#"LinkedIn job search tips"

[sawbeentheblog]

How to Leverage LinkedIn for Job Search in 2025: Tips and Strategies

In 2025, LinkedIn continues to be a powerful tool for job seekers and professionals alike. With its growing number of users and increased emphasis on career-building, LinkedIn is no longer just a place for job listings—it’s a platform for networking, building your personal brand, and directly engaging with recruiters and employers. Whether you’re looking to switch careers, land a promotion, or…

[sensitive-virgo]

Discover Exciting Dental Assistant Jobs in Long Island: Your Path to a Rewarding Career!

Discover Exciting Dental Assistant Jobs in Long Island: Your Path to a Rewarding Career!

Are you looking to embark on ‌a fulfilling career in the dental field? ‍With numerous dental assistant jobs in Long Island opening up, now is the perfect time to⁢ dive into this ‍exciting profession. This comprehensive guide will explore the‍ various facets of being a dental assistant, including the benefits ‌of the profession, practical tips ‌for finding jobs, and firsthand experiences⁤ from industry professionals.

Understanding the Role of a ‌Dental Assistant

A dental ‍assistant plays a crucial role in the dental practice. They work alongside dentists to ensure that ⁣procedures run smoothly and patients receive the best care ‌possible. The responsibilities of ⁢a ‌dental assistant typically include:

Preparing patients for dental procedures

Assisting the dentist ⁤during examinations and ‍treatments

Maintaining a clean and sterile ⁣environment

Managing dental records and scheduling appointments

Educating patients on oral hygiene

Why Choose ⁣a​ Career as a Dental Assistant in ​Long Island?

Long Island is a unique place to build your ​career as a dental assistant. Here are several reasons this area stands out:

Diverse Opportunities: With a wide range ‌of dental practices, including general dentistry, orthodontics, and oral surgery, you can explore various career paths.

Competitive Salaries: According to the​ U.S. Bureau of Labor⁣ Statistics,‌ dental assistants in New York earn a‌ competitive wage, with possibilities for overtime⁢ and bonus​ pay.

Job Security: The demand for dental services continues to⁤ grow, resulting in strong job prospects⁣ for dental assistants.

Work-Life Balance: Many dental offices ⁢offer flexible work hours, allowing for a ⁢healthy work-life balance.

Benefits of Being a Dental Assistant

Choosing a⁤ career as a dental assistant comes ⁣with numerous benefits, making it an appealing option for many. Let’s take a closer look at these advantages:

Benefit

Description

Short Training ‍Period

Many dental assistant programs take less than a year to complete.

High Demand

With an aging ⁢population and an increasing focus on oral health, more dental assistants ​are needed.

Varied Work Environment

Work in different dental specialties such as pediatrics, oral surgery, or even research and education.

Personal Fulfillment

Help patients achieve​ better oral health, ⁢making a positive impact on their lives.

Practical Tips for Securing Dental Assistant Jobs in Long Island

As you embark on your job search, ‍consider these practical tips to ‍enhance⁤ your chances ⁤of landing that ideal position:

Update Your Resume: Highlight relevant experience, certifications, and skills that employers seek in dental assistants.

Network: Connect with‌ professionals in⁣ the field through social media platforms like LinkedIn. Attend local dental conventions or workshops.

Stay Informed: Keep track of job openings in Long Island by utilizing job boards like Indeed, Glassdoor, or local dental society websites.

Consider Internships: Gain hands-on experience ⁤by applying for internships or volunteer positions at local dental clinics.

Firsthand⁢ Experiences from Dental Assistants

Real-life insights can provide valuable perspectives on the role of a dental‌ assistant. Here ‍are quotes from experienced dental assistants working‍ in Long Island:

“Every⁢ day brings ‍something new. I love that I get to interact with different patients ‌and help them on their dental journey!” – Sarah, 5 years as a dental assistant.

“The training was intensive but worthwhile. This career allows me to use my skills and actively contribute to⁤ people’s health.” – ​John, 3 years in a specialized ​orthodontic practice.

Case Study: A Day in⁣ the Life of a⁤ Dental Assistant

To give you a better understanding of⁣ what to expect, let’s take a ‍look at a typical day for a dental assistant in Long Island:

Time

Activity

8:00 AM

Arrive at the office, prepare treatment rooms, and review the day’s schedule.

9:00 AM

Assist the dentist with the first patient of the day, taking notes and managing ⁤equipment.

12:00 PM

Lunch break and catch up on administrative tasks.

1:00 PM

Return to the clinic to assist with afternoon procedures, interacting with patients and providing comfort.

5:00 PM

End of the workday, ensuring all equipment is sanitized and setting ⁣up for the next day.

Conclusion

The journey to becoming a‌ dental assistant in Long Island​ is ​filled with opportunities for personal and professional growth. ‌With the right training, a passion for helping others, and a ⁢proactive approach to job searching, you can carve out a rewarding ⁣career in this dynamic field. Embrace the adventure, and you’ll find that dental assistant jobs can offer not just a paycheck, but a fulfilling way to make a difference in people’s lives. ⁤Start exploring your⁢ options⁣ today and take ⁣the first step toward a promising ⁣future!

https://dentalassistantclasses.net/discover-exciting-dental-assistant-jobs-in-long-island-your-path-to-a-rewarding-career/

[workonward]

Sourcing vs. Recruiting: Understanding the Difference and Their Importance in Talent Acquisition

When it comes to hiring, time is money. A slow hiring process not only delays productivity but can also cause you to lose top talent to faster-moving competitors. So, how do you speed up your time-to-hire without sacrificing candidate quality? Don’t worry. This blog will give you practical strategies to streamline your hiring process, reduce delays, and attract top-quality candidates faster. Let’s dive in!

Streamlining the Recruitment Process: Key Steps 🚀

To speed up your hiring, start by simplifying and streamlining the recruitment process.

Clarify the Role: Before posting a job, make sure your job description is super clear. A well-defined role helps you attract the right people and saves time by reducing the number of unqualified applicants.

Collaborate with Stakeholders Early: Work with department heads and hiring managers before interviews start. This avoids last-minute feedback and speeds up decision-making.

Real-Life Example: A leading tech company found that involving their hiring team early reduced back-and-forth communication by 30%, cutting days off their time-to-hire.

Create a Candidate Checklist: Develop a scoring system for candidates. This helps you quickly assess if someone meets the core requirements, speeding up the shortlisting process.

Continuous Communication: Keep candidates updated regularly. Regular updates show you’re serious and keep candidates interested, so they’re less likely to lose focus or drop out.

Sourcing Tactics to Reduce Time-to-Hire 🕒

Sourcing can be time-consuming. To cut your time-to-hire, focus on effective sourcing strategies.

Leverage Passive Candidates: Passive candidates (those not actively looking for a job) make up 70% of the workforce. Use LinkedIn, industry events, and personal referrals to tap into this hidden talent pool. Having ready-to-hire candidates in your pipeline can speed up the process.

Quote: “Always be recruiting. Your best candidate may not be actively looking today, but they will be tomorrow.”

Use Internal Talent Pools: If you have great people already working for you, consider internal hires. They save time as you know their strengths, and they’re already a cultural fit. Plus, as we’re understand the difference between sourcing and recruiting can help you tap into this talent more efficiently.

Social Media Recruiting: Social platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram can help you find great candidates quickly, especially in niche markets.

💡 Pro Tip: Create a sourcing template for quick, personalized outreach messages. A streamlined communication process can save days off your time-to-hire.

How Technology Can Help Accelerate Recruiting ⚙️

Technology can help you cut hiring delays. With automation tools and AI-driven platforms, you can quickly sort and engage with candidates.

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS): An ATS can save hours by automatically filtering resumes based on your job description, leaving you with pre-qualified candidates.

Real-Life Example: One global retailer used an ATS to speed up their initial candidate screening process by 50%, leading to faster interview scheduling.

AI-Powered Sourcing Tools: Tools like LinkedIn Recruiter or Entelo use smart technology to match candidates with jobs. This reduces the time spent manually searching for talent.

Automated Interview Scheduling: Stop wasting time emailing back and forth with candidates to set up interviews. Tools like Calendly or Doodle let candidates book interview slots easily, freeing up your time.

Quote to Remember: “Automation is not about replacing recruiters; it’s about giving them more time to focus on what matters — hiring the right talent.”

Optimizing Interviews and Assessments for Speed 🏃‍♀️

Interviews can be a bottleneck. Speed them up without compromising on quality with these tips.

Panel Interviews: Instead of multiple rounds with different team members, schedule a panel interview with all stakeholders. This reduces back-and-forth and gathers feedback in one go.

Structured Interviews: Use standardized questions that relate directly to the job. This speeds up the process and ensures fairness and consistency in evaluating candidates.

Automated Pre-Screening Assessments: Platforms like HackerRank or TestGorilla let candidates take tests before interviews, saving time by avoiding interviews with unqualified applicants.

Real-Life Example: A financial services company reduced its interview time by 20% after switching to structured interviews, leading to faster hiring without sacrificing quality.

Measuring and Improving Your Time-to-Hire Metric 📈

You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Track your time-to-hire to identify bottlenecks and improve processes for future hiring.

Set a Benchmark: Determine how long it usually takes to hire for each position. This helps you track progress and spot where delays occur.

Use Analytics: Applicant tracking systems and recruitment platforms provide detailed analytics on your time-to-hire. Use this data to refine your process.

Continuous Improvement: Recruitment is always evolving. Regularly revisit your time-to-hire metric and ask yourself, How can we make this faster?

Final Thoughts

Speeding up your time-to-hire is possible without sacrificing candidate quality. By streamlining your recruitment process, leveraging technology, and optimizing interviews, you can fill roles faster and more efficiently. Remember, a fast hire doesn’t mean a rushed decision. When done right, it saves both time and money, ensuring you bring in the best talent to your team.

