. Now you need to know if they have a domain, what colours do they like (or hate), what is the website for and do they have content or do you need to create it.Remember to use the questionnaire as a guide for your conversation; don’t just send it to them point blank. A discussion is a key to land a client. You will not get them through cold calling or emails. Therefore, you should practice this skill as often as you have an opportunity to do so.<h4 id="e3j2d">Handy links for building your own Questionnaire </h4><ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.treefrog.ca/web-design-questionnaire">WEB DESIGN QUESTIONNAIRE BY TREEFROG</a> - A simple yet effective questionnaire created by Canadian web design company. Basic questions and tick boxes make the experience of filling in the form seamless. </li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://contentsnare.com/website-design-questionnaire/">WEBSITE DESIGN QUESTIONNAIRE KNOW HOW</a> - A know-how guide explaining what's important when creating a questionnaire. If you subscribe to their newsletter, you get access to the question list & ready to use form. </li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/06/45-incredibly-useful-web-design-checklists-and-questionnaires/">45 INCREDIBLY USEFUL WEB DESIGN CHECKLISTS & QUESTIONNAIRES</a> - Checklists that cover multiple areas from content to usability to accessibility to standards, you’re a lot less likely to overlook important parts of a site.</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://marketingland.com/100-questions-you-must-ask-when-developing-web-site-86342">100+ QUESTIONS YOU MUST ASK WHEN DEVELOPING A WEBSITE</a> - You certainly don't have to ask all of them, but this list may help you figure out whether you missed out something important.</li></ul><h2 id="esu9k">2. Technical - Hosting, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, UX</h2>There is no way around technical skills development in web design. Fortunately, with WordPress, you can start without any and develop the understanding as you go. Of course, knowing HTML, CSS and JavaScript will help, but you can start without them to become WordPress web designer. When you finally get to that stage when working on WordPress templates is not good enough, learn HTML first, then CSS and JavaScript will be the cherry on the top. HTML will take you no time; you will just need a few hours to know the basics. With CSS it will be much more, but you can do a day course learning the principles. Knowing those principles will allow you to look up specific things when you need them. JavaScript is a solid coding skill so you should have many websites in your portfolio that you are proud of before you jump into this deeper dive.<figure class="image regular"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/wordpress-web-designer-technical-skills_5ce8de966443c61fa91a6d52dec893e4_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/wordpress-web-designer-technical-skills_5ce8de966443c61fa91a6d52dec893e4_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Technical skills of a WordPress Web Designer " src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/wordpress-web-designer-technical-skills_5ce8de966443c61fa91a6d52dec893e4_800.jpg" /></picture><figcaption>Technical skills of a web designer</figcaption></figure>But at the very beginning, the technical skills that you need as a WordPress web designer are how to set up a website on a hosting platform and install WordPress on it.<h4 id="clorn">WordPress themes that speed up design process</h4>Start your first website by using one of the WordPress free templates. This will help you learn how it works and what are the principles of working with Gutenberg design engine. To make your website look more appealing there are some themes that offer more flexibility and will allow you to be more creative. These are Divi from Elegant Themes, Elementor or Beaver Builder. You can find out the pros and cons of each one on this YouTube video.<figure class="video large"><div class="embed-container"><div style="max-width: 100%; position: relative; padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eYI8TVNPCu4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%;"></iframe></div></div><figcaption>Elementor vs Divi Builder vs Beaver Builder: Ultimate Comparison </figcaption></figure> To state the obvious, as a WordPress web designer you will need some <a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/graphic-design-agency/">graphic design</a> skills. Fortunately, these days there are many free repositories that you can source images from. If you combine them with basic skills of working with Photoshop or Gimp image processing tools you are set. Also, don’t forget to go through some <a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/tag/ux/">User Experience (UX)</a> guides. They will teach you the principles of good web design that will help the visitor of the website enjoy the experience. <h2 id="cgdi8">3. Marketing</h2>When creating a website in 2019, some marketing skills are a must. A WordPress web designer won’t get away without knowing basics of copywriting and<a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/seo-agency/"> Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)</a>, like keyword research and on-page optimisation. I know many people who would argue with me on that point, but I believe that a competent web designer should have this knowledge.<h4 id="4tb4e">Content writing - copywriting is the key</h4>You may not have to write content for your website as the client will provide it, but you need to recognise when it’s crap. It's part of your job to advise your client that they need to hire a better writer. Even better, to leave the copywriting to you (or your trusted freelance copywriter - you will find them on Fiverr and People Per Hour, although it takes few orders before you can find somebody trustworthy).<figure class="image regular"><a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/marketing/"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/wordpress-web-designer-copywriting_44d6fae5ccdd3db56e9adb3684caa118_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/wordpress-web-designer-copywriting_44d6fae5ccdd3db56e9adb3684caa118_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Wordpress web designer copywriting" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/wordpress-web-designer-copywriting_44d6fae5ccdd3db56e9adb3684caa118_800.jpg" /></picture></a><figcaption>Copywriting skills of a web designer</figcaption></figure>You will also need to skilfully describe what each page is all about in between 120 and 158 characters in a page description. That requires not only copywriting skills but also some keyword research and SEO knowledge. Fortunately, there are plugins for that! For example, Yoast will not only tell you whether your meta description or page title is too short or too long but also it will score your keyword strength. It will also suggest how to correct your text to make it more readable and point the header tag structure (H1-H3) in relation to the keywords. It’s a great tool. Optimising images is also important, and you need to have tools to decrease image size to speed up page loading time. As a WordPress web designer, you need to know how to add Alt Tags and descriptions and geotag them, which helps with Local SEO.<h4 id="a0jl7">Keyword research and why is it important</h4>In terms of keywords, clients will often tell you what keyword they want to rank for. Nine times out of ten they will be wrong. Sometimes because the competition is too strong and sometimes because nobody searches for that keyword, so there is no point to rank for it. I have included some articles below that will give you a better grasp on keyword research. After that use Google Trends or Answer the Public tools to judge the value of your keywords.<ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/keyword_research/">Keyword research - what is it?</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo">Beginners Guide to SEO</a></li></ul>Tools that will help you do the keyword research<ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://trends.google.com/trends/ ">Google Trends</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://answerthepublic.com/">Answer the public</a></li></ul><h2 id="a0l11">4. Hungry for knowledge</h2>Last but not least! In fact, wanting to learn is a major player in changing your career path to a WordPress web designer or any website designer or <a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/tag/developer/">developer</a>, to be frank. The web design field is vast, and there are many stages to learn about it before you can confidently say you are a competent web designer. You will need to be passionate about it and be hungry for knowledge. We live in the time where there is a YouTube or GitHub answer to every problem that you may encounter when designing a website, whether you want to change the colour of the font or animate something in JavaScript… and yes, I’m thinking about my mum’s cat presenting his favourite sweater on a catwalk….<figure class="image regular"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/wordpress-web-designer-learning_20a4551d88e7a63fad7ce6bf95d98daa_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/wordpress-web-designer-learning_20a4551d88e7a63fad7ce6bf95d98daa_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="WordPress web designer learning process" src="https://images.storychief.com/account_2648/wordpress-web-designer-learning_20a4551d88e7a63fad7ce6bf95d98daa_800.jpg" /></picture><figcaption>Learning web designer skills</figcaption></figure><h2 id="b2c4m">Conclusion</h2>It seems like a lot, but do not feel overwhelmed. You will simply acquire all these skills while designing websites and being open to self-learning. I am a firm believer in "learning on the job" and acquiring abilities that you need to resolve problems one by one as you approach them. This is why the best way to learn WordPress web designer skills is to actually try and design some websites for fun and google your way through obstacles. So, go ahead, start now. Just register your new site on WordPress today, and tomorrow… well, the sky is the limit… OK, if you think this is cringy, then it is, but do it regardless. No postponing!The above skills won’t make you a Frontend Web developer yet, we will get to that in another article, but it will get you started. Don’t miss the opportunity. Today is the day when you choose the path to become a WordPress web designer.<h3 id="6ja4a">Find out More:</h3><ul><li><a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/4-key-skills-graphic-designer/">4 key skills of a Graphic Designer</a></li><li><a href="https://coder-coder.com/learn-web-development/">Learn web development as an absolute beginner (2018 guide)</a></li></ul>This article was originally posted on Colorpeak Blog - <a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/4-key-skills-wordpress-web-designer">4 key skills of a WordPress web designer - a beginners guide</a>  <script> if(window.strchfSettings === undefined) window.strchfSettings = {}; window.strchfSettings.stats = {url: "https://colorpeak.storychief.io/4-key-skills-wordpress-web-designer?id=1968072574&type=12",title: "4 key skills of a WordPress web designer – a beginners guide",id: "565b8427-1664-46d1-ae81-6e8e0925dae9"}; (function(d, s, id) { var js, sjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {window.strchf.update(); return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/scripts/v0/strchf.js"; js.async = true; sjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, sjs); }(document, 'script', 'storychief-jssdk')) </script>
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Web Design: 10 Year Challenge