[friedengineerheart]

10 Steps to Building Your Brand on Social Media

Today, it's okay to look up brands or search people online—it's not creepy. Nowadays, searching for someone's name on Google is just a way to learn more about them. That's why using social media to show who you are is essential. Whether you're a professional, a business owner, or someone who wants to share ideas, having an excellent social media presence is vital. But it's not just about putting your resume on LinkedIn; you need a plan to make your brand stand out and follow the steps to build a personal brand on social media. Most professionals are too busy to do this alone. 

Personal Branding Tips

Let's read about some of the personal branding tips;

Find out brand goals

First, think about what you want your brand to be. Ask yourself:

Why do I want to be on social media?

What am I good at?

How do I want to come across?

Who am I trying to reach?

What do I want people to feel or do when they see my posts?

Where do I want my brand to go?

What can I offer to my audience?

Answering these questions is the first step in using social media to build your brand. It's like making a plan that covers who you are, what you want, and how you want to sound. This helps you decide what to talk about and who you're talking to. Your goals for your brand might be different from your job or what your company does.

Creating a Plan

First, you need a plan for building a personal brand on social media—just like any marketing plan. First, set clear goals for what you want to achieve. Then, pick the platforms where you want to be seen. For instance:

Facebook: Good for reaching lots of people.

Twitter: Great for sharing your thoughts.

YouTube: Perfect for posting informative videos.

Instagram: It is fun and visual and great for connecting.

LinkedIn: LinkedIn is more professional and suitable for building networks.

TikTok: Fun and lively, but needs interactive content.

Clubhouse: All about audio, good for speaking up.

Pinterest: Ideal for sharing finished work and inspiration.

You don't have to be on all of them—pick the ones that fit your goals. Your plan will help you decide. Depending on the platform, you can interact as a profile or a page. Pages often reach more people, while profiles have fewer interactions.

Update and Optimize Social Media Accounts

It's time to create and optimize your profiles after choosing the social media platforms you want to use. Use a consistent handle that includes your name for easy recognition. Fill out your bio and profile descriptions with detailed information about your work, achievements, and current projects.

To grow your brand, start by connecting with your existing network. Most social media platforms let you invite contacts to follow or connect with you. Regularly update your profiles with new pictures, information, and project updates. Ensure the links to your work are always up-to-date to keep your profile relevant and trustworthy.

Develop Content for Each Social Media Network

The next step is to create a content strategy for your social media. Plan a monthly calendar with at least three original posts each week. Talk about current topics in your field at least twice a week. Your brand page should reflect your identity, so share your thoughts and achievements.

Your followers want to hear from you, so creating engaging and relatable content is essential. Customize your posts for each platform, making sure they are shareable. High-quality content, like funny videos, terrific quotes, and popular opinions, is often shared more, helping you gain followers and increase engagement. If you notice a drop in social media traffic, consistently create relevant content to keep your audience interested.

Create Unique, High-Value Content – Podcasts, Articles, Collaborations

Some social networks, like LinkedIn, let you share blogs on your profile. Writing blogs can show that you're an expert on a topic. If your topic becomes popular, your blog might trend on that platform.

Podcasts are a great way to build your brand. Many people listen to podcasts while driving, working, or exercising. Share short podcast clips on all your social media profiles to attract more listeners.

Collaborations can also help grow your brand—partner with peers or influencers for live social media events. Host webinars or interviews with experts on platforms like Facebook to reach their audience and increase your following.

Stay Consistent with Your Brand Personality

Your personality is unique and should be consistent across all platforms. If you present a professional and technical persona on one platform, keep the same tone elsewhere. For example, if you position yourself as an advisor, don't suddenly switch to comedy, as this can confuse your audience. Most self-help gurus keep a consistent image and tone across all platforms, giving their followers a cohesive experience.

Interact with Social Media Groups

Every social media platform has discussion groups on various topics. Joining these groups can increase your brand's visibility. However, more than just joining is needed. To build your brand, actively participate in these groups. Share new content, comment, give advice, and start conversations to show your expertise. Engaging in these groups introduces your brand to new people and gives you fresh ideas and knowledge.

Engage with Your Followers and Social Connections

Great content leads to great conversations. Engaging in these conversations helps build your brand on social media. Use social media to interact with your followers, ask questions, and start exciting discussions.

Regularly reply to comments, both positive and negative. Since it's your brand, you might get some opposing opinions. How you handle negative comments and challenging questions can affect your brand.

Your followers want to hear from you. Many people wish business leaders could talk about important issues. As an expert, you should respond to social issues and join in on various discussions.

Actively Build Connections to Grow Your Network

To build your brand on steps to creating a personal brand on social media, focus on growing your network. Tag other experts and peers in your field to make new connections and reach out to people outside your immediate network.

Send personalized connection requests when trying to grow your brand—for work, career opportunities, or collaborations. Briefly explain how connecting could be beneficial. If a senior person connects with you, follow them on all social networks to make your profile stand out.

Each platform has its influencers. Follow these influencers, connect with them, and start conversations. Engaging in these conversations makes your brand look real and helps you build genuine connections.

Seek Help from Social Media Marketing Professionals

Your work defines you as a business leader, celebrity, manager, or personality. Often, managing social media takes a backseat. While you can automate some processes, creating content and sharing opinions should come from you. 

In the competitive business landscape, digital marketing training can boost your business. Finprov, a reputable institution known for its comprehensive accounting courses for graduates and seasoned professionals, offers a standout program: the PG Diploma in Digital Marketing & E-Commerce certification.

Our digital marketing institute in Ernakulam equips participants with the skills and knowledge to effectively use digital marketing strategies for business expansion. The curriculum covers crucial subjects such as understanding digital marketing dynamics, using Google tools for strategic marketing, executing digital advertising campaigns across diverse platforms, refining digital marketing methodologies, and mastering popular digital marketing tools and metrics.

By participating in this best digital marketing course in Kochi, individuals can cultivate essential proficiencies in email marketing, search engine marketing, social media marketing, search engine optimization, video marketing, and more.

[paradigmresumes]

How Much Does it Cost to Get a Resume Done?

 In today's competitive job market, having a well-crafted resume is crucial to stand out from the crowd and land that dream job. Many job seekers turn to professional resume writing services to help them create the perfect resume. If you're considering hiring a professional to write your resume, you're likely wondering how much it will cost. In this blog post, we'll discuss the factors that impact the cost of getting a resume done and provide some tips for finding the best resume writing services near you.

Factors Affecting the Cost of Resume Writing Services

The cost of getting a resume done can vary depending on several factors. Let's take a look at some of the main factors that can impact the price:

Experience and expertise: The cost of resume writing services can depend on the experience and expertise of the resume writer. More experienced and skilled writers may charge higher fees, but they are also more likely to create a high-quality resume that will help you stand out from the competition.

Customization and complexity: The level of customization and complexity of your resume will also affect the cost. A more customized and complex resume, tailored to a specific job or industry, will generally cost more than a simple, generic resume.

Turnaround time: If you need your resume done quickly, you may have to pay a premium for expedited services. Be sure to ask about turnaround times and any additional fees for rush orders.

Additional services: Some resume writing services offer additional services, such as cover letter writing, LinkedIn profile optimization, and interview coaching. These additional services can add to the overall cost of getting your resume done.

Finding the Best Resume Writing Services Near Me

To find the best resume writing services near you, follow these tips:

Read reviews: Check online reviews and testimonials from past clients to get an idea of the quality of work provided by the resume writing service.

Ask for recommendations: Ask friends, family, or colleagues for recommendations of resume writing services they have used and had positive experiences with.

Check credentials: Make sure the resume writer you choose is certified and has the necessary credentials to provide professional resume writing services. Look for certifications from reputable organizations, such as the Professional Association of Resume Writers & Career Coaches (PARW/CC) or the National Resume Writers' Association (NRWA).

Get multiple quotes: Obtain quotes from at least three different resume writing services to compare prices and services. This will give you a better understanding of the average cost of getting a resume done near you and help you make an informed decision.

Ask for samples: Request samples of the resume writer's work to assess their writing style and the quality of their resumes. This will help you determine if their services align with your needs and preferences.

Resume Services Near Me: What to Expect

When searching for "resume services near me" or "resume writers near me," you can expect to find a range of pricing and services. Generally, the cost of getting a resume done can range from $100 to over $1,000, depending on the factors mentioned above.

When selecting a resume writing service, it's essential to consider not only the cost but also the quality of the service and the potential return on investment. A well-written, professional resume can significantly increase your chances of landing interviews and job offers, making it a worthwhile investment in your career.

Conclusion

The cost of getting a resume done can vary depending on the experience and expertise of the resume writer, the level of customization and complexity of your resume, turnaround time, and additional services provided. To find the best resume writing services near you, read reviews, ask for recommendations, check credentials, get multiple quotes, and ask for samples. By considering these factors and doing your research, you can ensure that you get the best resume writing service Canada for your needs and budget.