Sun, 27 Jan 2019 15:44:00 -0000

The internet kicked off the beginning of the year 2019 with #10yearchallenge. It started on <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%2310yearchallange&src=tyah">Twitter</a> and soon picked up speed there and on Instagram with thousands of people following the hashtag. Majority of <a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/social-media/">social media</a> users began sharing their photos taken a decade ago and compare it with the most recent one, showing how much they have changed. But we thought to take another spin and jump in on the 10 years challenge bandwagon comparing how most popular websites in the UK today looked like in the past! So, here is 10 Year Challenge in <a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/web-design/">web design</a> according to Colorpeak's team.<h2>Google - steady as a rock</h2>We will start our 10 Year Challenge in web design, of course, with arguably the most important website - <a target="_blank" href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?ei=1b5NXKjuGIfMwQKK052gBA&q=10+year+challenge&oq=10+year+challenge&gs_l=psy-ab.12...0.0..1693...0.0..0.0.0.......0......gws-wiz._d7StzfCL7E">Google</a>. And contrary to most of the sites on our list, they have not changed much, at least in terms of grid design. When you go on Google you will be welcomed by a white page with logo and search bar in the middle. And guess what! It was no different back in the days. Most noticeably <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_logo">Google has changed its logo</a> which in 2019 fits into popular <a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/tag/flat-design/">flat design</a> <a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/tag/trends/">trend</a>. The company logo that was in use ten years ago was also the longest lasting up until now (from May 31, 1999 to May 5, 2010). It used serif typeface font called Catull designed in the '80s.<figure class="image regular"><a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/web-design-10-years-challenge"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/google-2009-2019_be957e3caa6cb5f055cd28621daf9ee1_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/google-2009-2019_be957e3caa6cb5f055cd28621daf9ee1_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="10 Year Challenge in web design - Google" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/google-2009-2019_be957e3caa6cb5f055cd28621daf9ee1_800.jpg" /></picture></a><figcaption>See before and after interactive view on Colorpeak Blog</figcaption></figure>It seems that Google wasn't happy with the initial change as the old 20-year-old logo was revamped twice in the last ten years. In 2015 Google finally arrived at what we see today - a geometric sans-serif typeface called Product Sans. The font was created in-house at Google. It's also worth mentioning that the logo colours, as well as remaining body-font Arial, hasn't been changed since 1998.<h2>YouTube - ever-changing story</h2>Since YouTube's acquisition by Google in November 2006, the experiments and testing with the website's UX and <a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/tag/ui/">UI</a> began. However, for the longest time, we were just seeing different versions of classic view with the menu at the top, followed by Promoted Videos horizontal panel and the vertical list of featured videos. In 2010 sections “Recommended for you” and “Videos watched now” started popping up. Recommended videos are available to this day, but Videos watched now eventually turned into ”What’s trending”. A side panel menu replaced top one in 2012. In the meantime, <a target="_blank" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130219004839/http://www.youtube.com/">YouTube has experimented with newspaper website-like grid</a> showing categories such as sports, music, entertainment and many others. These, however, have come to past. Current view hasn’t changed much since 2014. We choose whether we want to see the content in a grid or list view. We also saw some minor updates to the side panel menu structure and cosmetic changes to align with modern design. <figure class="image regular"><a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/web-design-10-years-challenge"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/youtube-2009-2019_15800a37d29a0d1307db3d0e96ae824b_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/youtube-2009-2019_15800a37d29a0d1307db3d0e96ae824b_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="10 Year Challenge in web design - YouTube" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/youtube-2009-2019_15800a37d29a0d1307db3d0e96ae824b_800.jpg" /></picture></a><figcaption>See before and after interactive view on Colorpeak Blog</figcaption></figure><h2>Facebook - complete revamp, or is it?</h2>Oh gosh, where do we start Facebook's 10 Year Challenge in web design? Facebook has changed so much and yet so little over the years. The most noticeable is huge photo replaced by a smaller, round profile picture and a profile banner that now sits at the top of our profile page. However, these days we have a 2-column grid on our profile page (it used to be 3): with left hand-side being filled with our info and the feed filling in the rest. In regards to the page that we interact with on a daily basis, after logging in to <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.facebook.com/">Facebook</a>, it remained mostly unchanged with a navigation panel on the left, the feed in the middle and some ads on the right followed by suggestions for people that you may know. <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_Stories">Facebook Stories</a> that sit on top of ads panel have only been introduced in 2018, though.<figure class="image regular"><a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/web-design-10-years-challenge"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/facebook-2009-2019_89df02065026c4ac787c41acfc524279_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/facebook-2009-2019_89df02065026c4ac787c41acfc524279_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="10 Year Challenge in web design - facebook" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/facebook-2009-2019_89df02065026c4ac787c41acfc524279_800.jpg" /></picture></a><figcaption>See before and after interactive view on Colorpeak Blog</figcaption></figure><h2>Amazon - knows tricks of the trade</h2>Amazon turned <a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/ecommerce/">eCommerce</a> selling into art and <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-bezos/">Jeff Bezos</a>, the owner, to <a target="_blank" href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/03/06/jeff-bezos-unseats-bill-gates-forbes-2018-richest-billionaires-list/398877002/">the wealthiest man on earth</a>. The landing page of Amazon has changed quite a bit. We now have access to good old categories on the left side panel as ten years ago, but they are not available on the Landing page. When you visit Amazon in 2019, you are welcomed by a dark navigation panel at the top of the page allowing you to search for items and manage your account. The rest of the page is covered by a slider that keeps changing showing you the most recent deals in a very pleasing <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/">Instagram</a>-like form of large photos with added descriptions here and there. Each slide is different and grabs your attention thanks to significant changes in colour. Amazon seems to know all the triggers that will make you want to purchase something… anything!<figure class="image regular"><a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/web-design-10-years-challenge"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/amazon-2009-2019_306515529d98864bcdeff4da56450f37_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/amazon-2009-2019_306515529d98864bcdeff4da56450f37_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="10 Year Challenge in web design - Amazon" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/amazon-2009-2019_306515529d98864bcdeff4da56450f37_800.jpg" /></picture></a><figcaption>See before and after interactive view on Colorpeak Blog</figcaption></figure><h2>BBC - understands the readers</h2>Look at the BBC website from 2009! Ten years ago, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.com/">BBC website</a> would change its theme colour every day, but you won’t see that these days any more. In 2019 BBC is pushing the <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/minimalism-web-design/">minimalistic design</a>. We can see more photos than text, which is in complete opposition to how it was before. This is evidently a sign of our times, and BBC recognised that internet users have a lower attention span and a picture or video can capture their attention more effectively than lines of text. This is one of the strongest examples in our 10 Year Challenge in web design.<figure class="image regular"><a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/web-design-10-years-challenge"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/bbc-2009-2019_09c24f6b3783eb3317fafa54dfbb8dd3_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/bbc-2009-2019_09c24f6b3783eb3317fafa54dfbb8dd3_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="10 Year Challenge in web design - BBC" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/bbc-2009-2019_09c24f6b3783eb3317fafa54dfbb8dd3_800.jpg" /></picture></a><figcaption>See before and after interactive view on Colorpeak Blog</figcaption></figure><h2>Wikipedia - does not fix what is not broken</h2>One must appreciate how little <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.wikipedia.org/">Wikipedia</a> has changed over the years. The main grid remains the same with logo and menu on the left, login options at the top and the rest of the page filled in with definitions and descriptions. We can notice however subtle changes in the visual design. <a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/flat-vs-depth-web-design/">Flat design</a> has definitely captured the attention of the people responsible for the layout, making it a tiny bit more modern following Google’s direction. On a side note, I think Wikipedia would benefit from introducing <a target="_blank" href="https://www.w3schools.com/howto/howto_css_two_columns.asp">column layout</a>. These days with screens that have high resolution it’s hard to read from left to the right of the screen without dropping the line once or twice when moving to the next row. <figure class="image regular"><a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/web-design-10-years-challenge"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/wikipedia-2009-2019_04801bfa54e7c76ddac094893d358bc7_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/wikipedia-2009-2019_04801bfa54e7c76ddac094893d358bc7_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="10 Year Challenge in web design - Wikipedia" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/wikipedia-2009-2019_04801bfa54e7c76ddac094893d358bc7_800.jpg" /></picture></a><figcaption>See before and after interactive view on Colorpeak Blog</figcaption></figure><h2>Reddit - ruffles some feathers</h2>Highly criticised new design (beta) was first rolled out on 1st of April 2018. It introduced Facebook-like feed in the middle with an additional supportive column on the right and a significant amount (33%) of white space surrounding it. The latter being especially prominent on high-resolution desktop screens. Notably, new design removed the blue header fonts that resembled Google Search results and replaced them with a black font (IBMPlexSans) that looks more like news portals. <blockquote><a target="_blank" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/7a4bjo/time_for_my_quarterly_inquisition_reddit_ceo_here/dp70sul/">According to Reddit's CEO Steve Huffman</a>, the new design aims mostly at new users: “Many of us evangelise Reddit and tell people how awesome it is ... then when those new people decide to check out Reddit for the first time they’re greeted with dystopian Craigslist. We’d like to fix that.” </blockquote><figure class="image regular"><a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/web-design-10-years-challenge"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/reddit-2009-2019_92a91c896d85a13bdd3a2648b46f3002_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/reddit-2009-2019_92a91c896d85a13bdd3a2648b46f3002_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="10 Year Challenge in web design - Reddit" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/reddit-2009-2019_92a91c896d85a13bdd3a2648b46f3002_800.jpg" /></picture></a><figcaption>See before and after interactive view on Colorpeak Blog</figcaption></figure>To mitigate some of the criticism, Reddit introduced three types of views that users can pick: Card, Classic, Compact. And, as of now (Jan 2019) the "Old-Redditers" can still switch back to the "old view" in their account preferences. Reddit's re-design approach heavily polarised the community and divided it into two camps: "Old-Redditers" and "New-Redditers" - who could've thought that you can find an analogy to the political situation in the United States in something like "10 Year Challenge in web design"...<h2>eBay - follows in the footsteps of the best</h2>Ebay seems to be following Amazon’s suite by introducing a slider to it’s landing page. It’s big, it’s colourful, it grabs your attention. They learned how to use white (negative) space to their benefit, contrary to the home page from a decade ago. It was packed with categories (who really uses them on the home page...? That’s right. No one!), banners and images - it seemed very crowded. There’s also the case of the logo. I would argue the old one was more recognisable. Now we have this Google-like simple font - a popular trend in the past three years, but I think eBay’s logo used to be more distinct.<figure class="image regular"><a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/web-design-10-years-challenge"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/ebay-2009-2019_e1112dc860bfa4994070926c074a3e91_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/ebay-2009-2019_e1112dc860bfa4994070926c074a3e91_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="10 Year Challenge in web design - eBay" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/ebay-2009-2019_e1112dc860bfa4994070926c074a3e91_800.jpg" /></picture></a><figcaption>See before and after interactive view on Colorpeak Blog</figcaption></figure><h2>Twitter - the proper 10 year challenge in web design</h2>Complete transformation! That’s the first thing that comes to my mind when I compare the Twitter layout from 10 years ago to its current version. Is this the winner of Colorpeak's 10 Year Challenge in web design? Not quite. This is yet another example of a website that takes simplicity and turns it into an advantage. A very intuitive layout that encourages you to simply tweet, re-tweet, and consume other tweets. Blue background has been replaced with white one, the logo became smaller and “What’s trending” panel has been added on the right-hand side of the feed. Twitter understands that the vast majority of its users access their feed from mobile phones, so it seems they design with a small screen and quick load time in mind. Then they follow with desktop design extending few elements a bit but refusing to include anything unnecessary. 5 stars when it comes to <a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/tag/ux/">UX </a>and UI design if you ask me!<figure class="image regular"><a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/web-design-10-years-challenge"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/twitter-2009-2019_3396d1209541a3953a84722a54399803_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/twitter-2009-2019_3396d1209541a3953a84722a54399803_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="10 Year Challenge in web design - Twitter" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/twitter-2009-2019_3396d1209541a3953a84722a54399803_800.jpg" /></picture></a><figcaption>See before and after interactive view on Colorpeak Blog</figcaption></figure><h2>10 Netflix - the winner dresses for success</h2>Last but not least is my favourite example which shows that sometimes one needs to start with MVP ("Minimum Viable Product") to put the ball rolling and the success will come later. It is also the winner of our 10 Year Challenge competition! When you look at Netflix website from ten years ago, you will laugh. I did! But then we have to remember that back in the days there was no fast internet connection and renting (RENTING!) a movie through a website to be delivered to your home was shockingly innovative. Since then, Netflix has made a leap jump, and their navigation page that allows you to select movies is what created a binge-watching experience and trend. Whoever is behind Netflix Landing Page is an excellent web <a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/tag/designer/">designer </a>and developer team that understands how our brains work and how to trigger them to consume more and more content. Bravo!<figure class="image regular"><a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/web-design-10-years-challenge"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/netflix-2009-2019_67fbdf1dbacbe4ed5210b51166978a5e_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/netflix-2009-2019_67fbdf1dbacbe4ed5210b51166978a5e_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="10 Year Challenge in web design - Netflix" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/netflix-2009-2019_67fbdf1dbacbe4ed5210b51166978a5e_800.jpg" /></picture></a><figcaption>See before and after interactive view on Colorpeak Blog</figcaption></figure>This concludes our 10 Year Challenge web design comparison. Of course, top ten visited websites in the UK change very often, so in a while, you may find this list outdated, but if you're here in January 2019 these are the websites UK residents visit the most. We hope you enjoyed our take on #10YearChallenge so go ahead and subscribe to our <a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/ColorpeakLtd/">facebook</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/ColorpeakLtd">twitter</a> and other social media accounts for more interesting articles from Colropeak team.---This article was posted originally on <a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/10-year-challenge-web-design">Colorpeak Blog</a>  <script> if(window.strchfSettings === undefined) window.strchfSettings = {}; window.strchfSettings.stats = {url: "https://colorpeak.storychief.io/10-year-challenge-web-design?id=1505741349&type=12",title: "Web Design: 10 Year Challenge",id: "565b8427-1664-46d1-ae81-6e8e0925dae9"}; (function(d, s, id) { var js, sjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {window.strchf.update(); return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/scripts/v0/strchf.js"; js.async = true; sjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, sjs); }(document, 'script', 'storychief-jssdk')) </script>
Marketing Automation - Use These Tools To Improve Your Business Immediately