[hypnopalaceduckfire]

search engine optimization definition

search engine optimization techniques

search engine optimization google

search engine optimization jobs

search engine optimization specialist

search engine optimization course

search engine optimization cost

search engine optimization salary

search engine optimization (seo) is a means by which

search engine optimization assessment

search engine optimization assessment linkedin

search engine optimization analyst

search engine optimization assessment indeed

search engine optimization assessment linkedin answers

search engine optimization amazon

search engine optimization advertising

search engine optimization articles

a search engine optimization strategy

a search engine optimization is

a search engine optimization expert

the search engine optimization process

the search engine optimization definition

a business search engine optimization

a company's search engine optimization

describe a search engine optimization

search engine optimization best practices

search engine optimization basics

search engine optimization books

search engine optimization benefits

search engine optimization business

search engine optimization blog

search engine optimization budget

search engine optimization beginner's guide

b) seo (search engine optimization)

search engine optimization certification

search engine optimization companies

search engine optimization career

search engine optimization classes

search engine optimization cost per month

search engine optimization companies near me

search engine optimization c'est quoi

search engine optimization def

search engine optimization definition for dummies

search engine optimization degree

search engine optimization diy

search engine optimization data science

search engine optimization digital marketing

search engine optimization do it yourself

search engine optimization example

search engine optimization etsy

search engine optimization expert

search engine optimization explained

search engine optimization ecommerce

search engine optimization executive

search engine optimization effectiveness

search engine optimization explanation

e-commerce search engine optimization

search engine optimization e search engine marketing

what is seo for ecommerce

how to do seo for ecommerce website

search engine optimization for dummies

search engine optimization for youtube

search engine optimization for small businesses

search engine optimization free

search engine optimization for beginners

search engine optimization firm

search engine optimization for youtube channel

search engine optimization for website

search engine optimization godaddy

search engine optimization guide

search engine optimization google certification

search engine optimization google analytics

search engine optimization google scholar

search engine optimization github

search engine optimization google my business

search engine optimization how to

search engine optimization html

search engine optimization help

search engine optimization how it works

search engine optimization how to do it yourself

search engine optimization hubspot

search engine optimization how to do

search engine optimization hindi

search engine optimization is the process of

search engine optimization indeed test

search engine optimization in spanish

search engine optimization is

search engine optimization is the process of quizlet

search engine optimization importance

search engine optimization indeed test answers

search engine optimization instagram

what i search engine optimization

how do i search engine optimization

is search engine optimization worth it

what is search engine optimization and why is it important

search engine optimization job description

search engine optimization job salary

search engine optimization job requirements

search engine optimization jobs near me

search engine optimization journal article

search engine optimization jobs work from home

search engine optimization jobs for freshers

search engine optimization keywords

search engine optimization keyword research

search engine optimization keyword tool

search engine optimization kya hai

search engine optimization kya hota hai

search engine optimization kpis

search engine optimization kaise kare

search engine optimization key terms

search engine optimization linkedin

search engine optimization linkedin assessment answers

search engine optimization linkedin quiz

search engine optimization là gì

search engine optimization lecture notes

search engine optimization logo

search engine optimization learning

search engine optimization list

search engine optimization meaning

search engine optimization marketing strategy

search engine optimization manager

search engine optimization manager salary

search engine optimization metrics

search engine optimization marketing examples

search engine optimization methods

search engine optimization market size

search engine optimization near me

search engine optimization news

search engine optimization nedir

search engine optimization notes

search engine optimization neil patel

search engine optimization notes pdf

search engine optimization noc code

search engine optimization netflix

search engine optimization on google

search engine optimization on youtube

search engine optimization on shopify

search engine optimization online course

search engine optimization online

search engine optimization online jobs

search engine optimization objectives

search engine optimization of website

o que é search engine optimization

o que significa search engine optimization

o seo ou search engine optimization

o que é seo (search engine optimization)

o que significa a sigla seo(search engine optimization)

search engine optimization price

search engine optimization process

search engine optimization pdf

search engine optimization pros and cons

search engine optimization pay

search engine optimization principles

search engine optimization practices

search engine optimization python

search engine optimization quizlet

search engine optimization quotes

search engine optimization questions

search engine optimization que es

search engine optimization quiz

search engine optimization qualifications

search engine optimization questionnaire

search engine optimization quora

search engine optimization resume

search engine optimization react

search engine optimization resume examples

search engine optimization ranking

search engine optimization real estate

search engine optimization research paper

search engine optimization reddit

search engine optimization refers to

search engine optimization specialist salary

search engine optimization strategy

search engine optimization seo

search engine optimization services

search engine optimization software

search engine optimization specialist job description

what is search engine optimization

what is search engine optimization and how it works

what is search engine optimization seo and how does it works

what is search engine optimization (seo) and why is it important

search engine optimization tools

search engine optimization training

search engine optimization tactics

search engine optimization tips

search engine optimization techniques pdf

search engine optimization test

search engine optimization training course

search engine optimization udemy

search engine optimization using machine learning

search engine optimization upwork

search engine optimization uses

search engine optimization uk

search engine optimization using python

search engine optimization uses in e commerce

search engine optimization using godaddy

what do u understand by search engine optimization

what is search optimization engine

how to search engine optimization for free

search engine optimization vs search engine marketing

search engine optimization vendors

search engine optimization vs social media optimization

search engine optimization vs google adwords

search engine optimization vs paid search

search engine optimization vancouver

search engine optimization videos

search engine optimization vacancies

search engine optimization wordpress

search engine optimization wikipedia

search engine optimization wix

search engine optimization website

search engine optimization what is it

search engine optimization words

search engine optimization writing

search engine optimization work

xml sitemap search engine optimization

search engine optimization youtube

search engine optimization yoast

search engine optimization new york

search engine optimization for your website

search engine optimization tutorial youtube

search engine optimization on you tube

search engine optimization for yoga studio

search engine optimization znacenje

search engine optimization znaczenie

position zero search engine optimization

search engine optimization co to znaczy

search engine optimization značenje

search-engine-optimization-starter-guide-zh-tw.pdf

search-engine-optimization-starter-guide-zh-tw

search engine optimization 101

search engine optimization one word

search engine optimization top 10

search engine optimization toolkit iis 10

1. search engine optimization

10 best search engine optimization

number 1 search engine optimization

top 10 best search engine optimization

search engine optimization 2021

search engine optimization 2020

search engine optimization pdf 2019

search engine optimization magento 2

search engine optimization trends 2020

search engine optimization statistics 2020

search engine optimization tips 2020

search engine optimization best practices 2019

magento 2 search engine optimization

search engine optimization in angular 2

[myberkeleyadventure]

School name *DOES* matter. Tips for College Graduates & Young Professionals.

I honestly get a little miffed when people try to put all colleges on the same level and say that it doesn’t matter where you go to college... 

OF COURSE IT MATTERS.

If an employer is choosing between two candidates who are EXACTLY the same on paper but one attends Yale (for example) and the other attends a “non-target school”, realistically who do you think they would prefer?

To the people who try to say all colleges are the same: You are being oblivious. I get that people come from different backgrounds (hell, I’m first-generation American & my parents never attended college!) but please don’t discredit people’s accomplishments. Getting into college is an accomplishment, getting into a highly competitive college is an even greater accomplishment. Stop taking away from people’s accomplishments and instead focus on how YOU can better your application. 

At the same time, while I personally believe it does matter where you go to college, WHAT you do in college is also important. College is what YOU make of it. If you attend Yale and don’t participate in any organizations and barely pass your classes, um....? Versus a student who went to a small state school who was president of an organization and achieved a 4.0 GPA? I’d hire the latter student, for sure.

Anyway, what if someone went to Yale? Maybe it does make them more marketable. Instead of grouching about it, figure out how you can make YOUR application better than theirs. School name isn’t the ONLY thing employers look for. You cannot change others, only your own mindset. Don’t focus on others, focus on your own growth and what you can do to expand yourself.

What do I think? Self-marketing and branding yourself is HUGE. 

Here are my tips to everyone (regardless of whether you attended a “target” school or not):

Create a website. Include links to your resume, an “about me” section, a contact section etc. You want this website (or your LinkedIn) to be the first thing that pops up if anyone googles you. YOU take control of what people think of you. You really want one of the first Google search results to be from your high school newspaper days where you quoted that you liked the football game? Or do you want to change the narrative and be in control of what’s out there?

Quantify your accomplishments!!!!!!!!! I mean, I absolutely hate pretentious, braggy folks but um, this is different - quantify your accomplishments on your resume and website. Context is everything.

NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK. Regardless of what school you attended, there are HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF ALUMNI OUT THERE!!! Having a connection like “Hi I went to CSULB” or “Hi I went to Harvard” is such an EASY opener. People are very prideful of where they went to college and love to help fellow students. Seriously, that “.edu” email is your golden ticket! Use it!

Join a professional organization. Let’s say you went to a non-target school and you don’t have as many resources as people who went to a target school. Join a professional organization like American Planning Association (example) and instead of saying what college you went to, you say you’re in APA. Now you have a TON of possible fresh connections you can make!

Do personal projects on the side. Anything that is related to your dream job and that you think can give you an extra boost.

TLDR; EVERYONE (regardless of what school they attended) needs to be on their A-game, get involved on campus, get good grades to maximize their recruitment process. Those who attend “non-target” schools may need to have more initiative and put in more effort (recruiters may not have these schools on their lists, for example), but IT’S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD. THE MOST SUCCESSFUL INDIVIDUALS AREN’T BASED OFF SCHOOL NAME BUT IT’S BASED OFF THEIR INITIATIVE AND AMBITION. (College choice can be indicative of this but not always, obviously.) 

[articlewritingbd]

5 Steps of Writing a Business Article Like a Pro

Does the prospect of writing a service article make you worried? Company writing can feel daunting, but if you damage down the process right into actions, you will certainly recognize that writing a business article is like writing for any kind of another style.

What is Business Article?

A business article writing is any content you create to directly or indirectly share details regarding a service. The different kinds of organization writing consist of blogs, news releases, newsletters, brochures, flyers, emailers, and also presentations.

Business writing entails a range of writing designs.

The content writing design will certainly vary with the sort of company content you have actually been asked to write. For example, compared to a blog, an emailer should have a much more concise pitch. Likewise, a flyer will certainly have to offer a concept really quickly, while in a company sales brochure, you have the deluxe of being extra descriptive.

I have been writing for medium-sized and also tiny companies for practically seven years currently. In that time structure, I have created business articles on myriad markets, such as modern company technology, software advancement, sustainable energy, educational working as a consultant, childcare service, online assistant solution, as well as clinical invoicing.

Over the thousands of short articles composed, I have developed a company article writing approach that I'd such as to show you today. My method of writing a company and looking into the article may not function for you, but it is one you might definitely use as a start point to create your own variation of a writing system.

For this post, I will adhere to the prep work, looking into, structuring, writing, and editing stages of writing a service article.

Here goes.

5 Steps to Writing a Business Article

Let's repaint a lovely picture ... but with words.

STEP 1: PREPARE - Understand what is expected of you.