Sun, 20 Jan 2019 12:42:00 -0000

I have yet to meet a business owner who has never been in need of automation. Today startups, SMBs and large companies have one thing in common - they're all thrown in the game of pursuing the holy grail of business and marketing automation (The Automation Singularity). As you’re reading this, I wouldn't be surprised if you've got your feet wet trying a marketing automation software at some point. MailChimp for example or even chatbots...?<figure class="image regular"><a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/marketing/"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/business-marketing-automation_76409152e5cd862dc6bb899656bd0937_800.png 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/business-marketing-automation_76409152e5cd862dc6bb899656bd0937_800.png 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Marketing Automation" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/business-marketing-automation_76409152e5cd862dc6bb899656bd0937_800.png" /></picture></a><figcaption>Marketing Automation</figcaption></figure>But maybe you have been doing all your marketing the "old school" way, and you want to get some of the piling work volumes off your shoulders, and you don't want to hire, train, pay and manage additional employee(s). Well, I share your viewpoint, because running a business means innovation. So, you either work on out-innovating your competition or your practices get inefficient and your business becomes outdated pretty quickly. I will try my best in this article to help you get started with choosing the lowest hanging fruit of marketing autopilot platforms. You should finish the piece having a grasp on what is marketing automation, why marketing automation is the next big thing in coming years, and how to use the power of automation platforms and tools to their fullest potential. Remember, you can't turn your eyes away and pretend the business innovations don't affect you. I will argue here that 2018/19 is a perfect time to jump on board and benefit from at least some of the cheap and accessible business automation out there. As you read on pick one or two solutions and over the next few weeks try to integrate them for the betterment of your business and your life.<h2>Why do businesses need marketing automation?</h2>The traditional marketing as a scientific field goes back to <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wealth_of_Nations">early 1900s or even earlier</a> with the development of modern capitalism and <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumerism">consumerism</a>. In a nutshell, business owners and (modern) marketers discovered that by studying consumer behaviour they can predict and influence sales profits. Businesses then went on developing step-by-step processes to anticipate the needs and wants of potential consumers so they could satisfy them more effectively in comparison to its competitors. Several decades later we use complex data and scientific methods to measure and design specific procedures to sell more to more people. Marketing and sales funnels evolved and it's no longer just printed ads in papers and magazines or lump mail ads. With the technological revolution, especially the Internet and social media's worldwide blitz, we've opened several channels enabling us to communicate more effectively and build relevant relationships with our customers. What it means for marketers like you is that a need for a more sophisticated and technologically enhanced approach with complex, multivariate sales funnels is required. Hence, marketing automation.<figure class="image regular"><a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/email-marketing-newsletter-campaigns/"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/email-auto-responding-system_c6de396f299237875eb2e8833bf36809_800.png 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/email-auto-responding-system_c6de396f299237875eb2e8833bf36809_800.png 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Marketing Automation Sales Funnels" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/email-auto-responding-system_c6de396f299237875eb2e8833bf36809_800.png" /></picture></a><figcaption>Marketing Automation Sales Funnels</figcaption></figure><h2>What Marketing Automation meant up until 2018</h2><blockquote>"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower." - Steve Jobs</blockquote>Despite the overblown claims and inflated marketing slogans, marketing automation is NOT an artificial intelligence (AI). The real AI doesn't exist (yet) and we're likely far away from it. Some moderate that and use "semi-AI" but it's misleading because the "semi-" isn't clearly defined and means anything. I just call it for what it is for now. Marketing automation is a set of logical rules, processes and tactics that run on autopilot, making some tasks or even segments of your business autonomous and independent from human input. Besides the obvious profits like time, money and energy saving, such marketing practices bring a real and quantifiable added value to your business. Although the philosophy of business management and <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing">marketing</a> orientation remains intact and pretty solid, the tools and methodology seem to evolve and set new milestones almost every week.Today, marketing automation software has never been more accessible. And in such high demand. Entrepreneurs keep coming up with creative ideas and cutting-edge technology to help businesses design their perfect strategies to predict the needs and personalise the copywriting.So new <a target="_blank" href="https://appsumo.com/browse/">marketing software</a> is springing up like mushrooms.But let's step back to something basic, like MailChimp which is an email auto-responding system. Their automated software is free (to the extent) and allows for:<ul><li>Easy integration on your website so you can quickly start building your email list</li><li>Getting your prospects details in an engaging form (MailChimp Lead Magnet)</li><li>Designing an auto-responder with a drag-and-drop visual builder</li><li>... and Sending automated and targeted emails to your recipient's list</li></ul>----------------------・・・----------------------<h3>Here're a few triggers you can use:</h3><ul><li>Email your tagged contacts - Send a targeted message when you add a tag to a contact.</li><li>Welcome new subscribers - Introduce yourself to people when they sign up for your list.</li><li>Say 'happy birthday' - Celebrate with an exclusive offer or cheerful message that will be sent out based on the birthday field in your list.</li><li>Share blog updates - Help contacts keep up with your blog by sending new posts straight to their inboxes. </li><li>Now you can essentially build "set and forget" email sequences.</li></ul>(did I mention it's free? ;) ----------------------・・・----------------------Check this video on how to set one up with this step-by-step tutorial:<figure class="video regular"><div class="embed-container"><div style="max-width: 100%; position: relative; padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iQVg2vL1TME?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%;"></iframe></div></div></figure>----------------------・・・----------------------<h2>The top 5 essential gains of automation</h2>To summarise, here are the top 5 essential gains of automation in the area specific to marketing:<ul><li>Automated marketing tools build complex customer journeys and sales funnels (e.g. <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://mailchimp.com/">MailChimp</a>)</li><li>Marketing artificial intelligence software learns your customers' behaviour or who they are and tries to make your product and services highly personalised (e.g. <a target="_blank" href="https://unless.com">UNLESS</a>)</li><li>Marketing bots aim to leave your customer informed, happy and engaged (e.g. <a target="_blank" href="https://quriobot.com/">Quriobot</a>)</li><li>Marketing analytics enables you to quickly test and change the direction of your marketing strategy (e.g. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.customerlabs.co/">CustomerLabs</a>)</li><li>Automated sales software makes your marketing efforts more efficient, faster to adapt and scale (e.g. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.datagran.io">DataGran</a>)</li></ul><h2>What Automation means for the future of business</h2><blockquote>"In peace prepare for war, in war prepare for peace." - Sun Tzu.</blockquote>The future of automation in 2019 and beyond looks bright. And it isn't just Tesla and their self-driving autonomous cars. Interestingly enough, I find those same principles that drive Musk and his robo-vehicles towards automation apply to any aspect of the business. Here's what we all are after:<ul><li>multiplied productivity (ROI)</li><li>exponential growth</li><li>multitasking (that actually works)</li><li>large data processing power</li><li>and, yes - if used correctly, a much better life</li></ul>----------------------・・・----------------------See Marquees driving Yandex self-driving car around California<figure class="video regular"><div class="embed-container"><div style="max-width: 100%; position: relative; padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gfWjsKsEry0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%;"></iframe></div></div></figure>----------------------・・・----------------------<h2>Sales and marketing automation software - who's on the frontend?</h2>Let's bring it down to a business application and see what benefits businesses can expect from automated systems in 2019 moving forward.The most common use of marketing automation software appears to be in sales, but this limited utility expands very quickly.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.emarketer.com/Article/What-Benefits-of-Marketing-Automation/1011966">eMarketer reports</a> that only 5% of companies have never benefited from marketing automation (I couldn't dig their source though, so take it with a grain of salt). But that makes sense, given the power of computing and how technology penetrated the entire world of economy. It is clear that customer journey maps are extensively used by Googles, Amazons and eBays of this world to accurately map out how customer behave in relation to businesses. And the same applies to Social Media giants like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Their optimisation is so granular, and it developed so fast, that <a <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tristanharris.com/">some people stood to consider its ethics</a> and what we want as a civilisation.Nevertheless, the value in sales is so obvious and tempting that it only makes sense to continue using it. Providing your primary incentive is to quickly "help" your prospects who are travelling the distance from being a bystander to a raving fan. And the distance, no matter the length, is measurable and categorisable. Therefore, prone to endless optimisations (and exploitation). <h2>Is marketing automation software difficult to access?</h2>As of today, experts agree that by learning different ways how customers interact with businesses, pretty much guarantees big profits. For this reason, social scientist and marketers flock to use all sorts of automation tools that help with just that. Meanwhile, Marketing SaaS companies try to meet their prospects midway offering easy to understand but potentially vastly scalable in its application software. In fact, lowering entry level is now the name of the game with most marketing automation software.One such software is <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.fullstory.com/">FullStory</a>. The software works based on simple principles but the results, which it draws through different modes of user interpretation, provide comprehensive and quite elaborate customer journey maps."See your site through your users' eyes. More than the sum of its clicks, FullStory replays your customer's journey – like a DVR for your website – so you can search, see, and understand your user experience."There is certainly a learning curve associated with implementing any new system or technology. However, with much lowered entry-level bars the fruit has never hung so low.<h2>Large Data Set Calculations - how to optimise your website running costs and business spending for free?</h2><figure class="image regular"><a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/social-media-management/"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/marketing-automation-data-analysis_34e4663013ae0093ac1d46a2e4dfa0f2_800.png 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/marketing-automation-data-analysis_34e4663013ae0093ac1d46a2e4dfa0f2_800.png 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Data analysis in marketing automation" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/marketing-automation-data-analysis_34e4663013ae0093ac1d46a2e4dfa0f2_800.png" /></picture></a><figcaption>Data analysis in marketing automation</figcaption></figure>Back in the days, gathering and calculating any large data sets was done by businesses who could afford full-time data analyst and a "numbers person". So it was reserved usually for enterprise-level companies and agencies, or outsourced and never looked at closely again. Today, with tools like Google Analytics, you have quick and easy access to software that with a click of a button displays almost complete picture of your company's money flow. It's free and offers a tremendous amount of actionable data that is automatically gathered and calculated from your website, ads and email campaigns, to mention just a few sources. It's also worth mentioning that Facebook, Pinterest or LinkedIn Ads platforms use sophisticated dashboards where data is calculated and presented to you in any way you want. It takes time to figure it all out, though. I'd suggest to start with finding answers to simple questions like: <ul><li>What is my website's monthly traffic?</li><li>Which of my ads increased traffic the most?</li><li>How long an average visitor spends on my homepage?</li><li>Is my traffic local or international?</li><li>Using what device (mobile/tablet/desktop) people are visiting my website?</li><li>Which of my web pages are most popular?</li><li>Where is my traffic coming from?</li></ul><h2>The Rise of The Marketing Bots</h2>One of the most significant aspects of marketing automation is the sudden spread of bots and various auto-messengers. Apart from built-in Facebook Messenger Bots, platforms like Quriobot and MobileMonkey are rapidly developing and are more and more sophisticated in methods of visitor engagement on your website. The key to a great visitors engagement appears to be: <ul><li>the speed of response</li><li>24/7 availability</li><li>useful and relevant bot responses based on the keyword and intelligent intent recognition</li><li>and so-called "triggers"</li></ul>Speaking of "triggers". These can be heavily customised to adhere to the customers' behaviour on your site and provide visual and heavily targeted responses. For example, imagine you have someone checking on your "Home Page" then going to "Pricing" where they spend two minutes and decide to leave. Normally this particular visitor could be classified as a prospective customer, that you may want to engage further. Therefore, at each individual stage, your bot can enhance your visitors' experience by way of targeted messages, additional content and offers. Even at the point of departure, a bot can be configured to throw an "exit intent" trigger and, hopefully, stop the visitor from leaving the website.<figure class="image regular"><a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/web-design-company/"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/ai-bots-activechat-automation_5421ea4e7b4440f36fe2e122f597e4e4_800.png 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/ai-bots-activechat-automation_5421ea4e7b4440f36fe2e122f597e4e4_800.png 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="AI bots - chat automation" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/ai-bots-activechat-automation_5421ea4e7b4440f36fe2e122f597e4e4_800.png" /></picture></a><figcaption>AI bots - chat automation</figcaption></figure>The "AI" in bots gets also increasingly sophisticated. For example, tools like <a target="_blank" href="https://activechat.ai/">ActiveChat</a> try to mimic human-like responses and with it infinite visual building blocks you can make it up as complicated as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.simplemost.com/14-challenging-lego-sets-build/">Lego's Star Wars Millennium Falcon set</a>. It can also integrate with e-commerce systems so you can have an actual "digital counter" right on your website. No wonder bots are the next big thing and we will hear about them more and more.<blockquote>"I think that's the single best piece of advice: constantly think about how you could be doing things better, and questioning yourself." - Elon Musk</blockquote><h2>Conclusion</h2>It may be hard to start learning all these platforms today. However, in the long run, it will pay back immensely. Also, know that 99% of your competitors aren't doing it.So, it’s better to start giving marketing automation some attention before it is too late. Whatever industry you're in, it will be driven by the same principles as any other, whoever puts in the hours to innovate will increase the odds of success over the business owners that procrastinated and neglected to do the homework.You may not have enough resources to go all in with learning the marketing tools, but there is no harm in trying. I have probably been guilty of procrastination more than anyone in the business. But eventually I have learned to take little steps from early on, and over time I realised that I made a quantum leap in growing my business and developing myself. So, if you are reading this article right at this moment, stop wasting your time and jump right in. These are obviously just a few tips and the ocean of automated tools is filling in with more and more fish. There are few more things that I have learned over the years, so pop back in and check this article for updates. But most importantly start with making your first marketing automation funnel, no matter how big your goals are. From my experience, the right actions will pay off. I wish you good luck with your marketing automation journey.  <script> if(window.strchfSettings === undefined) window.strchfSettings = {}; window.strchfSettings.stats = {url: "https://colorpeak.storychief.io/marketing-automation?id=1278035989&type=12",title: "Marketing Automation - Use These Tools To Improve Your Business Immediately",id: "565b8427-1664-46d1-ae81-6e8e0925dae9"}; (function(d, s, id) { var js, sjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {window.strchf.update(); return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/scripts/v0/strchf.js"; js.async = true; sjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, sjs); }(document, 'script', 'storychief-jssdk')) </script>
How has SEO evolved throughout the years?