Allow's think that you are working for a customer for the very first time, and also, you have actually been given a topic 'X Reasons to Have a Blog.' As soon as you tackle this job, you need to get answers to the complying with inquiries:

1. Who is the target audience of your customer?

Understand that you are writing for and also what the customer desires

Is your customer targetting companies or people? The target audience will influence the means you create. A company targetting individual customers will certainly prefer a writing style that is much more conversational, individual, as well as perhaps also tied with wit. On the other hand, a B2B customer might desire an article that is interesting and also highlights the business's expertise.

When we say business article, of training course, do not assume that you require to create content that appears like a monitoring publication remove. Today, every web content you compose needs to be simple to review and have to communicate the benefit the viewers will originate from the 10 mins they invest in reviewing what you have actually written.

2. Does the customer have key phrases in mind for the article?

In my experience, most clients will certainly enjoy letting you organize this and choosing the most effective keywords phrases for an article. Once you have picked the search phrases, make certain that you include them in the article heading, subheadings (where feasible), as well as at a regularity of 3 to 4 times every 500 words of the article.

3. Anticipated format and also the design of the article.

A lot of clients will certainly share an example of the sort of article they wish to create. Look at previous messages on their web site and clarify if the client wants you to maintain a comparable writing design if they do not.

Also, settle on the format of the entry. For example, a customer that I have been writing for a long time is a digital solution supplier called Virtasktik. All blogs submitted to the customer has to contain a meta summary, along with material for social media blog posts on the article for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, as well as Google+.

ACTION 2: RESEARCH-- Evaluate the Available Information as well as Extract the Pertinent Bits

You need to be a master at both trying to find details online as well as selecting the most pertinent bits.

As you start researching the subject, think regarding the 2 to three key factors your article needs to consist of. After that, these concepts end up being the beginning point for research on the online search engine.

Alternatively, various kind expressions associated with the blog site subject you have been provided. For instance, for the topic 'X reasons to blog site,' your keywords can be--.

- Benefits of organization blog site.

- X Reasons why every business needs to have a blog.

- Statistics / Data on the benefits of having a service blog.

As you can via the appropriate posts, Google (or other search engines) will certainly toss-up tips on various other similar search expressions; appearance at those.

While looking into the details readily available online, I suggest doing the following:

1. Stay existing: Reference articles published no later on than 3 years earlier. Because understanding and technology are evolving quickly, you have to publish material that is relevant and progressive.

2. Usage reliable sources: Extract your content from reputed internet sites or blogs of well-known firms in the sector.

3. Provide credit rating: It's important to give credit report where debt is due, so include a minimum of 1 or 2 web links to reputed internet sites within the article.

4. Include information: Where feasible, try to find recent advancements, market stats, or infographics pertinent to your topic.

5. Essence, as you read: Highlight or draw out one of the most pertinent portions of web content as you check out the short articles. Some writers use devices like Evernote to do this, yet I like to do it the old-fashioned way and also paste all the appropriate material right into a solitary word document. Let's call this the 'base file.'.

6. Review several articles: As a thumb policy research study, at the very least 5 to 6 trustworthy sources of info for every single web page of 500 words that you need to write.

7. Include a quote: Depending on who you are writing for, including a genuine quote for your article is a terrific suggestion.

For an article on blog writing, you can approach prominent blog writers for their guidance or reach out to internet marketing experts to contribute to your article. You can contact them with their website, via e-mail, or perhaps their Facebook service page.

Tell them who you are, the customer you are writing for, the subject, searching for a 2 or 3 line quote, and when you require the return. I often use this technique and have a 25 to 30 percent success rate, which means I come close to, at the very least 4 potential contributors to get a solitary quote. The study stage will take you anywhere between one to one hr thirty mins.

ACTION 3: STRUCTURE - The Information as well as Your Thoughts.

Identify essential points and also determine which item of info goes where.

If you are writing a 1000 word article, you should contend the very least a base record of 2500 to 3000 words by the time you have researched the information. As soon as convinced that you have actually collected all the appropriate information, begin reading your base file.

Having actually experienced the paper, open one more word data and begin writing the crucial points, or have to have information for your article. I such as to reorganize as well as highlight the content in the base record, making use of different shades. The material that I want to consist of in the opening para is highlighted in yellow, the primary body in pink, as well as article referrals in environment-friendly. What you are doing at this step, is structuring the details as well as your thoughts prior to you start writing.

By the time you are done, you will certainly have your article skeleton-- opening, subheadings, bullet points under each, and also takeaways from your article (or the ending paragraph), in addition to the information that needs to come under each area.

If you are dealing with a word limit of say 1000 words, you can choose to create 150 words for the article opening, 800 words on the text, and an additional 100 for writing the conclusion. Naturally, it's a good idea to write the initial draft of about 1200 to 1300 words. As you boost the web content throughout the editing and enhancing stage, word count will immediately be minimized.

Structuring the article prior to you begin writing will certainly take you 25 to 30 minutes.

You have, by this time, already invested 2 hours in your article.

Currently, allow's start writing.

ACTION 4: WRITING - Write, Don't Edit

It's time to just compose. Create as you believe as well as talk.

The number one tip at this stage is to create as you assume. Compose as fast as you can type but keep referencing the base record to see the sub-points as well as the details you want under each point. Be careful as to not 'copy-paste' web content from your base documents.

As you write the initial article draft, I highly suggest that you use a distraction-free full-screen editor such as Write Box to aid you to compose without diversions.

Right here some extra tips on writing a business article:

1. Share the article objective in the opening para: Write an appealing opening paragraph that shows the main concern the article is going to answer. To put it simply, why should someone review your blog site? As an example, here's an opening I wrote for an article on task delegation:

" Are you a star at entrusting things to do in your business? Or are you one of the numerous local business owners that shy's far from job delegation due to the fact that you are the afraid job will not occur as expected, or that you will not' understand exactly how points are advancing when you have handed off the job?"

2. Consist of key phrases: As you write, attempt to consist of the essential expression(s) where feasible, however specifically in the article opening paragraph, subheadings of the article, and also within the web content with a frequency of concerning 3 to 4 reps for each 400 to 500 words.

3. Consist of interior and also external links: Add 2 to 3 hyperlinks to posts published on various other reputed web sites, along with links to related content within your customer's internet site. When you include weblinks, use appropriate 'anchor expressions' to explain them. Rather than stating 'visit this site for additional information,' include the links within your text.

4. Encourage readers to do something about it: Close with a takeaway paragraph of what the viewers ought to learn or the final thought you intend to entrust the viewers. For instance, you might invite visitors to sign up for a monthly company newsletter, leave a discuss their very own experiences/ expertise of the subject, or load the sales call type.

5. U.S vs. U.K English: Write in the U.S or U.K English depending upon which country your client is based.

6. Compose in energetic voice: Minimize the usage of passive sentences, write in 'active voice' to the extent feasible.

Writing a 1000 word article can take around 2 hrs. At this stage, depending on your research study and writing performance, you have actually already invested in between 3 to 4 hours in your article.

ACTION 5: EDITING - The Most Important Part of the Writing Process.

Modifying is important to producing a top-quality article, just like polishing a diamond to bring the sparkle.

Consider your article (written thus far) as a harsh ruby that requires sprucing up. Spending significant effort in editing an item is vital to producing quality work that will certainly make your customers coming back for even more.

Paste the content from the message file to an MSWord data. Review the article you have actually created until now. I find that checking out the web content aloud on your own or utilizing the 'Read Aloud Speech' function under the Review tab in Microsoft Word is valuable in recognizing sentences that must be re-written or re-arranged to improve the article flow.

Examine your material on web content editing and enhancing tools such as Grammarly or Hemingway App to boost readability once you are completely satisfied that the article circulation is good. These apps can aid in identifying easy sentences (which you may desire to reword in an energetic voice), recognize expressions with a much more simple expression, or rectify the inaccurate use of spelling. You can reduce wordiness-- as an example,' you have to choose' can be created a lot more concisely as' you need to make a decision.'

Cross-check the performance of the article header using devices such as Coschedule's Headline Analyzer when you find yourself stuck for concepts on writing an engaging headline, attempt the blog site title generator by SEOPressor.

Focusing on the tiniest details at the editing stage will certainly make it a lengthy process. However the end, the outcome will be worth it. For a 1000 word article, I can conveniently invest an hour attempting to modify as well as improve it. On the other hand, there is no end to the quantity of modifying you can do in an article. Past a factor, you should decide if the existing variation of the article is excellent to go. Prior to you release your organization article or send it to the customer, guarantee that you do a plagiarism check. I like to utilize Copyscape.

So there you have it, my tell-all article on writing organization write-ups. As well as would you know it, it also occurs to be the lengthiest blog post ever published on my blog site.

[enfys-squees]

Job Hunting Advice from a Xennial for New College Grads

Hey there. I’ve been reading some posts from folx who are understandably TERRIFIED and CONFUSED because job hunting is exactly The Worst. I have some pointers to make it less sucky, as someone who’s been through it a number of times in the past 20 years, mostly using online tools (while Gen Xers and Baby Boomers yelled at me to just “hit the pavement”), and who has also been responsible for interviewing and hiring people. I’ll add to this as I think of more stuff. Mostly this is stuff career counselors don’t tell people and I’ve had to figure out on my own.

Where To Find Jobs 1: The Internet

Anymore, job hunting largely, but not exclusively, happens online. I’ve had some really good luck applying for jobs directly through a company’s website and through LinkedIn in recent years. Sites that are intended to be huge job boards for all types of jobs tend to be quagmires, and, in my experience, are kind of a waste of time. BUT there are some specific job boards, like Idealist for nonprofit jobs, and Dice for tech jobs, that tend to be useful, or at least do a nice job connecting you with recruiters.

Where to Find Jobs 2: Recruiters

Recruiters are a mixed bag. They get paid to help find people for jobs, and usually they’re looking for folx with more than a few years’ experience. Some recruiters are tasked with trying to fill jobs that are terrible, so a lot of what they do is try to sweet-talk people into jobs with horrible pay and benefits. But then there are some that can be super helpful in finding you a job that’s a really good fit for you. Your mileage may vary. If you happen to meet a recruiter at an event, it’s worth staying in touch with them, but don’t put all your eggs in that basket. If a recruiter finds you a position, it’s a bonus, but put most of your job-hunting energy elsewhere.