Sat, 05 Jan 2019 17:29:00 -0000

<h2>The early beginning before SEO became a thing.</h2>1991 Before SEO there was the beginning of world wide web. In on March 6th, 1991 the first ever website - <a target="_blank" href="http://info.cern.ch ">info.cern.ch</a> - was launched by Tim Berners-Lee.1994 Stanford University students Jerry Wang and David Filo start Yahoo, the first Search Engine to be used by masses followed by AltaVista, Excite, and Lycos.1996 Backrub search engine is created that ranks sites based on inbound link relevancy and popularity. Backrub would ultimately become Google. 1998 The King is born. Google launches in September, and so the story of SEO really begins. Before it, search engines positioned results based on on-page content, domain names, directories and breadcrumbs. Google introduced PageRank algorithm that also took into account the quantity and quality of links pointing to a website and anchor text.<h2>The Google SEO revolution</h2>2003 First Google algorithm update named Florida takes down a lot of websites in their ranking, especially those that would stuff keywords. Repeating keywords would be hidden at the bottom of a page in a font colour that matches the background. That way reader would not see them, but the bots would feed off them and rank websites position higher. Actions like that became to be known as Blackhat SEO tactics. Around this time a new tactic of link building is born. A race to build as many backlinks as possible begins as the savvy marketers quickly learn how to abuse the system.2005 Google makes its first attempt to fight back linking exploitation and launches its "rel=nofollow" attribute preventing the authority of websites to be passed on. Following this update, Google launches the Jagger and Big Daddy algorithms just before the end of 2015 to prevent link farming and other suspicious SEO tactics.<figure class="image regular"><a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/business-photography-video-promo/"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/google-youtube-03_7e6cad1b71e1c3914c7f28ba420c043e_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/google-youtube-03_7e6cad1b71e1c3914c7f28ba420c043e_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Google YouTube SEO evolution" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/google-youtube-03_7e6cad1b71e1c3914c7f28ba420c043e_800.jpg" /></picture></a><figcaption>Google YouTube revolution</figcaption></figure>2006 YouTube gets acquired by Google for the whopping amount of $1.65 billion. Eventually, it would become the second most used search engine in the world. In the same year, Google also launches Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools giving developers profoundly deep insight on how Google sees their websites.2008 <a target="_blank" href="https://searchengineland.com/googlecom-finally-gets-google-suggest-feature-14626">Suggestion Box</a> is finally launched after four years of development and testing. Continuing its path of improving the user experience, Google focuses on understanding better how we surf the web and interact with content. It may seem like the most obvious Google feature these days, but back then showing related searches to automatically appear below, after you start typing in the search box, was a major hit.2009 Bing goes online or rather Microsoft gives a new name to its Live Search tool. By then Google has nearly 70% of the search engine market in the USA. 2010 Google announces that site speed is a ranking factor following "Caffeine" update, dubbed a next-generation search architecture that is faster, more precise and provides more relevant results. All that thanks to fast "spider-bots" that can quickly crawl website and cover larger parts of the internet.<figure class="gallery regular"><div class="strchf-gallery"><div class="strchf-gallery-preloader" style="background-color:#f8f8f8;line-height: 0;margin-top: 40px;padding: 30% 0;text-align: center;width: 100%;"><div style="background:url(data:image/gif;base64,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); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div><div style="display:none;" class="strchf-gallery-images"><div style="margin-left:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;max-width:100%;padding-left:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-top:0"><picture style="margin-left:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;max-width:100%;padding-left:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-top:0"><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/google-panda-06_73eecd2f08c0d27055e2ff19eb12231c_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/google-panda-06_73eecd2f08c0d27055e2ff19eb12231c_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;max-width:100%;padding-left:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-top:0" alt="Google Panda SEO Evolution" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/google-panda-06_73eecd2f08c0d27055e2ff19eb12231c_800.jpg" /></picture><figcaption>Google Panda</figcaption></div><div style="margin-left:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;max-width:100%;padding-left:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-top:0"><picture style="margin-left:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;max-width:100%;padding-left:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-top:0"><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/google-penguin-05_73eecd2f08c0d27055e2ff19eb12231c_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/google-penguin-05_73eecd2f08c0d27055e2ff19eb12231c_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;max-width:100%;padding-left:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-top:0" alt="Google Penguin SEO Evolution" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/google-penguin-05_73eecd2f08c0d27055e2ff19eb12231c_800.jpg" /></picture><figcaption>Google Penguin</figcaption></div><div style="margin-left:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;max-width:100%;padding-left:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-top:0"><picture style="margin-left:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;max-width:100%;padding-left:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-top:0"><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/google-hummingbird-07_73eecd2f08c0d27055e2ff19eb12231c_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/google-hummingbird-07_73eecd2f08c0d27055e2ff19eb12231c_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;max-width:100%;padding-left:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-top:0" alt="Google Hummingbird SEO Evolution" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/google-hummingbird-07_73eecd2f08c0d27055e2ff19eb12231c_800.jpg" /></picture><figcaption>Google Hummingbird</figcaption></div><div style="margin-left:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;max-width:100%;padding-left:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-top:0"><picture style="margin-left:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;max-width:100%;padding-left:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-top:0"><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/google-pidgeon-08_73eecd2f08c0d27055e2ff19eb12231c_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/google-pidgeon-08_73eecd2f08c0d27055e2ff19eb12231c_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;max-width:100%;padding-left:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-top:0" alt="Google Pigeon SEO Evolution" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/google-pidgeon-08_73eecd2f08c0d27055e2ff19eb12231c_800.jpg" /></picture><figcaption>Google Pigeon</figcaption></div></div><div style="display:none;" class="strchf-gallery-controls"><div class="strchf-gallery-control-prev" role="button">‹</div><div class="strchf-gallery-control-next" role="button">›</div></div><div style="display:none;" class="strchf-gallery-nav"><div role="button" ></div><div role="button" ></div><div role="button" ></div><div role="button" ></div></div></div><figcaption>Algorithms releases</figcaption></figure>2011 "Panda" update causes a notable impact on SEO which resulted in affecting optimisation field to this day. In an attempt to clean up search results, 12% of them were impacted. Websites with low quality and irrelevant content (better known as "content farms") drop down in the rankings. A similar thing happens to websites with unoriginal, static and auto-generated content.2012 The following "Penguin" update doubles-down on eliminating aggressive, black-hat SEO spam tactics. Gone are the sites that violated Google's Webmaster Guidelines such us buying links, keyword stuffing and keyword matching anchor text to the dot. Eventually, Penguin and previously mentioned Panda release become part of Google’s real-time search architecture.2013 "Hummingbird" release centres around the growing market of mobile users. It is the biggest update to Google’s algorithm since 2001 and deals better with natural language questions, conversational search, and it lays the foundations of Voice Search. Original content becomes a major factor in ranking along with blogs. Google starts to reward websites that provide useful, unique and lengthy answers to visitor’s queries. "Long-tail keywords" or, in other words, detailed and specific search queries become a thing.2014 The release of "Pigeon" is all about better local search results. Google improves location and distance ranking parameters to provide relevant results to users based on proximity. Local businesses with strong organic presence showed higher in traditional search within the area of the searching person’s location. The "Local SEO" finally gets its own genre, now distinct from the general SEO.<h2>AI & Machine Learning algorithms</h2>2015 Some would say a breakthrough year in which Google reported <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://adwords.googleblog.com/2015/05/building-for-next-moment.html">more mobile searches in comparison to desktop search</a>. "RankBrain" - a self-learning search architecture is introduced as part of the Hummingbird algorithm. It determines the most relevant results to search engine queries. At first, it runs only on 15% of searches that the system had never encountered before, but eventually, it applies to all of them. 2016 Google confirms that the search engine's <a target="_blank" href="https://searchengineland.com/now-know-googles-top-three-search-ranking-factors-245882">top three ranking factors</a> are: links, content, and RankBrain.<figure class="image regular"><a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/seo-agency/"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/google-fred-10_8e122c0448300a222b4b4484f83e0f9e_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/google-fred-10_8e122c0448300a222b4b4484f83e0f9e_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Google Fred SEO evolution" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/google-fred-10_8e122c0448300a222b4b4484f83e0f9e_800.jpg" /></picture></a><figcaption>Fred - catchall name for multiple Google algorithm updates</figcaption></figure>2017 Google "Fred" update hits mostly websites with poor content. In general, Google tries to deal with aggressive monetisation, misleading and deceptive ads, poor mobile compatibility and poor content. Fred is not a stand-alone algorithm update, rather a catchall name for every quality tweak to Google system intended to improve it and get rid of the content that violates the Webmaster Guidelines. It's been a known fact for a while that Google does quality updates on a regular basis and most go unnoticed and are unannounced.2018 A year of Webmaster Tools modernisation. Google Search Console, Google My Business and, most notably for SEO, Google’s <a target="_blank" href="https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/">PageSpeed Insights</a> tools receive their updates. There are of course multiple changes to Google's ranking algorithm done almost every day, but there were three Broad Core Algorithm Updates that were actually announced. PageSpeed Insights update becomes a significant player in ranking and slow sites with low optimisation score on mobiles are affected. Google announces <a target="_blank" href="https://developers.google.com/speed/docs/insights/rules">nine factors that influence Optimization Score</a>.And so, the story continues. What will 2019 bring? Most likely further updates toward mobile-friendly AMP enabled websites that load fast on slow 3G networks. A lot has changed since the first Google SEO revolution. An easily abused system based on keywords evolved into sophisticated learning machine that thinks like a human. Content became a king, and mobile device accessibility will further shape the ranking.Sources:<ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://searchenginewatch.com/cheat-sheet-google-algorithm-updates-2011-2018">Search Engine Watch</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-algorithm-history/">Search Engine Journal</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.smamarketing.net/blog/25-years-of-seo-a-timeline-of-search-engine-optimization-infographic ">SMA Marketing </a></li></ul>This text was originally published on: <a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/seo-evolution">Colorpeak Blog - How has SEO evolved throughout the years?</a>  <script> if(window.strchfSettings === undefined) window.strchfSettings = {}; window.strchfSettings.stats = {url: "https://colorpeak.storychief.io/seo-evolution?id=851140061&type=12",title: "How has SEO evolved throughout the years?",id: "565b8427-1664-46d1-ae81-6e8e0925dae9"}; (function(d, s, id) { var js, sjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {window.strchf.update(); return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/scripts/v0/strchf.js"; js.async = true; sjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, sjs); }(document, 'script', 'storychief-jssdk')) </script>
Shine Auto Spa

Wed, 05 Dec 2018 17:33:14 -0000
Create interactive websites - Vistag review

Mon, 26 Nov 2018 19:37:00 -0000

I thought I'd drop a few words about Vistag as we've tested the tool a little bit on two of our now interactive websites (not e-commerce, yet...). The first website did not work due to, what we believe was <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://revolution.themepunch.com/">Slider Revolution</a> interference. Vistag and Slider Revolution tandem renders our website completely unusable. Therefore, we decided to switch it off there.<figure class="image regular"><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://vistag.com"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/vistag-logo-black_4904a375ea4923763dff3631521475e2_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/vistag-logo-black_4904a375ea4923763dff3631521475e2_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Vistag logo" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/vistag-logo-black_4904a375ea4923763dff3631521475e2_800.jpg" /></picture></a><figcaption>Vistag.com</figcaption></figure>The second of our interactive websites, a static WordPress site, was (is) much better. We're still testing it there but performance is all good and Pingdom/GTMetrix/PageSpeed did not mark any meaningful drops in loading speed scores. Even with 10+ or so tags thrown on two web pages.<h2>Vistag Highlights and PROs</h2>To cut to the chase, I really like the visual presentation and interactive aspects of Vistag. Objectively looking at it - Vistag WILL make you and others hover, click, poke, fondle and (hopefully) buy-through those flashing gems. There is just no way around it given how our brains and eyes work.However, at this point in time, Vistag isn't finished tool yet and many fundamental options are missing.<figure class="image regular"><a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/vistag-create-ecom-interactive-websites/"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/vistag-review_48b2cf00457f1bac47aa856e4207b9a6_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/vistag-review_48b2cf00457f1bac47aa856e4207b9a6_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Vistag interactive websites" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/vistag-review_48b2cf00457f1bac47aa856e4207b9a6_800.jpg" /></picture></a></figure><h2>Vistag's missing features (or rather Not-There-Yets)</h2>Some of the things we'd like to see rather sooner than later include:<ul><li>"mailto:"/"tel:" and other HTML special links to enable CTA's (Call-To-Actions) for anything that is not e-commerce</li><li>images within the tags that could be fed from WP Media / external URLs</li><li>CSS selectors and more customisations</li><li>global UTM trackers</li></ul>The dashboard and interface would also benefit from some conscious cleanup and re-planning for easier navigation. The User experience (<a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/tag/ui/">UI</a>) is a bit all over the place on the admin side.I've also looked at this new "Lookbook" feature, which allows to add images to tags. I'm sure this is probably my pure ignorance, but I still don't get it. Again, it could be lack of my attention but how is this better or more important than just feeding and tagging pictures from WP Media or external URLs. The link on the dashboard takes me to some vague Documentation on how to make it work, but nothing else.I've mentioned CSS customisations already but let me reiterate the fact that the default font size and colour (light-grey on a white background?) is just unreadable. To change that you need to do some CSS gymnastics on your website. But it seems to be in development now, so fingers crossed that we won't wait long for this must-have feature for interactive websites to work as intended.<blockquote> Your images. Shoppable. Create visual content that sells like crazy. </blockquote><h2>Vistag - an ultimate web design enhancing tool?</h2>At this point, I can't give it a 5-stars review because Vistag is incomplete; clearly in beta stage, and an exorcism on their bugged code is yet to be performed by the developers. However, I can confidently score this tool 4 out of 5 because this brilliant, yet simple idea serves you a ready-made link between human behaviour and computer science that you can use to your sales advantage, this very evening. And all this without the need of getting two PhDs in the respective fields trying to sweat something like that in your own basement. A fine <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/marketing/">marketing tool</a> with great potential to make your plain web become one of truly interactive websites.You simply install Vistag, place tags over your e-commerce images and the job of selling fidget spinners and made-in-China "what-have-you's" is done for you.<h3>You can check Vistag on their website or, if it hasn't left the station yet, you may even jump on their AppSumo bandwagon.</h3><h4>Find out more about interactive websites and tools:</h4><ul><li><a target="_blank" href="https://appsumo.com/vistag/">AppSumo Vistag Deal</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://vistag.com/">Vistag official website</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/a">Using anchor element to create special links - Mozilla</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.awwwards.com/websites/web-interactive/">Examples Of Well Designed Web & Interactive Websites</a> </li></ul>  <script> if(window.strchfSettings === undefined) window.strchfSettings = {}; window.strchfSettings.stats = {url: "https://colorpeak.storychief.io/vistag-create-ecom-interactive-websites?id=2078972412&type=12",title: "Create interactive websites - Vistag review",id: "565b8427-1664-46d1-ae81-6e8e0925dae9"}; (function(d, s, id) { var js, sjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {window.strchf.update(); return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/scripts/v0/strchf.js"; js.async = true; sjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, sjs); }(document, 'script', 'storychief-jssdk')) </script>
Colorpeak web design

Wed, 21 Nov 2018 12:06:53 -0000
Colorpeak Web Design

Wed, 21 Nov 2018 12:06:18 -0000
Colorpeak promo

Wed, 21 Nov 2018 12:04:08 -0000
Colorpeak Web Design & Marketing

Wed, 21 Nov 2018 11:57:50 -0000
Who should build your professional business website? Web designer, web developer, graphic artist or graphic designer?