Where to Find Jobs 3: Networking

So many career guidance folx will tell you “network! that’s where all the jobs are!” and they’re correct, but they never tell you fucking HOW to do that. So here’s how.

1. NETWORKING EVENTS: Google something like, “career fair” or “networking event” or “happy hour” plus your particular interest/skill set and location. So, like, “Librarian happy hour North Dakota” or something. Keep the location broad - you may have to travel a bit to find one, depending where you’re located. You can also broaden your search terms to things like “nonprofit” or “government” or “healthcare.” Check for these events on Meetup and Facebook. There may also be groups in your area that meet regularly that you could join. 

2. INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS: Is there a particular company you want to work for? Cool. Is there someone there (or at a similar company) doing a job that looks a lot like what you want to do, if not now, but in 5-10 years? Stellar. Find that person’s contact info (may require a bit of research - again, Google-fu, but try not to be stalkery) and send them an email like, “Hi, I just graduated from XYZ and I’m really interested in getting into FIELD. Would you be willing to have coffee/Skype with me sometime in the next month and tell me about your career journey?” People love to tell their stories. Prepare some questions to ask them, like “How did you get started?” “What was the most important thing you learned early in your career?” “What advice would you give somebody who is just starting out in this field?” etc. and then listen. You can tell them a little bit about where you’re at, but generally this meeting should be focused on THEM. After you meet with them, send a followup thank you, and set up calendar reminders every couple of months to tell them hi, maybe share an article related to your field, something to keep you in their brain so that if they have a job opening, hey, they know someone who’s interested. Being a known quantity makes a lot of difference.

Resume Tips

1. Include a section called “Skills” and list every bit of software you are comfortable with. (Pro tip: Microsoft Excel is really, really useful in a lot of jobs. If you don’t know how to use it, find an online course to learn it and put it on your resume. Seriously.) Also good things to include would be if you had to do any accounting/budget management for a job, etc.

2. When writing about your previous jobs, focus on what you accomplished, rather than what you were responsible for. Are there ways that place is/was better off with you there? Did you improve anything? Write about it, with an action word at the start of each bullet point. Something like, “Increased daily sales by 10% over 2 years” or “Ensured tips were correctly distributed among staff” or “Praised for punctuality and dedication.” ANYTHING that shows you, specifically, were good at that thing. You do not have to list every single thing you were responsible for in that job. Unless it’s relevant to the job you’re applying for, don’t bother including it.

3. Ask colleagues/former bosses for letters of recommendation that you can use, then pull quotes from them and put them on your resume in little quote boxes. (This is a good space-filler, but it also shows you’re pleasant to work with.)

4. Put skills and experience at the top; education at the bottom.

5. Bold key words related to the type job you’re seeking. HR reps spend an average of 30 seconds looking at a resume, and they don’t usually understand the job itself but have been given key words to look for. (Hint: Those words are usually in the job description.) Make your resume easy to scan. Think bullets, think bolded phrases, think section headers, think two-column as opposed to one-column.

6. For fuck’s sake, proofread. Have a friend proofread. Read it out loud. Do not misspell shit or use bad/inconsistent grammar.

Cover Letter Tips

1. Your cover letter is your chance to express yourself, especially if you are looking for a job in a creative field. Mix up the formatting. Add colorful headers. Throw in a photo of yourself. 

2. Your goal in the resume is to show you’re qualified; your goal in the cover letter is to reinforce that but also to show why you’d be a good fit for the company and why you want to work for them specifically. Make sure you answer those questions in there, but keep it brief.

Interview Tips

1. Did you know you’re allowed to bring notes to an interview? You totally can.

2. Preparing for a job interview is like preparing to be interviewed for a press conference. You want to make sure you’re clear on your talking points. Think about, and write down, the top 3 or 5 reasons they should hire you for the job, and if you get stuck during the interview, go back to those.

3. If you want extra-special awesomeness points, you can use my secret weapon: the “Why I’m Awesome Sheet.” I created this when I was first job hunting and it has gotten me offers DURING THE INTERVIEW because people were so impressed by it. All you do is you take the job description, break it into bullet points of what they’re looking for, then put 1-2 bullets beneath each one of how YOU fit that thing they’re looking for. This is great for a few reasons:

You’re demonstrating that you’re proactive and willing to go the extra mile to get this job, doing work that wasn’t asked for.

You’ve saved the interviewer the work of matching up the stuff on your resume with the job description, and therefore made their life easier.

It will help you better remember why you’re a good choice for the job during the interview, which will make you appear more confident.

If they ask you the dreaded “Why should I hire you?” question, you just HAND THEM THIS SHEET.

4. Don’t forget to send a thank-you note after the interview to each person who was at the interview. Email is fine.

5. Do not stop looking for work just because you’ve scheduled an interview. Keep several irons in the fire and try to apply for a new job every day if you can.

6. Remember to smile, especially in a phone interview. I know that seems weird, but smiling on the phone makes you sound engaged and positive.

Patience

This may not seem obvious, but people hiring for jobs have a TON of other work they’re responsible for. They are often very slow to follow-up because filling the position is not their #1 or even their #10 priority, most of the time. Expect that it could take several months to hear back on an initial resume & cover letter submission. Expect that it could take a couple of weeks or more to hear back after an interview. Expect it can take several days to get a response to a question via email. This is common. Try not to sweat it. You can follow up to ask where the process is after you’ve interviewed, but don’t do that too often or too quickly. Wait about a week after you’d expect to hear back. 

That said, if they contact you for follow-up, respond as quickly as possible. Don’t let it sit in your inbox for more than 1 day. Seriously. Be professional and careful in how you respond, proofread, etc. but do not let it linger.

Finally, unfortunately, sometimes you will not hear back if you were not selected for a job. Sometimes your resume will go into a black hole, because a lot of companies are terrible to applicants and don’t inform them of status at all. Try not to sweat that either. 

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, late-January 2020

Welcome to my latest summary of recent news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & ecommerce! This covers articles I came across since the mid-January report, although some may be older than that. 

Right now I am trying to get at least 2 of these out each month. Is that enough? Too much? Am I missing topics you want to see covered? Please let me know! Comment here, message me through Tumblr, Twitter, or my website.

Also, I am once again working on plans to start an ecommerce business forum, where small business owners can learn and discuss topics like the ones I post about here. If you have any preferences for a suggested platform/forum space,please let me know! I will be running a survey once I narrow down my list. 

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

Etsy introduced alternative shipping for US sellers shipping outside of the US & Canada, run by Asendia. Etsy Labels will no longer offer USPS First Class International for those shipments, but faster levels will still be through USPS. The Help file doesn’t give that much more detail; discussion is here. 

Having educational/information pages on ecommerce websites can help product page search rankings. Blog posts, pillar pages and tutorials can all be a good investment. 

Excellent article on how to keep your existing buyers (aka customer retention) rather than always going after new ones. It cites decent research in the area, with examples. (As regular readers know, I love Help Scout’s customer service articles!) For example, “When it comes to highly rated customer service, quality and completeness matter more than speed. According to research from Gallup, customers were nine times more likely to be engaged with a brand when they evaluated the service as “courteous, willing, and helpful.” “Speedy” service, on the other hand, only made customers six times more likely to be satisfied.”

ETSY NEWS 

More updates to listing categories, including a new Presets & Photo Filters category, and Cribs & Cradles is now called Moses Baskets & Hammocks. 

Tips on marketing your Etsy listings for weddings. “Etsy wedding shoppers are often drawn to Etsy because they identify as creative people themselves, an asset you should consider when developing and marketing your products. By offering DIY versions of some of your popular items, you can draw in crafty shoppers, who may end up purchasing a finished handmade item from your shop instead. Offering both options can also be a great way of hitting multiple price points.”

If you sell jewellery and/or accessories, here is Etsy’s advice for marketing in the first half of the year. “While high-end jewelry is often a carefully considered purchase, more affordable everyday items make easy impulse buys and gifts due to their small size and approachable price points.” Also, people are still shopping by gender: “70% YoY increase in Jewelry, Accessories, and Bags category searches containing “him”. “We expect the bags category to grow the most out of these three categories in the next year, led by the increasing popularity of small leather goods such as wallets, dopp kits, and items for travel. A recent increase in average order value within the Bags category suggests buyers are willing to pay more for high-quality materials like leather.” But note that “Buyers tend not to use the term "purse" in their searches.” Finally, “From July through September 2019, over half of Etsy US and global GMS came from purchases that shipped for free.”

In case you missed it, Disney is going after Etsy sellers of Baby Yoda merchandise. Some speculate that they are mostly focusssing on the listings making the most sales. More sarcastic & humorous take here.

Interesting interview (podcast & transcript, including a pdf) with CEO Josh Silverman, on business strategies.  I do like this quote: “When you’re successful, what can be really hard is to tell you’re successful because of some things and in spite of others.” To be very honest, I have this problem a lot, and have seen other business people misjudge their success as well. This is telling, though “And you have until December 31st to ship it.” I have a hunch that is what happened with Etsy Ads and the free shipping tools. So they shipped unfinished tools, and that was bad for the business. Finally, “HOFFMAN: Until this point, Etsy’s focus had been on its sellers. It saw itself as a marketplace for handmade items, and the people who made them. Josh knew he had to change this perspective… SILVERMAN: It was a really big shift in focus. I think Etsy, like many two sided marketplaces, has very deep empathy for sellers, so much so that it can forget to have empathy for buyers. And when you talk to your sellers, they really mostly want three things. They want buyers, they want buyers, and they want buyers – in that order. In order to serve the sellers, you’ve really got to focus on buyers...By the end of my fifth week almost everyone in the company had a new job.”

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES 

Google confirmed a core search update that started to roll out January 13 and took about 3 days, and showed substantial changes on most tracking tools. Early analysis indicates this has once again affected sites based on trustworthiness, but big winners and losers are still unclear. The take from Moz is that this hit health sites like previous updates, but also hurt diverse sites such as Orbitz, Yellow Pages, Poshmark, USA Today and Forever 21. RankRanger noted that there was more volatility in finance rankings than the December update. 