Sat, 29 Sep 2018 10:15:00 -0000

<h1>Who should build your professional business website? Web designer, web developer, graphic artist or graphic designer?</h1> This isn’t a trick question, or is it…? It used to be much easier to answer it. Back in early 2000 when web design reality was situated around ‘Is that person capable of creating a website?’ rather than ‘Is that person capable of designing a beautiful website, that is functional and makes people buy products?’ And it is an important matter especially when you're considering who should design your professional business website.<figure class="image regular"><a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/web-design-for-professional-businesses_8e0df9af5e20f8bc8779f9e4ad5a93a3_800.png 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/web-design-for-professional-businesses_8e0df9af5e20f8bc8779f9e4ad5a93a3_800.png 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Web design for professional business website" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/web-design-for-professional-businesses_8e0df9af5e20f8bc8779f9e4ad5a93a3_800.png" /></picture></a><figcaption>Web design for professional business by Colorpeak</figcaption></figure><h2>Developing websites in the past</h2>In the past, knowing how to code was necessary. Without understanding HTML or flash, you could not build a website. There was no question about whom should you hire to design it. The problem was that tech people were not known for their exquisite sense of visual style. Making a professional business website that looks good was not a priority if it's appearance was considered at all. You can see for yourself by visiting the <a target="_blank" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20050101091959/http:/bbc.co.uk/">Wayback Machine</a> to see how the internet looked like back in 2005! Very few heard of good <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/tag/ui/">UI</a> (User Interface) or <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/tag/ux/">UX</a> (User Experience). These words may sound silly to a "full-stack-web-developer-engineer” however, now coding skills are not necessary just put a functional website up. <h2>Cheap Websites (or "web design on a budget")</h2>Which is not to say skilled coders and web developers aren't necessary. Not at all! The "no-coding" approach works if we think about a general site, with a basic purpose like displaying simple information. Having an online space that functions as a visual business card or a leaflet is useful to describe and promote your company quickly. And there is a rapidly growing market for that type of web design. The reason? A website is often the first thing your potential customers will look for when they want to learn more about the product or service that you sell. So, you won't get away with not having a website. At least not if you want to appear as a forward-thinking business owner. If you need to outsource the creation of this type of website, an experienced <a target="_blank" href="https://work.chron.com/graphic-artist-vs-graphic-designer-18514.html">graphic artist</a> should be enough allowing you to save some time and money on more elaborate developments and designs. But there is no question that thousands of entrepreneurs, start-ups and resourceful individuals benefit from available (often free) web design tools that enable non-techies to "DIY" their websites. You probably heard of Squarespace, Wix or Weebly.<h2>Making a website using free website builders - the "DIY"-way</h2>If you’re on a budget, have lots of spare time, and you're determined enough, there is no reason why you shouldn't try to bootstrap your online portfolio! The disadvantage, however, is that there is a lot of technical, functional and visual limitations imposed by online web builders. So, websites built with those tools are also almost impossible to expand beyond their generic purpose and are often locked to the system they've been designed with - so forget about easy migration and scale! Moreover (and assuming you don't know CSS), your website won't be bespoke, and you will likely cringe while stumbling upon an identical one (your competitor's!). Therefore, your expectations towards DIY website builders shouldn't be to create professional business website that really stands out and takes you to the next level, which is...<h2><a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/web-design/">Web design</a> for professional businesses</h2>If you’re a small or medium business owner that cares about how the website presents the company brand, and how good it is in actually making money (i.e. conversions) you’re probably better off hiring a professional web designer. We get to live in the lucky times where a good web designer has a solid understanding of coding, so you no longer need to choose between functionality and the looks. It's also often the case that an experienced web designer will have a good understanding of <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/4-key-skills-graphic-designer/">graphic design</a>. So is undoubtedly qualified to pull off a bespoke, professional business website that will lift you above the rest of the "DIY-crowd" and your competitors. If you're treating your website as an active advertisement or a real business asset that can draw the attention of your customers - and you should! - then having it done by a professional web designer is without question the best way to go. <figure class="image regular"><a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/web-design-company/"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/graphic-artist-designer-web-developer_5100506c5924fe09a53288ebe26d1884_800.png 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/graphic-artist-designer-web-developer_5100506c5924fe09a53288ebe26d1884_800.png 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Professional website development" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/graphic-artist-designer-web-developer_5100506c5924fe09a53288ebe26d1884_800.png" /></picture></a><figcaption>Professional website development by Colorpeak</figcaption></figure><h2>High-level functionality in web design</h2>If you need your website to do more than the above, you probably will have to consider investing your money in a developer, especially if you’re thinking about managing large databases of information through your website. If you have a bunch of money on a large team of web developers, front-end designers, artists, project managers, etc. and have plenty of time for everyone to team-up then you can deliver a great professional business website project that will look stylish and modern. If all goes well, it will also be more reliable and capable of handling more complicated tasks like bespoke e-commerce shopping carts and payment processing systems. In a sense, a well thought-out and properly executed high-level website/IT project is infinitely scalable and can handle billions of active users like this <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://facebook.com">website </a>or <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://amazon.com">this one</a>.However, expect a bill to the floor and, as unfortunate as it sounds, a high risk of failure. As it often is with large, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_failed_and_overbudget_custom_software_projects">overbudget IT projects</a>. <h2>Who should I higher to design my website?</h2>It really depends on your goals. There will always be some work for developers who get higher paychecks and can pull magical websites that do more than looking good. Some people don’t need to spend a fortune on online advertising or <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/marketing/">marketing</a> if they can stitch up a basic site from a template for free. However, the sweet spot has never been as available as it is now and you can have a professional, beautiful and functional website with a reasonable price tag and realistic ROI for your business at the same time.<h3>Source: <a href=" https://colorpeak.co.uk/who-should-build-professional-business-website">Who should build your professional business website? Web designer, web developer, graphic artist or graphic designer?</a> </h3>   <script type="text/javascript"> var _paq = _paq || []; var url = "https://colorpeak.storychief.io/who-should-build-professional-business-website?id=1588127654&type=12"; const queryDict = {}; location.search.substr(1).split("&").forEach(function(item) {queryDict[item.split("=")[0]] = item.split("=")[1]}); if ('contact' in queryDict){ const separator = (url.indexOf("?")===-1)?"?":"&"; url = url + separator + "contact="+queryDict['contact']; } if ('list' in queryDict){ const separator = (url.indexOf("?")===-1)?"?":"&"; url = url + separator + "list="+queryDict['list']; } _paq.push(['setDocumentTitle', 'Who should build your professional business website? Web designer, web developer, graphic artist or graphic designer?']); _paq.push(['setCustomUrl', url]); _paq.push(['trackPageView']); _paq.push(['enableHeartBeatTimer', 15]); _paq.push(['enableLinkTracking']); (function() { var u="//storychief.piwikpro.com/"; _paq.push(['addTracker', u+'piwik.php', '565b8427-1664-46d1-ae81-6e8e0925dae9']); var d=document, g=d.createElement('script'), s=d.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; g.type='text/javascript'; g.async=true; g.defer=true; g.src=u+'piwik.js'; s.parentNode.insertBefore(g,s); })(); </script>  <script async src="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/scripts/v0/strchf.js"></script>
4 key skills of a Graphic Designer

Sun, 23 Sep 2018 20:01:00 -0000

<h1>4 key skills of a Graphic Designer</h1> A graphic artist of any kind is a person who may not necessarily possess the skills needed to be able to call themselves a graphic designer. On the other hand, not every graphic designer is an artist. You can learn the craft of design and techniques needed to create graphics that can carry one’s message. With the right set of tools and knowledge, the world is yours. The best of the best will have both and will be the leaders who inspire others; creating graphic designs that are admired and shared.<h2>Who is a Graphic Artist?</h2>If it only was so easy to define a graphic artist. Some will say you need to be born an artist, that you need an artistic soul, but for the purpose of this article, we will focus on a more down-to-earth approach. In short, a graphic artist is a creative person such as an illustrator, photographer or somebody designing <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://ilovetypography.com/">typography</a> to list just a few; an artist that works with a visual medium.<h2>Who is a Graphic Designer?</h2>A graphics designer will most often be a part of a graphic artists group, though not necessarily. Many freelancers are working in this area by themselves. A graphic designer specialises in supplying graphic illustrations for an editorial piece, web developer or advertising, among many others. Your job as a graphic designer is to produce a visual design (a digital one most of the time these days) that conveys a specific message for whatever purpose.<figure class="image regular"><a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/graphic-design/"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/96f4d201bd336c876e5f0c5fe44a5e74_800.png 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/96f4d201bd336c876e5f0c5fe44a5e74_800.png 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/96f4d201bd336c876e5f0c5fe44a5e74_800.png" /></picture></a></figure><h2>What skills do you need to be a Graphic Designer?</h2><ul><li>Soft skills</li><li>Tools</li><li>Knowledge</li><li>Degree (skills confirmation)</li></ul><h3>Soft skills in graphic design</h3>You would think that there are more important skills to have as a graphic designer. However, this is not always one of those jobs where you sit behind a desk all day and work on your computer. Your task as a <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphic_designer">graphic designer</a>, especially in a large company, is to communicate the client’s written or spoken message through visual means. That requires you to have well-developed communication skills. It’s not a one-man job so you will also find yourself participating in brainstorm meetings where you and your colleagues will have to agree on the best marketing strategy. You will have to be able to understand the team leader’s vision and confront them if your experience tells you this or that won’t work. And you need to be a team player, so knowing some negotiation skills will come handy when putting your thoughts out there for others to think through. If you need a qualified Graphic Designer, please call Colorpeak at <a href="http://tel:00441916451645">0191 645 1645</a>.<h3><a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/graphic-design/">Graphic design</a> tools</h3>I could tell you there are plenty of tools that you can use as a graphic designer, but there are only a few that truly count and enable you to create with no limitations. These days, knowing how to use (and use well!) Adobe CS is a must. As a freelancer, you may want to dip into <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gimp.org/">Gimp</a>, Inkspace or Krita freeware software. If you’re looking for a job in a respected Graphic Design company, however, then having InDesign, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.adobe.com/uk/products/photoshop.html ">Photoshop</a> and Illustrator listed in your CV is a necessity. <h3>Knowledge of graphic design field</h3>In terms of "know-how", there are certain things that you need to know by heart and most importantly understand, like typography or branding. However, there are others that you only need to be aware of, like printing technicalities.<figure class="image regular"><a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/web-design-marketing-trends-2019/"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/ac168ae8133237cdba44e7a85f1998f0_800.png 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/ac168ae8133237cdba44e7a85f1998f0_800.png 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/ac168ae8133237cdba44e7a85f1998f0_800.png" /></picture></a></figure><h3>Areas of knowledge that every Graphic Designer should be familiar with:</h3><ul><li>UI/UX Design</li><li>HTML/CSS</li><li>Typography</li><li>Branding</li><li>Printing</li></ul>UI/UX design (User Interface/User Experience), typography and basic HTML/CSS knowledge are essential if you are considering working as a graphic designer in web design field. One could argue that you don’t need any coding skills to produce a website, but that is not true. You need to understand if and how a web developer will be able to reproduce your design using programming skills. I would say you can be a graphic artist without this knowledge but to be a good and respected graphic designer you won’t get away from the necessity of understanding HTML and CSS. Studies show that 36% of companies prefer their graphic designers to know HTML. Typography is another of those skills that you need to obtain but we have a separate article that talks about typography in <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/minimalism-web-design/">minimalistic design</a> if you’re interested.When it comes to branding, there are specific guidelines that you need to be aware of. Fortunately, it usually lies within a team leader’s scope to decide what needs to be designed. It is good to have experience in creating a brand for a company. However, in the end, you simply need to produce what the client needs, so most of the time you learn as you go.Need a brand design? We can do it all! Call <a href="http://tel:00441916451645">0191 645 1645</a> for more information.You do not need to know how the printer operates. Frankly, you’re not working at the printer. Regardless of that, you should know how to prepare your design for printing purposes. When applying for a graphic designer position, trust me, you will not get it unless you know what bleed or CMYK is.<h3>Degree for the graphic design industry</h3>We’re living in the era of Skillshare, Treehouse and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.udemy.com/">Udemy online courses</a> as well as YouTube where you can find anything from instructions on how to clean the coffee spill from your carpet to creating a 3D logo for your client. Yet, if you browse available positions on Indeed, Jobsite or especially the <a target="_blank" href="https://findajob.dwp.gov.uk/">Government Find a Job website</a> you will hardly find an offer that does not require an educational background. In fact, in more than 80% of cases, you would not even be invited for an interview unless you have a degree. But then again, you can always become a freelancer and there are plenty of websites like Fiverr or PeoplePerHour where you can <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/ppc-ads/">advertise your services</a>.<h2>Conclusion</h2>Although it is not easy and takes time to acquire graphic design skills you can do it yourself especially if design is your passion. You can get a degree and end up being a part of a graphic artist team that works for large advertising agencies. You can also be a free spirit working on your own from the comfort of your home. Whichever path you take, remember there are certain skills you need to possess without which you can’t be successful in the field of design.Source: <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/4-key-skills-graphic-designer">4 key skills of a Graphic Designer</a>For any Graphic Design queries <a href="mailto:mailto:info@colorpeak.co.uk">drop us an email</a>, and we will be in touch shortly.   <script type="text/javascript"> var _paq = _paq || []; var url = "https://colorpeak.storychief.io/4-key-skills-graphic-designer?id=1018656194&type=12"; const queryDict = {}; location.search.substr(1).split("&").forEach(function(item) {queryDict[item.split("=")[0]] = item.split("=")[1]}); if ('contact' in queryDict){ const separator = (url.indexOf("?")===-1)?"?":"&"; url = url + separator + "contact="+queryDict['contact']; } if ('list' in queryDict){ const separator = (url.indexOf("?")===-1)?"?":"&"; url = url + separator + "list="+queryDict['list']; } _paq.push(['setDocumentTitle', '4 key skills of a Graphic Designer']); _paq.push(['setCustomUrl', url]); _paq.push(['trackPageView']); _paq.push(['enableHeartBeatTimer', 15]); _paq.push(['enableLinkTracking']); (function() { var u="//storychief.piwikpro.com/"; _paq.push(['addTracker', u+'piwik.php', '565b8427-1664-46d1-ae81-6e8e0925dae9']); var d=document, g=d.createElement('script'), s=d.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; g.type='text/javascript'; g.async=true; g.defer=true; g.src=u+'piwik.js'; s.parentNode.insertBefore(g,s); })(); </script>  <script async src="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/scripts/v0/strchf.js"></script>
Flat design vs depth in web design

Tue, 11 Sep 2018 17:03:00 -0000

<h1>Flat design vs depth in web design</h1> CSS has been with us for over two decades, but its use properly kicked in 2003 when Jeffrey Zeldman published his book "Designing with Web Standards". Since then the use of flash templates for web design started to slow down, and CSS became widely used. <figure class="image regular"><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://cowboy.bike/"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/0c7354ade72673e37eb1f9f115e617bc_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/0c7354ade72673e37eb1f9f115e617bc_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Depth in web design" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/0c7354ade72673e37eb1f9f115e617bc_800.jpg" /></picture></a><figcaption>View website <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://cowboy.bike/">cowboy.bike</a></figcaption></figure>By the time flat design was introduced in 2006 by Windows with their Zune player release, web designers were in a phase showing off their skills using flashy illustrations and animations that int their minds were to wow website visitors. It was a minefield full of colours, textures and simple animations that constantly distracted people to no end. You can check out how the internet looked like in early 2000 by visiting <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.webdesignmuseum.org/gallery?page=1&year=2000,2005&category=&style=&open=year&order=popular">Web Design Museum</a>. <h2>What is flat design?</h2>Flat design emphasises usability in its <a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/minimalism-web-design/">minimalistic approach</a> toward the interface. It focuses on being clean and simple, emphasising open space, 2D illustrations, contrast and crisp edges. As a principal, the less stylistic elements seen as unnecessary clutter in web design, the better. One can say that flat design goes back to the basics of web design in terms of being a functional tool. The focus shifts from how it looks to how well it works. Don't get me wrong, the looks are still important and need to please the eye, but at the same time when your end goal is to implement flat design it needs to equally be user-friendly. <figure class="image regular"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/73fe89abb9cd07601e9d8168d41f4190_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/73fe89abb9cd07601e9d8168d41f4190_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Flat design showcasing website" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/73fe89abb9cd07601e9d8168d41f4190_800.jpg" /></picture><figcaption>View website <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://artisantalent.com/">artisantalent.com</a></figcaption></figure><h2>Here are some basic principles of flat design:</h2><ul><li>clean and simple</li><li>two-dimensional illustrations and icons</li><li>crisp edges</li><li>use of contrast</li><li>decluttered space</li></ul><h2>Depth in web design</h2>On the other hand, the use of depth in web design has been equally popular. Designers who use it tend to say they like to “breathe life” into their work and add depth as a way to do it. By adding shadow, which is very popular to create a 3D perception, you can emphasise specific elements on the website and make them more realistic.According to some, a real-looking interface can boost people’s interaction with the website which is always important when it comes to web design, as it must be pretty but more importantly, functional. Some specific tools can be used to achieve depth in web design.<h2>How can depth be achieved in web design?</h2><ul><li>parallax backgrounds</li><li>focal points and perspective</li><li>subtle shading and lighting</li><li>overlapping layers</li><li>gaussian blur</li><li>skeuomorphism (interface objects that mimic their real-world counterparts in how they appear or how the user can interact with them - definition by <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/skeuomorphism">Interaction Design</a>)</li></ul>Skeuomorphism became popular thanks to Apple. Steve Jobs was always the one who emphasised that people should use devices thanks to intuition and should not have to read manuals to enjoy the technology. But after a few years, <a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/web-design-marketing-trends-2019/">this trend</a> seems to be overused, and even Apple followed the Windows approach and introduced flat design in their devices.<figure class="image regular"><a target="_blank" href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/web-design/"><picture style=""><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/d59dec48b3d24e5b5b78528675f2fc95_800.jpg 1x" media="(max-width: 768px)" /><source srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/d59dec48b3d24e5b5b78528675f2fc95_800.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 769px)" /><img style="" alt="Flat design versus skeuomorphic design of Safari icon" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/d59dec48b3d24e5b5b78528675f2fc95_800.jpg" /></picture></a><figcaption>Skeuomorphic vs flat design</figcaption></figure>These days everything seems to be mixing, and although we see the flat design in the lead, it has some depth elements incorporated into it like subtle shadows and micro-animations. It is the best of two worlds combined for better visuals and user-experience. That's a win-win if you ask me. Source: <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/flat-vs-depth-web-design">Flat design vs depth in web design </a>   <script type="text/javascript"> var _paq = _paq || []; var url = "https://colorpeak.storychief.io/flat-vs-depth-web-design?id=1514311566&type=12"; const queryDict = {}; location.search.substr(1).split("&").forEach(function(item) {queryDict[item.split("=")[0]] = item.split("=")[1]}); if ('contact' in queryDict){ const separator = (url.indexOf("?")===-1)?"?":"&"; url = url + separator + "contact="+queryDict['contact']; } if ('list' in queryDict){ const separator = (url.indexOf("?")===-1)?"?":"&"; url = url + separator + "list="+queryDict['list']; } _paq.push(['setDocumentTitle', 'Flat design vs depth in web design']); _paq.push(['setCustomUrl', url]); _paq.push(['trackPageView']); _paq.push(['enableHeartBeatTimer', 15]); _paq.push(['enableLinkTracking']); (function() { var u="//storychief.piwikpro.com/"; _paq.push(['addTracker', u+'piwik.php', '565b8427-1664-46d1-ae81-6e8e0925dae9']); var d=document, g=d.createElement('script'), s=d.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; g.type='text/javascript'; g.async=true; g.defer=true; g.src=u+'piwik.js'; s.parentNode.insertBefore(g,s); })(); </script>  <script async src="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/scripts/v0/strchf.js"></script>
Minimalism in Web Design

Fri, 07 Sep 2018 20:19:00 -0000

<h1> Minimalism in Web Design</h1> <div class="3stj9"> When you think about minimalism in today’s websites, you most likely have a specific light-weight style in mind recognised across many fields. In many ways, the concept of minimalism has been a constant presence in the designer's world of art and architecture for almost a century. It has also become a dominant trend in website design, especially in 2018, and likely will only grow stronger in the upcoming years. I hope you will be interested in learning what Colorpeak has to tell you about what it means to design a minimal website.</div> <h2> What is minimalism? </h2> <div class="9o7a6"> You've probably heard the phrases "the art of less" or "less is more" many times. It's a cliché, but there is truth to it. One can say that simplicity represents the essence of a minimalistic approach in modern design.</div> <blockquote> “The term minimalism is also used to describe a trend in design and architecture, wherein the subject is reduced to its necessary elements”. </blockquote> <div class="ff4ei"> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalism" target="_blank">- Wikipedia</a></div> <div class="5ikpe"> However, today I would like to focus on exploring minimalism as it’s applied in digital web design. I will also go through its main principles and show you actual examples of beautiful minimalist websites.</div> <h2> Minimalism in web design</h2> <div class="6e7b3"> Most designers agree that minimalism in web design means simplifying the interface by removing unnecessary elements. Some will also argue that you need to strip down the website to its bare bones, especially since <a href="https://www.ampproject.org/learn/overview/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">AMP </a>was introduced. However, no matter which approach you prefer, remember that there are some restrictions in deleting the elements of your design before it loses its main goal of providing information to the visitor or generating sales.</div> <h2> The main principles of minimalism in web design</h2> <ol> <li>Invisible or subtle navigation</li> <li>Negative/empty space</li> <li>Use of contrast</li> <li>Power of typography</li> <li>User-friendly layout</li> </ol> <h3> Invisible or subtle navigation</h3> <div class="fccmn"> Most people are in a hurry, or to be more accurate, are impatient. Simple navigation will encourage them to look for what they came to your website for. Unless you're building a large retailer website that requires a <a href="https://www.r2integrated.com/r2insights/an-seo-view-of-mega-menus" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">mega menu</a>, keep it simple, and you will be rewarded.</div> <figure class="image regular"><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/7c190a60bba4823e3e42a0a59abc9aec.gif 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/7c190a60bba4823e3e42a0a59abc9aec.gif 1x"></source><img alt="" src="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/7c190a60bba4823e3e42a0a59abc9aec.gif" /></picture><figcaption>Visit website <a href="https://charbonneltowns.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">charbonneltowns.com</a></figcaption></figure> <h3> Negative/empty space</h3> <div class="fgamr"> White space can be a powerful tool, helping you to draw people's attention toward what little remains on your minimalistic website. It is commonly used, but often its inclusion is an accident, especially when a designer building an e-commerce website will tend to focus on making sure the shop works. How it looks is a secondary concern. In such instances, you end up with a website of a five-year-old who did not learn yet how to fill in the background between the grass and the sky on that picture they drew for grandma.</div> <figure class="image regular"><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/1c6323cf830871f83f67b56a9371c1d1.gif 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/1c6323cf830871f83f67b56a9371c1d1.gif 1x"></source><img alt="" src="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/account_2648/1c6323cf830871f83f67b56a9371c1d1.gif" /></picture><figcaption>View website <a href="https://www.l2f.ch/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Learn 2 Forecast</a></figcaption></figure> <h3> Use of contrast</h3> <div class="9hkqt"> In terms of contrast, you can play with light or dark colours (resist using too many in one project). In addition, you can strategically place some of the website elements in the foreground vs background to emphasise them. Another contrast to consider is size and shape. These come especially handy when designing <a href="https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/call-to-action-examples" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Call to Action</a> buttons that should draw the attention of the visitor.</div> <figure class="image regular"><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/f147c98a25539f6c080e2a53c33bd84e_800.jpg 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/f147c98a25539f6c080e2a53c33bd84e_800.jpg 1x"></source><img alt="" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/f147c98a25539f6c080e2a53c33bd84e_800.jpg" /></picture><figcaption>View website <a href="http://fleurmoreau.fr/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">fleurmoreau.fr</a></figcaption></figure> <h3> Power of typography</h3> <div class="odud"> There are hundreds of fonts to choose from these days, and with minimalistic design in mind, it's not about which one you choose but how you use it. You can even use bold fonts and huge letters. No website should use one font only, but do not go overboard. Do not go over three. Even better, stick to two and play with the size, weight, and letter spacing to achieve balance and simplicity.</div> <figure class="image regular"><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/235a1faabae50f3b8f28fde018237794_800.jpg 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/235a1faabae50f3b8f28fde018237794_800.jpg 1x"></source><img alt="" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/235a1faabae50f3b8f28fde018237794_800.jpg" /></picture><figcaption>View website <a href="http://www.klobouckalesni.cz/en/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.klobouckalesni.cz</a></figcaption></figure> <h3> User-friendly layout</h3> <div class="6ro5s"> Large images will empower you to bring life to empty spaces. But they only work in certain cases like when designing a website for interior design, or photographers etc. Pictures can be very heavy and can slow down your website, so they need to be well balanced with the text between them.</div> <figure class="image regular"><picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/5d4c4067ec08c6b6624f67bfb526f557_800.jpg 1x"></source><source media="(min-width: 769px)" srcset="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/5d4c4067ec08c6b6624f67bfb526f557_800.jpg 1x"></source><img alt="" src="https://d2ijz6o5xay1xq.cloudfront.net/account_2648/5d4c4067ec08c6b6624f67bfb526f557_800.jpg" /></picture><figcaption>View website <a href="http://primalinea.com.br/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">primalinea.com.br</a></figcaption></figure> <h2> When should you choose minimalism for web design?</h2> <div class="es2bk"> There are certain benefits to choosing minimalistic web design, but it's not suitable for all projects. On the one hand, they often seem a good choice for one-page websites or to sell a few products but won't work on large retailer e-com stores.</div> <div class="40evk"> It also depends on your audience. A professional corporate worker may not care about the aesthetics but for a musician, or in fact any artist, a minimalistic look can be appealing. It is quite clear that you need to keep your end user in mind at all times and design for them. Will your customer appreciate the ease of navigation? Or will they feel like something is missing and flee to your competitor's website?</div> <h2> Conclusion</h2> <div class="f1a3f"> Whether you choose to design a minimalistic website or not, remember that what seems simple at first glance, usually requires a lot of effort from a designer’s perspective. There is no point in stripping things from the website to make it light and user-friendly if it's not going to be functional. With a bit of time, dedication and a proper approach to never sacrificing usability for the sake of visuals, you can create a beautiful and useful website in no time... Kidding! Every designer knows that it takes time to design any good website. At least now you know what you should keep in mind to design a minimalistic one!</div> <div class="f1a3f"> </div> <div class="f1a3f"> View source: <a href="https://colorpeak.co.uk/minimalism-web-design/" target="_blank">Minimalism in Web Design</a></div>   <script type="text/javascript"> var _paq = _paq || []; var url = "https://colorpeak.storychief.io/minimalism-web-design?id=1056001909&type=12"; const queryDict = {}; location.search.substr(1).split("&").forEach(function(item) {queryDict[item.split("=")[0]] = item.split("=")[1]}); if ('contact' in queryDict){ const separator = (url.indexOf("?")===-1)?"?":"&"; url = url + separator + "contact="+queryDict['contact']; } if ('list' in queryDict){ const separator = (url.indexOf("?")===-1)?"?":"&"; url = url + separator + "list="+queryDict['list']; } _paq.push(['setDocumentTitle', 'Minimalism in Web Design']); _paq.push(['setCustomUrl', url]); _paq.push(['trackPageView']); _paq.push(['enableHeartBeatTimer', 15]); _paq.push(['enableLinkTracking']); (function() { var u="//storychief.piwikpro.com/"; _paq.push(['addTracker', u+'piwik.php', '565b8427-1664-46d1-ae81-6e8e0925dae9']); var d=document, g=d.createElement('script'), s=d.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; g.type='text/javascript'; g.async=true; g.defer=true; g.src=u+'piwik.js'; s.parentNode.insertBefore(g,s); })(); </script>  <script async="" src="https://d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net/scripts/v0/strchf.js"></script>
5 Sectors Blockchain Is Disrupting That Are Not Cryptocurrency