Remember Google’s algorithm change late last year, called BERT? George Mueller offered a bit of advice [text and video] on how to optimize for it: “if ... there’s anything that you can do to kind of optimize for BERT, it’s essentially to make sure that your pages have natural text on them...So instead of stuffing keywords as much as possible, kind of write naturally” 

Google is now highlighting some products (clothing & accessories) in organic search results on mobile in the US & India; you have to have a Google Merchant Centre account set up, but you do not need to buy ads to get this organic boost. Here’s the Google help file on how to optimize. 

If your website has many related pages on a specific topic, organizing the info on one “content hub” (aka pillar pages, or even category pages in some cases) is an excellent way to get user and search engine attention. 

Brief video from Google for SEO beginners: how to optimize images for Google search. They also link to their support file on this question, which has more advanced info. And here is another beginners video on Google SEO considerations for your website. (More links in the video comments.)

Google has a “SafeSearch filter” that removes porn and other mature content from search results, but sometimes it catches innocent sites as well. 

Another good article on how internal linking can serve multiple purposes on your website, especially keyword ranking.

Sites that get the “featured snippet” position in Google search results can no longer get organic ranking on the first page. This could change, though. 

CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails) 

Excellent tips & advice on how to make email marketing work for you. Not using emails? You should. “...email has over 3.8 billion daily active users. Take a minute to think about that. Most people who use email probably fall between the ages of 15 and 64, and since there are only about 5 billion people on the planet in that age range, that means email has over 75 percent market penetration.” And “Almost three-fourths of people prefer to hear from businesses via email.”

Do you think that every email campaign needs its own landing page? I’m not sure, but there are some convincing arguments here. And don’t forget to plan to send your emails at the right time for your list subscribers. 

Updated for 2020, HubSpot does an excellent holiday calendar that can help you plan social media posts and other content ahead of time, including hashtags where applicable. 

Tips on converting your existing content (blog posts etc.) into podcasts. “Podcasts tend to be longer-form content than video or blogs. Many videos that companies produce are relatively short, ~2 minutes. For someone looking to listen to your podcast, this may not be substantial enough in terms of the information covered.”

Here’s a useful list of demographics of social media users - think about which sites would work best for your business based on who is using them. 

Reddit is an excellent source of content ideas (video & transcript), as people are usually discussing and upvoting things that interest them, and it is all organized by topic for you. 

Instagram is adding direct messaging (DM) access to their website. 

Facebook is accused of denying data access to potential competitors. 

A surprising number of American adults use LinkedIn, and their numbers are growing faster than expected. “LinkedIn users make up around one-third of all social network users in the U.S.”

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS) 

Another tutorial on setting up a Google Ads account. 

Google ads were less evident in organic search results, for about a week. This mirrors the changes on mobile several months ago, & includes favicons next to brand sites. But more people complained about the desktop layout, so they have backed down and will continue to test new versions. 

Facebook, Google & Amazon are not the only advertising options out there. 

Short infographic on how to advertise on TikTok. 

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING 

If you haven’t set up Google Search Console for your website or blog, you should. [YouTube Video, from the Beginners series]

A good basic guide to using the Google Keyword Planner, including more tips on how to get in without setting up a paid ad campaign. 

Instagram is most useful when you track your stats - use Insights to track your reach, clicks, impressions etc. 

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS 

The growth of ecommerce purchases has been detrimental to US retail sales overall, due to brick and mortar store closures, lower b&M profit margins, and fewer jobs. Remember that Amazon now gets around 50% of ecommerce purchases in the US, meaning that the increase of online retail is more consolidated than the lost brick and mortar sales. 

Amazon will now be reporting counterfeit goods sold on its site to the authorities: "The hope has been that Amazon’s coveted data will help law enforcement make connections about criminals." 

Amazon has started a delivery program in Australia called Amazon Flex. Requiring drivers to sign up for shifts up to 4 hours that they choose, driving their own vehicles, the program is being compared to Uber. 

Shopify now has over 1 million merchants, and is growing rapidly. “This past Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend, the company saw $2.9 billion in total sales; during its peak, Shopify software was processing $1.5 million in sales and 16,000 checkouts a minute.”

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE 

Smartphone purchases continue to increase: $5.9 billion spent on Black Friday & Cyber Monday, and 48% of online purchases in the US on Christmas Day. 

Supposedly, USPS is the most trusted brand in the US, followed by Amazon, Google, and Paypal. Actual quote: “levels of distrust are high in America, but it found that brands can win trust by protecting consumers' data privacy, not hiding important information in fine print and treating employees better than the minimum required by law.” I’m struggling with Amazon & Google in the top in particular, given that quote, but at least Facebook didn’t make the top 25. 😉 Note that age is a differential factor here: “Google is the most trusted brand among Gen Z and millennials, while USPS is the most trusted among older generations like Gen X and baby boomers.” Study details & top 25 list available here. (There is a large difference between the generations, according to this study; it’s worth a scan.)

MISCELLANEOUS

If you are looking for a new search engine, here are 7 that aren’t Google. Some of you  probably hadn’t heard of all of them, because I hadn’t. 

Anti-virus software Avast is still selling user data to major companies.

[leakyfaucets]

How To Write An Application Letter

Without much ado, let me simply divulge this phrase the call 'An Application Letter'. Wiki defines Application Letters the same way the define cover letter, in fact Wikipedia calls Application Letter Cover Letter also. So what exactly is Application Letter or Cover Letter?

An Application Letter also known as a Cover Letter is a document that goes with your CV(curriculum vitae) when applying for a job. Your CV is more focused on showing the skills you have, it includes your educational background, Your Application letter on the other hand reveals the requirements you posses for this particular job.

Things To Note When Writing An Application Letter

You need to dish out time to study broadly the company you are applying to and what the stand for, what qualifications they require, the standards it upholds etc.

When you are done reviewing the company, you should have known if you posses the attributes to work there, if you are convinced you have the values to rock this company, it's now time for you to note them in your letter. I strongly advise that you stay natural here, a very smart HR(Human Resources) will spot fake(ness).

Your Fonts should be between 10 and 12.

The letter shouldn't exceed a page.

Section 1: Steps On How To Write An Application Letter(Addresses and Addressing)

Now its time for us to write this killer application letter, the letter has to be unique cause you are step from getting this job, perfection is what we are aiming for here! so heck yeah we have to write the most professional coolest application letter that will hit the company's post box.

Writing Your Contact Address

Here you are to make an avenue available that you could be reached back to. The letterhead should be the exact one for this.

Your document should be aligned to the left

You now include the current date,(space) your contact information which are

Name

Address

Phone number

Email address

Personal website (optional)

LinkedIn profile

Whats app Contact(Optional)

Writing The Company's Address

When you are done with your personal address, its time we address the company. To do this, you write your proposed employer's information, this includes his/her title, name of company and address at the right hand side of the sheet(Or left), you skip a line under your address and write this section. When you do this, you pass this different message:

When you add the company's address you convince them that you have done your homework and done a lot of digging about the company.

Doing your background work about the company may put you ahead of other competitions.

If you have no idea of the name of the hiring manager, search through the company’s website to see if you can find him. Go to LinkedIn, and even search Twitter and Facebook. If you can’t narrow down a specific name, see if you can find the head of the department to which you are applying. If all else fails and you have no name, it’s OK to address your cover letter to the hiring manager of the department. Example: “[Department] Hiring Manager”.

Addressing Your Employer

At the right hand side of your letter, a line below the Company's address, you now address your future employer. On no account should you address your employer as "To Whomsoever it May Concern", this will be the height of rudeness and shows your laziness to research the company. If you have no idea the HR's name, a basic “Dear [Department] Hiring Manager” will do the job.

Adding The Letter Topic

Often than not, it is advised that you write the topic of the Application letter. This is more interesting if you are writing to apply for a position that wasn't announced. If you will be writing the Topic of the letter(Which I suggest you do), write it in UPPER CASE or In Capital Letters then Underline it. The topic comes after the "Dear ..." and the Body of the letter.

Section 2: Steps On How To Write A Cover Letter(Body Of The Application Letter)

You are definitely not the only one applying for this job, in a situation where you are applying to a big company, the will definitely be many other Application Letters in the company's mail box, for us(you) to get this job, we have to give the HR a reason not to dump your letter in the trash can.

Your Paragraph Should Be Captivating

The paragraph does a lot, the starting part of your letter can make or mar your letter, so consider this when starting your paragraph;

Kick Off with the mindset of a winner and one who is excited to apply for this job, you have to make your HR know that you are so interested(Desperate) in this job.

Be short, precise and specific. Its not bad to let the company know what attracted you to it,before you do this be sure to know how casual the company is.

You need to make your employer know that you are the perfect choice for this job, you need to make the HR know how familiar with the company by writing in the company's tone, study it's tags, quotes etc and use it if possible in the letter.

Writing to a big company needs an authoritative context, it may be a TV social company which needs a little humor, no matter the spice you want to sprinkle on this Cover Letter, try your very best to be polite, I mean very very polite.

State How You Came Across The Job Opening

You need to make this individuals(Your Employer) Know where you found the job opening. During your research you must have found out a thing or two about the company, nothing beats a situation where you know someone who works in the company on a  personal basis, if you are sure about the person's attitude at work and the picture he'/her has there it will be cool you name drop him/her a little. Nevertheless, make sure you briefly state where you found the job opening. In a case where you are acting on your intuition that a job opening is forthcoming you can just say you are writing in hopes that they are hiring, or that they will be hiring soon.

Give The Company A Reason To Employ You

The purpose of this(every) company is to succeed, so yeah! The company will love to know what you will be bringing to the table, the company will want to know the benefits they'll get if you are employed to work for them and DON'T fail to state this POLITELY. This can be done by adding any of the following.

You should know your accomplishment by hand already, adding one of two of them will send a message to the company.

If the job title has to do with For Instance, 'management' in your Cover Letter you should state one or two accounts you proved your management skills(You Digg?)