Wed, 08 Aug 2018 18:23:00 -0000

 For a few years now, “blockchain” and “cryptocurrency” have gone hand-in-hand. The blockchain concept is complicated, and involves constant-growth record lists linked together and secured through cryptography (think of the Cryptex from The Da Vinci Code). Each block of the chain envelops a hash pointer relating to the previous block, as well as transaction data and a timestamp. The idea of a blockchain isn’t relegated to the infant-era cryptocurrency revolution. Massive worldwide corporations are beginning to incorporate blockchain technology into their systems. The technology behind the blockchain is far more valuable on a global scale than any market capitalization of cryptocurrencies. Here are five large sectors currently being disrupted by the potential of this technology: Related: Why Bitcoin Is the MySpace of Cryptocurrencies, But the Blockchain Is Here to Stay <img alt="Image 2018-08-08 at 7.14.07 pm" class=" wp-image-18 aligncenter" data-attachment-id="18" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Image 2018-08-08 at 7.14.07 pm" data-large-file="https://lucashawro.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/image-2018-08-08-at-7-14-07-pm.png?w=840" data-medium-file="https://lucashawro.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/image-2018-08-08-at-7-14-07-pm.png?w=525&h=368" data-orig-file="https://lucashawro.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/image-2018-08-08-at-7-14-07-pm.png" data-orig-size="1772,1239" data-permalink="https://lucashawro.wordpress.com/2018/08/08/5-sectors-blockchain-is-disrupting-that-are-not-cryptocurrency/image-2018-08-08-at-7-14-07-pm/" height="368" sizes="(max-width: 525px) 85vw, 525px" src="https://lucashawro.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/image-2018-08-08-at-7-14-07-pm.png?w=525&h=368" srcset="https://lucashawro.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/image-2018-08-08-at-7-14-07-pm.png?w=525&h=368 525w, https://lucashawro.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/image-2018-08-08-at-7-14-07-pm.png?w=1050&h=734 1050w, https://lucashawro.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/image-2018-08-08-at-7-14-07-pm.png?w=150&h=105 150w, https://lucashawro.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/image-2018-08-08-at-7-14-07-pm.png?w=300&h=210 300w, https://lucashawro.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/image-2018-08-08-at-7-14-07-pm.png?w=768&h=537 768w, https://lucashawro.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/image-2018-08-08-at-7-14-07-pm.png?w=1024&h=716 1024w" width="525" /> <h4> 1. Crybersecurity</h4> Although one of the main draws to the blockchain is the transparency of its public ledger, the data communication piece is verified via advanced cryptographic systems. This ensures the data arrived through the proper channels, without interception by a third party in the transmission process. This idea brings about the strong possibility that blockchain can provide severe reductions in cybersecurity risks. The removal of human interaction in the data communication process will severely lessen the threat of data corruption, human error, and hacking. Additional cybersecurity applications of the blockchain include large-scale authentication of data. A startup called Guardtime is currently experimenting with a blockchain-centric keyless signature infrastructure. This KSI works by tagging and verifying data transactions, providing crypto-level assurance of data authenticity and integrity. <h4> 2. Elections and voting</h4> Voting manipulation has become an active pain point in the election process at many levels. Elections require not only the authentication of the voters’ identities, but also secured record-keeping, vote tracking, and win tallying. Looking to the future, blockchain technology could enable tools to serve as an infrastructure from start to finish. This could potentially eliminate the need for recounts, as it removes the human element involved in vote manipulation and voter fraud. Through the capture of votes as blockchain “transactions,” government entities would have a public and verifiable trail of votes, ensuring none are changed or removed, and no illegitimate votes are added. A blockchain-based election focused startup called Follow My Vote is in the process of developing a beta version of their complete blockchain-centric voting solution. <h4> 3. Transaction-based real estate</h4> The purchase and sale of property come with many pain points, including massive stacks of paperwork, an overall lack of transparency, public record errors, and the possibility of fraud throughout the process. Blockchain instead offers a method to reduce the need for paper recordkeeping, while simultaneously speeding up transaction times, helping those involved in the process reduce transaction costs and improve overall efficiency. Technology and finance startup Ubitquity has begun offering a SaaS platform centered around blockchain technology, geared toward mortgage, title, and financial companies. The service provider is working with various recordkeeping entities in foreign countries to gather property information and documents for their blockchain. <h4> 4. Analytics for forecasting</h4> As industries continue to embrace the concept of the blockchain, the power expands into the analytics and forecasting niche. With entirely accurate transaction records to support data analysis, forecasting technologies can adapt to a less error-prone foundation for things such as machine learning algorithms to develop more accurate insights and predictions based on blockchain data. Even in the current day and age, blockchain is in the process of allowing for a new market focused on predictions. A program called Augur has been developed using the Ethereum blockchain. Augur allows its users to forecast events, incorporating a reward system for accurate predictions. The parent company of the program claims that the full process will be decentralized, enabling their users to place bets on everything from stock market predictions to sports, to natural disaster occurrences. <h4> 5. Ridesharing applications</h4> Lyft and Uber are definitions of centralization in business models. The companies, in essence, operate as cloud-based dispatch hubs, using algorithms to control fleets and dictate charges. Blockchain could allow new technologies into these dynamics. Decentralized and distributed ledgers could provide a more user-driven and value-oriented market environment. <h4> Final thoughts</h4> While still relatively new technology, blockchain is easily poised to become one the most useful technological innovations of the 21st century. With massive corporations already incorporating blockchain into their systems, and hundreds of chain-centric startups pushing into the mainstream, the potential utilization of this cryptographic process is unfathomable. The above five sectors scratch the surface of the disruption blockchain has caused, and the technology is likely already an unbeknownst part of your daily life. Cryptocurrency platforms are only the beginning. As first seen on <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/305009" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">5 Sectors Blockchain Is Disrupting That Are Not Cryptocurrency</a>
Online Marketing Effectiveness on Integrated Marketing Communications

Fri, 03 Aug 2018 10:02:00 -0000

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7WN27OY2ccZGMxsKnz3x35CC1zASSspLWMJ_D4KcBhy-iJM36tIhBaEj5RWmWUQieSS4Ph6LRQ3zzlfdOJPwuLn0lwAY5ckjQpsRtwa-x3cTsV85cHeby_QtpJS4ZKo5hxMNl5kLFl24B/s1600/Image+2018-08-03+at+10.46.42+am.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="857" data-original-width="1600" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7WN27OY2ccZGMxsKnz3x35CC1zASSspLWMJ_D4KcBhy-iJM36tIhBaEj5RWmWUQieSS4Ph6LRQ3zzlfdOJPwuLn0lwAY5ckjQpsRtwa-x3cTsV85cHeby_QtpJS4ZKo5hxMNl5kLFl24B/s640/Image+2018-08-03+at+10.46.42+am.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GaryVee by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm7Hp03CgzY" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">GaryVee</a></td></tr> </tbody></table> Online marketing is becoming a hot topic in every business sector and gradually plays a truly important role in any company's multi-channel marketing strategy or its integrated marketing communication. <h3> Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is a marketing concept that ensures all forms of communication and messages are carefully linked together.  </h3> At its most basic level, Integrated Marketing Communication or IMC means integrating all the promotional tools, so that they work together in harmony. Promotion is one of the Ps in the marketing mix. The promotion has its own mix of communication tools. All of these communication tools work better if they work together in harmony rather than in isolation. Their sum is greater than their parts - providing they speak consistently with one voice all the time, every time. <h4> Tools of Online Marketing:</h4> Display advertising - Display advertising conveys its advertising message visually using text, logos, animations, videos, photographs, or other graphics. Display advertisers frequently target users with particular traits to increase the ads' effect. Web banner advertising - Web banners or banner ads typically are graphical ads displayed on a web page. Banner ads can use rich media to incorporate video, audio, animations, buttons, forms, or other interactive elements using Java applets, HTML5, Adobe Flash, and other programs. Frame ad (traditional banner) - Frame ads were the first form of web banners. The colloquial usage of "banner ads" often refers to traditional frame ads. Website publishers incorporate frame ads by setting aside a particular space on the web page. Pop-ups/pop-unders - A pop-up ad is displayed in a new web browser window that opens above a website visitor's initial browser window. A pop-under ad opens a new browser window under a website visitor's initial browser window. Floating ad - A floating ad, or overlay ad, is a type of rich media advertisement that appears superimposed over the requested website's content. Floating ads may disappear or become less obtrusive after a preset time period. Expanding ad - An expanding ad is a rich media frame ad that changes dimensions upon a predefined condition, such as a preset amount of time a visitor spends on a webpage, the user's click on the ad, or the user's mouse movement over the ad. Expanding ads allow advertisers to fit more information into a restricted ad space. Interstitial ad - An interstitial ad displays before a user can access requested content, sometimes while the user is waiting for the content to load. Interstitial ads are a form of interruption marketing. Text ads - A text ad displays text-based hyperlinks. Text-based ads may display separately from a web page's primary content, or they can be embedded by hyperlinking individual words or phrases to advertiser's websites. Text ads may also be delivered through email marketing or text message marketing. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) - Search Engine Marketing, or SEM, is designed to increase a website's visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs). Search engines provide sponsored results and organic (non-sponsored) results based on a web searcher's query. Search engines often employ visual cues to differentiate sponsored results from organic results. Search engine marketing includes all of an advertiser's actions to make a website's listing more prominent for topical keywords. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) -Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, attempts to improve a website's organic search rankings in SERPs by increasing the website content's relevance to search terms. Search engines regularly update their algorithms to penalize poor quality sites that try to game their rankings, making optimization a moving target for advertisers. Many vendors offer SEO services. Sponsored search - Sponsored search (also called sponsored links or search ads) allows advertisers to be included in the sponsored results of a search for selected keywords. Search ads are often sold via real-time auctions, where advertisers bid on keywords. Social media marketing - Social media marketing is a commercial promotion conducted through social media websites. Many companies promote their products by posting frequent updates and providing special offers through their social media profiles. Mobile Advertising - Mobile advertising is ad copy delivered through wireless mobile devices such as smartphones, feature phones, or tablet computers. Mobile advertising may take the form of static or rich media to display ads, SMS (Short Message Service) or MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) ads, mobile search ads, advertising within mobile websites, or ads within mobile applications or games (such as interstitial ads, "advergaming," or application sponsorship). Email Advertising - Email advertising is ad copy comprising an entire email or a portion of an email message. Email marketing may be unsolicited, in which case the sender may give the recipient an option to opt-out of future emails, or it may be sent with the recipient's prior consent (opt-in). <h4> Benefits of Online marketing:</h4> •       The Internet gives you a wide access to your potential customers. It has been estimated that a couple of billion people around the world use the Internet, and more are becoming aware of the Internet with each passing day. So, marketing your business to such a large group of people is only possible through the Internet. The Internet is the only medium that is able to cross geographic and national boundaries. •       The cost of promoting your business on the Internet is cheaper than other mediums of marketing. This makes it easy for small and mid-sized businesses to advertise their products. •   The Internet allows the ability to stay connected with customers on a real-time basis. If any discount going on, then it is easier to send an email to customers and they can buy the product instantly. The Internet also allows sending of multiple messages at the same time, which saves the tedious task of sending a newsletter to every client. •       Internet marketing facilitates an instant feedback from the customers. Customers can share about their experience after using the product. •       Internet marketing saves a lot of time and effort. Instead of having a customer service representative to answer the queries of customers, one can put all the information about the product or service on the Internet so that customers can go through it. The most common way of doing it is to have a section dedicated to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the product so that customers get all the required information about the product or the service. •       Internet marketing allows businesses to be available 24/7, which means increased sales and profits. <h4> Limitations of Online marketing:</h4> •       Although Internet marketing allows a wider reach, the start-up costs of a website can be high. This includes the cost of the required software and hardware and maintenance costs. •       There are still a lot of customers who use the Internet just for having more information about a product and prefer to buy it in person. For example, Internet marketing allows a customer to view how a phone looks like and its technical specifications, but customers prefer having a look at the phone in the store to get a hands-on experience. •       There are a lot of customers who are not proficient in using the Internet and focusing solely on Internet marketing can cause you to lose these customers. •       The rules of the trade change rapidly in Internet marketing, and it requires constant attention and monitoring to ensure that your marketing strategy does not look out-of-date. •       The biggest disadvantage of Internet marketing is its vulnerability to fraudulent activities. There are a lot of illegitimate websites out there which look similar to original websites and rob the customers of their money. Spamming is also one of the biggest challenges for Internet marketing and confidential data can be easily stolen by hackers. •       Internet marketing lacks the human touch that is involved when a customer buys a product from a salesperson. This hampers the prospects of relationship building which plays an important part in repeat sales and word-of-mouth publicity. •       Internet marketing depends heavily on technology, which is vulnerable to technical faults. For example, if a customer clicks on your advertisement but due to a technical glitch, is unable to buy the product, he may easily become irate and take his business somewhere else. Although there are some challenges involved in Internet marketing, it can be safely said that Internet marketing has led to increased transparency and ease of buying products. The need of the hour is to counter the challenges so that Internet marketing proves to be truly beneficial for all. <a href="http://thesisexamples.blogspot.com/2017/08/online-marketing-effectiveness-integrated-marketing-communications-IMC-thesis.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Online Marketing Effectiveness on Integrated Marketing Communications</a> - as posted on here first.
The Death of Don Draper