Using stats can do a major boast to your Cover Letter, will you boast sells? Will you cut down lost? You grab?

Let The Company Know You Well

We need to get the manager know who he is employing, on our Application letter we can do this by telling him a thing or two about you. You let the company know your strength, you let the company know your qualifications and experiences. This tip is applied in your second paragraph, direct your HR to where he can find the rest of this qualities after listing a few on your Cover Letter.

Don't fail to mention INDIRECTLY one of your qualities that will be able to solve a task this job needs, for example for a job of manager, you could say 'I have the talent of controlling resources' You could disclose this talent in a very short story form like 'My friends always put me in charge of...'. You may wonder why this point comes in, note that one way of getting this job is by enticing your HR, by catching his attention etc.

Paint a picture of yourself smartly. Let it be as if the HR has met you already, do this politely and briefly avoid over exaggerating any character no matter how good.

Above all, keep it short and concise.

Section 3: Steps On How To Write An Application Letter(Rounding Up Your Cover Letter)

We are almost at the end, time to round up this awesome letter of yours.

Make Him/Her Want To Reach Back To You

Here, you give your HR a shove, a spark a little push to want to reach back. At this point the 'I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience' comes in. I have always preached being polite and humble not desperate. Every one is attracted to confidence, show some confidence here by saying 'I look forward to speaking further', don't go with the 'If you dim me fit...' NO NO NO, No 'IF' statement is allowed here.

Time For The Goodbye....

Complete Instructions on how to write an application letter here

[brandonfig-blog]

The Job Search: What’s changed?

Searching for a job is an experience that all of us have had to experience throughout our lives, however the actual act of searching for jobs has changed drastically over time. 

All Quotes Cited + More  From:  Moore, E. (2018, February 07). 10 Career Experts Share Their #1 Piece of Job Search Advice. Retrieved from https://www.glassdoor.com/blog/expert-job-search-advice/

Back in the day, people used to flip through newspapers and phone books looking for job listings, whether it be a full time or part time job. Nowadays people used the likes of Indeed and LinkedIn for our job searching needs. 

These advancements in technology have allowed for a much easier and smoother job searching process, as well as a smoother and easier path to hiring someone as well! 

However, many people still struggle with the job search, unable to find secure employment or jobs they genuinely enjoy and love.

I recently had a thought, what were the experts saying about this? What was some advice? Here's what some of the experts had to say. 

Roy Cohen, author of “ The Wall Street Professional’s survival guide” said:  “Be clear on what you want, why you want it and what qualifies you… Without clarity from the very start, virtually every stage that follows will be based on little more than a hunch “ 

This quote stood out to me as, in many situations I don’t know what I want from a job, which in turn has led to me being very confused in interviews, this is one of my favorite business related quotes. 

Career coach Mary Warriner stated:  “Identify a few key features, such as, why is finding a new job important to you? What is your ideal time-frame for finding a new job?” Mary is saying that creating a plan and remaining organized is a CRUCIAL aspect of job searching. 

Finally, Career strategist Grace Gardner Said:  “Job seekers (especially women more than men) may be underestimating the value they can bring into a role. For many roles, hiring managers are looking for people who will be quickly deployable to do the work and usually the tasks you need to complete on a regular basis are learned or refined on the job. If you meet the majority of the qualifications for a job you are interested in and are confident you can quickly learn the remainder, apply for that job “

Grace brings up the most repeated thing in job searching today “ Apply Anyway” a strategy  I used and succeeded with when applying for my current position at a Nursing Home.

To summarize, the act of job searching is a stressful and hard time for a lot of people, try using some of this tips next time you’re on the hunt.

[ulead]

5 Tips from LinkedIn For Online Internship Seekers

As you're launching your career, you've probably been advised to create a profile on LinkedIn. When examining a candidate for an online internship, one of the first things many employers do is check the person's LinkedIn profile. With all your professional experience and a photo to put a face to the name; it's a wonder.

However, this has created another ring for work-from-home internship seekers to jump through. LinkedIn is the best place to have a professional profile; revamping your LinkedIn takes only time. From ensuring your profile picture is professional to the best strategies on the platform, I have got six LinkedIn profile tips to help you land your next unpaid or paid internship. 

5 LinkedIn tips for internship seekers looking to stand out

1. Select a professional headshot

A picture is worth a thousand words, as the expression goes. In this case, it's a thousand words about you.

According to the expert, your LinkedIn profile picture should be a professional photo with you smiling. What does professional mean here? Gone are those days when you enjoyed your stress-free college life. Now it's time to get a professional and offline or online internship with a certificate to help you to become one. 

LinkedIn states that a solid background without distractions can get you a nice professional picture. However, it also helps you to showcase your seriousness for a career via your LinkedIn profile. 

2. Complete your profile

While it can be tempting to call it "good enough" once you add a picture and a few details of your past education to your profile. But experts believe that filling out all profile sections is vital to get noticed. In addition, tagging organizations on your profile, such as educational qualifications, volunteering, etc, and following the LinkedIn guidelines for creating a profile. All these steps will boost your profile for search engines to help you enhance your visibility to recruiters and employers. Your profile does not need a wealth of information but simple yet complete is good.

Likewise, companies are also taking online interviews for work-from-home internships. They want the students to get the hang of the corporate world. After the pandemic, since everything has become digital so are the internships. Nowadays, students prefer online internships more than offline ones due to flexibility. 

3. Engage with content and stay active

"Focus on building quality, not the number of your connections,". Rather than connecting and forgetting about that connection, engage regarding the post. Compliment them on promotions, like the career advice they share, or read and comment on their blog posts. Establishing your network even though you are not an active internship seeker is an ongoing effort. 

Start building your professional networks on LinkedIn during your college days. It also helps in finding paid online internships via your alumni. They can also come in handy in the future for a new job. LinkedIn experts stated that if you have an account but are not active, you might as well not have an account at all.

4. Post your genuine content

LinkedIn isn't just for looking at other people's promotions. Post about it when you graduate, get a new course or earn a certification. If you have some opinions on industry news, you can share them. Simply sharing an inspirational quote is a great way to build your LinkedIn. Remember that your activities are viewable, so keep them professional, respectful, and civil. 

 5. Have a purpose behind your profile

As the topic states using LinkedIn recommends having a goal. The goal of LinkedIn is to create your brand, grow your career and promote yourself as if you are a small business in the market. It is beneficial if you are planning to opt for international online internships. 

Plan what potential skills employers seek, follow companies you'd want to work for, and create an introduction regarding professional experience and career goals. LinkedIn helps you to stand out and create a more unified picture of all your application materials for an unpaid or paid internship.

Final chapter

With these five tips, you'll know how to make a great LinkedIn profile that will help you to land an online internship program. The key to LinkedIn is recalling that it's not one and done: you must stay active and keep your profile up to date. In addition, engaging with other people's content and posting some of your own are great ways to preserve your connections.

ULead offers an internship program for students to upskill themselves while reinventing learning and transforming lives with us. As you move up the ladder, you'll have your own team. Leadership is the most sought-after skill by all companies, and Ulead is the place to be if you see yourself as a corporate leader in the future. Enroll now!!

[apexgiftsandprintsllp]