Fri, 03 Aug 2018 09:32:00 -0000

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNkDOLMWRwZ1__A2nxlxffcnWhmaJ0oJLL5X0geRTavrGXN_fLTHkFk7rdiRE1gyHHR3x8pDxpevHH5ywP_3Dg_Wivg7Z_OYnzi7dd5leTnOHMxKrrfRVIfyt9_A4KaDogeEvG6UEEc3_J/s1600/Image+2018-08-03+at+10.14.40+am.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="1415" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNkDOLMWRwZ1__A2nxlxffcnWhmaJ0oJLL5X0geRTavrGXN_fLTHkFk7rdiRE1gyHHR3x8pDxpevHH5ywP_3Dg_Wivg7Z_OYnzi7dd5leTnOHMxKrrfRVIfyt9_A4KaDogeEvG6UEEc3_J/s640/Image+2018-08-03+at+10.14.40+am.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Hamm by <yt-formatted-string class="style-scope ytd-video-owner-renderer" has-link-only_="" id="owner-name" style="--yt-endpoint-hover-color: var(--yt-channel-owner); background-color: white; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.6rem; text-align: start;"><a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4KA3qEEEM7lj7I9NCWgOAQ" rel="nofollow" spellcheck="false" style="cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">GQ Australia</a></yt-formatted-string></td></tr> </tbody></table> Advertising, once a creative industry, is now a data-driven business reliant on algorithms. The implications are deeply sinister – not only for the consumer but for democracy itself. The advertising industry is currently enthralled by a prophet of its imminent demise. Scott Galloway is a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business and founder of a marketing consultancy. In a much-shared YouTube video, he delivers a talk entitled “The Death of the Advertising-Industrial Complex” to an audience of young marketers. In it, he argues that businesses can no longer rely on advertising to compensate for mediocre products. Until the 1990s, says Galloway, the path to success lay in taking “an average beer, average car, or average suit” and wrapping it in appealing associations – this one makes you feel more elegant, this one makes you feel younger. Now, we live in an age in which the intangible haze of soft-sell is no longer necessary, and the battle for market share comes down to the raw strength of your product. “The sun has passed midday on brand,” he says. Galloway, lean of frame, dresses in the austerely casual manner of technology entrepreneurs. Glasses with thick black frames perch on his shaven head. He begins his lecture, disarmingly, by warning that he can get things wrong: he once predicted Amazon would decline in value right before its stock began a record-breaking ascent. But there is nothing equivocal about his presentation. Traditional advertising is unforgivably wasteful, he says. “Nothing resembling targeting takes place. Ninety-eight per cent of what you see in broadcast media is irrelevant to you as an individual. I find that the advertising on Facebook and Google sucks less.” These days, consumers are less likely to have favourite brands, since “their favourite brand is going to be whatever Google tells them at that moment is going to match their exact needs”. The brand getting the most buzz in the car industry is Tesla. “What’s different about them? No advertising. Innovation in the car industry is not about putting Cindy Crawford in a TV ad. It’s about building a better battery.” Galloway closes with a cruel assessment of the ad industry’s relevance. “When’s the last time you saw an ad agency executive on the cover of Business Week? No one cares what they think. Don Draper has been killed, drawn and quartered. The big idea in advertising is a small idea nobody cares about.” Until recently, it was possible to identify somewhere called “Adland” on a map. In New York, advertising agencies clustered on or around Madison Avenue, near the big department stores. In London, the action was in Soho, among the film and TV production houses. The industry was a small world, with all the collegiality and parochialism that implies. In both cities, ad agencies are now dispersed randomly around town, as if an earthquake had destroyed their habitat, forcing them to scatter in different directions. Once so sure of their place in the world, they now seem a little lost. The earthquake, of course, was the internet, and the subsequent seizure of the ad business by technology companies. Between them, Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon (about whom Galloway has written an acclaimed, critical book, The Four), have transformed advertising’s terms of trade. Clients pour billions into a digital ecosystem that revolves around Google and Facebook in particular. The ad industry, run by people who pride themselves on creativity, is being displaced by the ad business, which prides itself on efficiency. Clients are spending less on the kind of entertaining, seductive, fame-generating campaigns in which ad agencies specialise, and more on the ads that flash and wink on your smartphone screen. The ad industry views itself as a field of applied artistry, a next-door neighbour to the entertainment industry. Though it often fails, it aspires to surprise, charm, move and delight people on behalf of its clients. The ad business is obsessed with data science and distrusts the messy stuff of story, image and idea. The ad industry thinks of itself as the custodian of a brand’s meaning in popular culture. The ad business could not care less about such fluff. Instead, it seeks to identify the precise moment that a consumer needs something so that it can trigger a sale. Shopping, on its model, is essentially an engineering problem to which a satisfyingly logical solution has finally been found. The ad business is largely automated. Clients only have to decide how many people they want to reach, and how much they want to spend; algorithms do the rest. In the milliseconds before a page loads on to your screen, a virtual auction takes place. Advertisers bid for the chance to place their client’s ad on it, based on data about your online behaviour: where you live, whether you’re young or old, recently shopped for shoes or searched for a car brand. The advertiser might create multiple ads and serve different executions to different slices of its audience. Some companies, such as Cambridge Analytica, claim to be able to target personality types using this method. The more valuable your particular profile is to the advertiser, the higher price its algorithm will pay the publisher to get an ad in front of your eyes. In this way, every scintilla of attention is transformed into money. The ad business is insanely profitable. It has turned Google (worth $750bn) and Facebook ($600bn) into bloated zeppelins of cash. It is also the engine of the free internet, providing the funds for most of what you read and watch online. But the ad business has problems. Algorithms are poor at making judgements that seem obvious to humans, like whether or not a soap brand will be happy having its ads run next to an Isis recruitment video. Consumers have proved ungrateful for the increased “relevance” of the ads that pop up on their screens, partly because so many of them are bafflingly irrelevant. Tiring of the aggressiveness with which online ads insert themselves between them and the content they wish to see, more and more people are using ad-blockers to combat what they regard as an infestation. Clients have even started to question the ad business’s claim to efficiency. The model I described above is a simplified version of a dizzyingly complex system whose details few can fathom, involving multiple companies taking multiple fees. Unsurprisingly, fraud is rampant. It is estimated that at least a third of the audience for online ads are bots: criminal groups make millions of dollars selling fake clicks to advertisers and their agencies. Nobody can say for sure how well advertising on Facebook works since Facebook refuses to share data with industry bodies. Because of concerns such as these, the world’s biggest advertiser, Procter & Gamble (P&G), cut its digital marketing budget by $200m in 2017 and reallocated the money to other media, including television. Rather than recovering lost ground, the ad industry is paralysed by an identity crisis. Most agencies are owned by a handful of global advertising groups, such as Omnicom or WPP, founded by Martin Sorrell, which have moved their operating firms out of homes in expensive parts of town and into anonymous office blocks, partly to disguise the deterioration of their core business. The groups have made a half-hearted attempt to transform themselves into data-driven technology companies, but have succeeded only in legitimating the overblown claims of their competitors and disappointing the stock market. Ad agencies no longer seem to know what they are for. Their executives like to declare that they don’t work in advertising, since “ads” are associated with a pre-internet world. Yet when asked to say what it is they actually do, they become vague (“communication”) or grandiose (“create culture”). The industry is Balkanised, the engineers talking a different language to the storytellers. Scott Galloway’s lecture articulates the worst fear of the latter: that there is no need for them any more. Yet not everyone is ready to accept redundancy. **** <iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FPs6k-GHlZk/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FPs6k-GHlZk?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>“Flowers are ads. Peacocks’ tails are ads.” Rory Sutherland, vice-chairman of Ogilvy & Mather, and the ad industry’s most vigorous defender is in full flow over lunch at his agency’s offices in Blackfriars. “One reason I’m not predicting the death of advertising any time soon is that you can see how important it is in nature. A flower is basically a weed with an advertising budget.” Sutherland believes that something in the mindset of technologists makes it hard for them to see or admit the value of advertising. Peter Thiel, one of Silicon Valley’s more unconventional thinkers, once observed that “nerds are sceptical of advertising, marketing and sales because they seem superficial and irrational. But advertising matters because it works. It works on nerds, and it works on you.” Engineers tend to conceive of advertising – insofar as they think about it at all – as a mere conduit for information about the product, which in their mind should speak for itself, without the superfluous operating system of a brand. Rory Sutherland argues that efficiency is overrated, and that excess and superfluity are weapons that marketers surrender at their peril. “Knowing that the seller has faith in their product is a hugely valuable piece of information,” he says. “In luxury goods, for instance, the ad says almost nothing; the cost of the ad almost everything.” Biologists regard the peacock’s tail as an expensive and so unfakeable signal of fitness – a sexual status symbol. Similarly, an ad can emit a powerful signal about a brand, regardless of information content. Online ads are cheap and easy to make, but the problem is, they look at it. “You don’t invite people to your wedding by email,” says Sutherland. Sutherland is somewhat peacockish himself, his generously proportioned figure clothed in tweed and red corduroy, his speech bubbling with jokes, analogies, and asides on Austrian economists. What the ad industry brings to the corporate world, he says, is something it cannot afford to do without, even if it doesn’t know it: absurdity. Successful marketing must not be too rational because, as in military strategy, it depends on surprise. “In battle, if you’re always efficient, you’re predictable. In marketing, you have to do something slightly absurd in order to be distinctive – in order to avoid making the competition a kind of race to the bottom.” It isn’t enough for a signal to be costly or surprising, of course; it has to resonate with an audience. An axiom of the data-driven ad business is that an ad should be as tightly targeted as possible. Why waste money reaching millions of people when most of them are not in the market for your product? P&G’s top marketer, Marc Pritchard, a critic of Facebook, is nevertheless a devout believer in what he calls “one-to-one brand building”. But the doctrine of micro-targeting has a major lacuna. It is only by being visible to everyone at once that advertising can perform its most valuable role: shaping the cultural meaning of a brand. Before Christie’s sold Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi in 2017, it staged high-profile public exhibitions of the painting around the world and made an expensively produced video to showcase it – in effect, an ad. On the face of it, all this activity was a flagrant waste of money: almost nobody who consumes the marketing for a da Vinci is in the market for it. Christie’s salespeople knew all the potential buyers personally. They can, and did, visit them in the privacy of their penthouses. Yet Christie’s realised that those buyers would pay an extra few million for the privilege of owning a painting that was “iconic”. This isn’t some quirk of billionaire art collectors; it’s human nature. We value things more highly when we know that others value them. In his 2001 book Rational Ritual, the academic Michael Suk-Young Chwe argued that advertising solves what economists call a “coordination problem”. It helps us to see the world as others see it, and adapt our behaviour accordingly. If I know that a particular beer brand is associated with “quality” in the eyes of most people in the bar, then I will find it easier to drink it in public, regardless of my own personal preference, presuming I even have one. That wouldn’t be the case if I didn’t know that those people have seen the same ads as me. Being able to solve a problem like that is highly valuable for a brand, which is one reason why the cost of Super Bowl TV advertising has risen so steeply in the era of the internet: a 30-second commercial in 2018 cost about $5m, up from $1m in 1995. Messages can be microtargeted, but the meaning has to be mass-produced. Trust, too. The very act of advertising in public tends to make a brand more trusted since people can see it has a social reputation to maintain. When ads are invisible to people outside their target audience, it is easier to send messages that would fare badly in the light of public scrutiny – for political actors, Facebook is a dog-whistler's paradise. Researchers have consistently found that ads in broadcast media are taken more seriously than online ads: one reason for this is that people can see that other people can see them too. Even Mark Zuckerberg understands this at some level. Seeking to restore trust in Facebook in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, he ran full-page ads in newspapers. The need to have a meaningful brand forces a company to reflect on how it wishes to be perceived by society at large. Once that imperative disappears, all that is left is the battle for attention.  All gravy: Lynda Bellingham’s Oxo family were on our screens throughout the 1980s and 1990s It’s weird,” says Tom Goodwin, a prominent advertising executive and author of a new book, Digital Darwinism. “Adverts have never felt less significant, ad agencies have never seemed less important, but the advertising business has never dominated more aspects of modern life. Mostly in a bad way.” In a recent article for the New York Times, the sociologist Zeynep Tufekci recounted how, during the 2016 presidential campaign, she watched videos of Donald Trump’s rallies online, and noticed that YouTube started recommending and “auto-playing” videos of white supremacist rants and Holocaust denials. Curious, she set up another YouTube account and watched a lot of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders rallies. She was soon being directed to conspiracy theories about 9/11 and secret government agencies. Tufekci found the same pattern on non-political topics: videos about vegetarianism led to videos about veganism; videos about jogging led to videos about ultra-marathons. The stakes were always being upped. YouTube, she concluded, was a “radicalising instrument”. That isn’t, she says because YouTube’s engineers are zealots. It’s because Google (YouTube’s owner) is selling attention to advertisers, and its algorithms have learnt that the best way to keep people hooked is to push ever more extreme material on them. Attention was always important to the ad industry, but so were entertainment and storytelling, since what makes a person laugh, think or cry is more likely to be remembered. Historically, ads in broadcast media needed to be memorable, because they were not going to be seen very often, and would be absent at the point of purchase. It was important, therefore, to “build a brand” – a set of visual and emotional associations easily recalled to mind when deciding between options. At the supermarket, a shopper was more likely to reach for Oxo than other stock cubes, because its long-running TV campaign, featuring Lynda Bellingham, was funny and acute enough to have forged a link in the public imagination between Oxo and the consoling rituals of a British family meal. Oxo was instant gravy wrapped in cultural code, or perhaps cultural code disguised as instant gravy. Now that people carry media around with them everywhere, advertisers have less incentive to create memorable brands. Instead, they concentrate on forcing our attention towards the message or offer of the moment. The ad business doesn’t care about the future of its audience, only its present. That has had far-reaching consequences. In 2016, Facebook in effect charged the Trump campaign lower rates than the Clinton campaign, because Trump’s ads made people angrier and thus generated more clicks. Nobody took a decision to charge Trump less. It was the logical outcome of the ad business’s core principle: the more attention you win, the more you get paid. Since negative emotions are more likely to win and hold attention than positive emotions, the system has an incentive to spread fear and loathing. Russia’s entire propaganda campaign relies on an advertising model that rewards paranoia and spite. Meanwhile, we stoop over our phones when we should be doing almost anything else. A senior analyst at the Bank of England recently published an article making a case that one of the causes of Britain’s poor productivity is the spread of smartphones. A comprehensive US study, sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health, identified a strong association between social media use and depression. It’s not just Facebook: every app on your phone is engineered to hook and hold your attention, at the expense of your work, sleep, family and mental health. Every app with ads, that is. Scott Galloway is only the most eloquent exponent of the view that brand-led advertising is a vestige of a less rational world, to be superseded by a more scientific system (at the now legendary congress of Online Marketing Rockstars, Alexander Nix, then chief executive of Cambridge Analytica, gave a presentation entitled “From Mad Men to Math Men”). But if there is a bug in the software, it is the human mind. The way we choose what to buy, like the way we choose how to vote, will never be logical. Trying to make it so has created an environment in which our basest impulses are relentlessly stimulated and amplified. The philosopher Gilles Deleuze once remarked, “It is not the slumber of a reason that engenders monsters, but vigilant and insomniac rationality.” If ever there was a creation of insomniac rationality it is the 21st-century advertising business. Its monsters roam the planet. <div> </div> <div> <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/internet/2018/07/death-don-draper" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The death of Don Draper</a> as appeared first on <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.newstatesman.com</a></div>