10 Ways to Uncover Invaluable Customer Insights (& How to Apply Them)

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.” This quote from Steve Jobs is applicable to many scenarios in business—one of which being customer insights. Using historical data to collect customer insights is a must for any business that wants to attract and retain customers and stand apart from competitors. In this post, we’re going to cover: What customer insights are and why they’re important. 10 ways to collect customer insights Over 30 ways to apply them for marketing and growth. What are customer insights? Customer insights are the interpretations and patterns of all the data you collect on your customers across all of your touch points. Some are directly obtained, such as through customer feedback and form fills, while others are inferred, such as through website analytics or loyalty program behavior. There are countless quantitative and qualitative metrics behind customer insights, and which ones are important depend on your business and audience. However, research by GetApp found 16% of teams have the right amount of data, but not the right insights. The importance of customer insights in marketing Customer insights are necessary for forming buyer personas—fictional characters that represent your ideal customers—who they are, their demographics, what their pain points are, what impresses them and what disappoints them, what products/services they buy often, what influences their purchasing decisions, and the list goes on. The more you understand about your audience, the better you can: Deliver the right message at the right time. Showcase the right product at the right price point. Highlight the exact features that customers are looking for. Develop empathy and emotional connection. Strengthen your unique selling proposition. Segment, target, and personalize your campaigns. This, in turn will keep customer satisfaction high, reduce churn, increase loyalty, and more—all of which are part of an effective growth marketing strategy. How and where to gather customer insights Collecting customer insights might feel like searching for a needle in a haystack, but if you know where and how to look for it, you can separate the signal from the noise. Here are 10 such sources along with tips on how to use them. 1. Online reviews Online reviews are the most authentic source to know how your customers feel about your products and services. Use them to identify what customers perceive your brand to be doing well, what needs improvement, and what they find better in competition. This includes your reviews on Google, Facebook, Yelp, the Better Business Bureau, Glassdoor, and other niche directories. For software or SaaS, some of the popular ones include G2, Capterra, Clutch, Trustpilot, and TrustRadius. These require the reviewer to create an account using their social credentials like Facebook, Google, or LinkedIn, so we can take comfort in the fact that these reviews are genuine. Image source How to use customer insights from online reviews: Learn the little things that stand out to customers and harness those in your customer service. Stay on top of complaints and product/service shortcomings. Understand the terms your customers use to describe their problems and needs and incorporate those into your copywriting. 2. Competitor’s reviews Similarly, you can also gather insights about your audience from competitors’ reviews. You can find these on the same sights above as well as groups on social media channels where there may be online communities for those product users. Scott Chow, a B2B consultant and founder of The Blog Starter, says “You can dive deeper into customer reviews to get a handle on what expectations customers had when they signed up for competitor offerings and what they actually got. Look out for gaps that your product can fill. Incorporate the learnings into your product messaging and positioning. Ultimately, all this is going to generate more leads since your offerings will perfectly match customer expectations.” How to use customer insights from competitor reviews: Identify their shortcomings and position yourself accordingly. Find out what strengths they have that you don’t (find our SWOT analysis template here!). Get ideas for features or gestures that resonate well with your audience. 3. Website data With Google Analytics and Search Console, you can gather a wealth of insights about your customers, including: Behavioral data: what keywords they were searching when they found your site, what paths they’re taking on your site, which pages they’re exiting on, what content they’re most interested in, and more. Demographic data: age, gender location, interests, devices, and more. Campaign data: which pages are driving leads and sales, paths to purchase, and more. This is why it’s essential to have a website and for all of your marketing campaigns to lead back to your website. Affinity Categories is just one of the insights you can gather about your website visitors using Google Analytics. How to use customer insights from website data: Identify keywords and topics to target with your content. Find out which pages they’re exiting on that may need an exit popup or call to action. See what landing page copy drives more conversions. Identify which channels generate the most success and allocate resources accordingly. 4. Competitor website data You of course can’t get as much detailed information from a competitor’s website, but SEO tools like Semrush and Ahrefs can give you plenty to work with. For example, if you’re a design agency and Venngage is a competitor, Ahrefs will show you the keywords they’re targeting with their content and ads. In the above results, we can see that clearly, Venngage customers like templates. This may be something you want to add to your offerings or adjust your positioning around. How to use customer insights from competitor website data: Identify a strategic product messaging and positioning in your market. Get ideas for keywords to target—paid and organic. Find potential domains to target for link-building. 5. Preferences & purchase activity Your customers’ purchasing patterns give you direct visibility into which products and services are most popular—both in general and among individuals. You can get this information if you track purchases in your CRM or if you have an ecommerce platform. In addition, if you have an email list or any other platform that requires an account, you can create preference centers to capture even more direct insights. These direct insights (known as zero and first-party data) are becoming more and more crucial as third-party cookies get closer to their end. How to use customer insights from preferences and purchase activity: Identify seasonal patterns and stock accordingly (A must, according to our marketing trends list). Personalize communications and marketing campaigns. Identify products and services to build on. 6. Customer surveys Surveys have been used by businesses since the days of door-to-door marketing, but today we have online survey tools to share surveys through email, social media, in apps, and more. Surveys can be point-based, multiple choice, open-ended or any combination. It’s best to segment out your survey campaigns into specific cohorts so you can customize your questions—like new customers, loyal customers, your top referrers, or even disengaged ones. Some good questions to ask in your survey include: How did you find out about us? What did you like the most? Ease of ordering Customer service Pricing Packaging Other reasons What do you think we should improve? Another option is the one-question Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey: “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our business to a friend or colleague?” How to use customer insights from surveys: Understand the general sentiment toward your business. Identify strengths to harness and weaknesses to improve. Find out if starting a referral program would be worth your investment. 7. Customer interviews Compared to customer surveys which are sent in a bulk fashion to several customers, customer interviews are done in a one-to-one fashion. They can be done in person, on the phone, or in a video call. These allow you to get more elaborate answers that customers may not make the effort to write as a survey response. You can discuss things like: How did you come to know about us? What made you choose us over other alternatives? What feature does your business use the most? What do you think could make our product even better? Assaf Cohen, who runs gaming studio Solitaire Bliss explains, “Customer interviews allow you to dig deeper on the fly and gain deeper insights, something you can’t do with surveys. For instance, when trying to learn what games to build next through customer interviews, we discovered multiplayer games have a special appeal due to their social nature.” Ways to use customer interviews Identify nuances and micromoments you can improve. Build your relationship with customers. Get ideas for new features or offerings to add to the roadmap. 8. Success stories and case studies Success stories, testimonials, and case studies are another form of customer interview. But whereas the above focuses on customer feedback, this one is about the story of how they used your business to solve their problem. These are public-facing materials written, video, or audio form. Here are the typical questions a success story seeks to answer: What problem were you facing? What were the consequences? How did you find us and why did you choose us? What product or service did you use to solve your problem? What were the results and benefits? How to use customer insights from success stories: Provide during discovery calls and sales pitches. Post them on your website for visitors to browse. Create and sell persona-specific use cases. 9. Partnerships The digital economy has become a web where most products and services can’t exist on their own. It’s necessary to shake hands, or in tech terms, integrate seamlessly, with other services and applications. For example, a SaaS payment solution might want to partner up with invoicing, proposal, accounting, and sales software. Not only can you increase the appeal of your product, but you can share insights with one another. How to use customer insights from partnerships: Find creative promotions and giveaways to run. Discover adjacent topics to cover in your blog posts. Get ideas for add-ons and features. 10. Social media People don’t hold back from showering praise or complaints on social media, making it a great place to gather customer insights. You can monitor comments and posts to keep an ear out, but you can also openly ask for feedback through posts and polls (you can learn how to gather intel using Instagram Story polls here). Your social media analytics are also a treasure trove of customer insights. Just remember, your social audience may be slightly different from your actual customer audience. How to use customer insights from social media: Get a feel for the language your customers use. Understand their perspectives on an emotional level. Find out product preferences and interests. Collect & apply customer insights Customer insights remove the signal from the noise and help you focus on the channels, positioning, offerings, and messaging worth your time and money. But they’re not available in a single file from a sole destination. You have to gather them through multiple sources, and thanks to digital marketing, you now have the tools to do it! To recap, here are the ten ways to gather customer insights: Online reviews Competitor reviews Website data Competitor website data Polls and surveys Preference and purchase activity Customer interviews Case studies Partnerships Social media About the author Mehdi Hussen is the Head of Marketing at ZoomShift and a freelance inbound marketing consultant. He is passionate about driving organic growth and customer acquisition for startups through data-driven content marketing. He spends his spare time musing about startup growth strategies, sales productivity, and remote work. Connect with him through Twitter or LinkedIn. The post 10 Ways to Uncover Invaluable Customer Insights (& How to Apply Them) appeared first on WordStream. source https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2022/02/17/customer-insights In this blog you will find out about SEO news, tools and tips from different SEO companies and experts, which will helps you to grow your business. (Feed generated with FetchRSS) source https://www.facebook.com/108818354838599/posts/153910473662720/ source https://apexgiftsandprints.blogspot.com/2022/02/10-ways-to-uncover-invaluable-customer.html

[mowmore]

How to Gain More Profitable Commercial Mowing Contracts

The commercial mowing market is a competitive industry, and yet, working in the commercial landscaping business remains a lucrative venture. As more homeowners look to save money on their home maintenance, they are turning to professionals for help with their lawns. This has created some stiff competition in the market, but it also means that there are plenty of opportunities out there for new companies and mowers who know how to take advantage of the rising demand.

Achieving success involves a tremendous amount of legwork because success doesn't happen by chance. The following are some tips for commercial landscapers to help you attract more profitable commercial mowing contracts:

Hire the right crew

A successful commercial mowing business requires a dedicated team of employees. Your crew is one of your company's most important assets. Once you’ve found quality employees, you're on your way to commercial mowing success.

It’s also important to make sure you hire the right amount of people.  Different commercial mowing jobs require different amounts of workers. Your team should have enough manpower to carry out each job without any problems. At the same time, you also need to monitor your expenses.

Invest in the right equipment and machines

Making sure your company has all of the necessary mowing equipment and machinery will make the commercial landscaping business viable. Ensuring that your company has all of the necessary commercial landscaping tools for you to do more jobs efficiently is of utmost importance.

In addition, it's vital that all employees use their assigned machines properly. Mishandling any tools or equipment can cause damage to both property and people, as well as increase potential downtime, which will affect overall productivity. Investing in quality commercial power equipment is wise because it will help you avoid paying for expensive re-tooling and repair costs down the road. You also need to purchase safety gear such as gloves, goggles, and earplugs, so workers don't go home with injuries or have accidents.

Perform an industry analysis

When you run a landscaping company, it’s vital to perform industry analysis for your region or market area before bidding on jobs. Review all relevant available information about similar existing clients, competitors' bids, and properties that are already under contract. Use all of this information as a guide when putting together your proposal. Be sure not to leave any stone unturned.

Know your client's needs and wants before moving forward with a bid or proposal. If you can't meet the customer's requirements, don't bid at all. Always be sure to read, and reread contracts. This will help ensure that there is no confusion about any job parameters or rates,  especially if it pertains to commercial lawn care maintenance agreements. Having solid written documentation will ensure that everyone involved is clear about the expectations from start to finish, which will help ensure that all parties are satisfied in the end. Finish strong by asking for referrals of other potential clients who are looking for commercial landscaping work as well. Word-of-mouth is very powerful, and referrals can go a long way.

Do your research

Before approaching any prospective customers directly with quotes, consider a wide array of marketing avenues, such as internet marketing (organic search engine optimization), and social media advertising campaigns via Facebook Ads, or LinkedIn Ads. There are plenty of ways to get your company’s name out there and generate leads without breaking the bank.

Price commercial mowing jobs accordingly

In any commercial mowing business,   be sure that the price of your services is in line with that of other commercial landscaping companies. The best way to do this is by performing industry analysis for your market area or region. Then ask a few commercial lawn maintenance clients how much they pay on average per month for commercial work for their property.

Over-deliver on service quality

Not only should commercial mowing services be performed well and on-time, but the customer experience itself should also be top-notch. This includes how workers interact with clients, their reliability, and arriving at scheduled jobs or meetings in a timely fashion.

Be sure to maintain open and consistent communication between yourself and your customers throughout each job. Don’t wait until the invoice to reach out. Establishing a positive rapport early will make all the difference when it comes to ensuring repeat business from existing customers and obtaining referrals, which can result in more jobs down the road.

There are no shortcuts when it comes to achieving success in the field of commercial mowing. However, when you do it right, your commercial lawn maintenance business can be both highly rewarding and profitable.

At MowMore, we dedicate our efforts to supporting professional landscapers. We strive to be your expert for landscape equipment parts and supplies. We focus on your business needs, and our inventory is optimized with all of the parts and supplies you need.