#New SEO sites list 2019

[yashkhanna2042-blog]

5 common SEO mistakes to avoid in 2023

5 common SEO mistakes to avoid in 2023

The algorithm shifts:

SEO has been going around for a while, but digitisation gave it the required heed and glamour! Marketers remain no more oblivious to how important SEO is in 2023. If marketers got smarter, the search engines, too, got savvy! With the sudden boost in digital marketing and SEO, algorithms have become a dynamic entity. This means the SEO strategies you used in 2019 are not relevant in 2023. Your 2019 SEO efforts could turn out to be a total waste in 2023. Just because you went the extra mile then doesn’t mean you can reap the fruits to date! If you are already incorporating SEO, here are some blunders to keep away from, and if you’re new to SEO, you now know what not to do!

What are some common SEO mistakes to avoid?

1. Keyword Stuffing:

A very clever tactic which was used by conventional experts was to manipulate the algorithm with the exaggeration of keywords. Back then, you could see every 30 words had a keyword inserted, which led to excessive stuffing. However, as mentioned, the search engines got smarter! This technique is no longer relevant in the current times. Having done this today can result in doing more harm than good to your website. At times it can also result in penalties or, worse, dismissal of a website. 

Pro-tip: To avoid keyword stuffing, make sure you insert relevant keywords naturally in a way that compliments your content and the theme subject.

2. Ignoring local SEO:

A lot of heed is given to on-page and off-page SEO; there is no harm in that. What marketers leave behind is local SEO, assuming it is less impactful. Using local keywords, local directories, and Google My Business listings, you may optimise your website for local search. Missed chances to draw in local clients can arise from failing to pay attention to local SEO. In order to have a closer look at it, you can take a quick read through this beginner-friendly local SEO blog.

Pro-tip: Remember, whilst the aim is global, do not forget local! Cater to all local SEO strategies to level up your rankings!

3. Quantity over quality:

This is the most significant SEO mistake to avoid. Previously, in the larger blogging and writing community, the number of words defined your content. Maybe, it worked for the previous algorithms. But evaluating the tactics now, it is clear that the search engines are looking for high-quality, unique content that genuinely aims to solve the users’ queries. The golden rule for writing SEO-friendly articles and blogs is to remember that even though the end motto is marketing, don’t make it look like marketing.

Pro-tip: There is no tip here, do your research and come up with content which truly serves the purpose. Add relevant keywords, and align them in a proper format. One structured piece of content is more likely to rank rather than five poor-quality content pieces!

4. Lacking speed:

Fast websites are favoured by all, notably Google. Google is more likely to recognise your website if it loads quickly. Your website’s likelihood of dropping in the rankings increases with site speed. Making your website faster, if you are aware of its speed difficulties, should be one of your top SEO objectives.

Pro-tip: Being SEO geeks in the digital era comes with greater difficulties. There are multiple companies ready to take your place. Don’t let high buffer speed be the reason behind it. Connect with the top SEO agencies to get it done right!

5. Skipping Analysis: Even if you spend a lot of time and energy optimising your website, it could all be for nothing if you are not using metrics. Tracking your progress is the only method to gauge your success. It will be much simpler to optimise your content once you have that knowledge and know whether what you are doing is having an impact. To avoid any common SEO mistakes, make sure you keep your eyes on the metrics!

Pro-tip: To make your tasks simpler, use tools like google console or Analytics for accurate understanding.

These were some of the common SEO mistakes to avoid in 2023. In order to enable higher ranking and position, make sure to strategically dodge these. For further suggestions and help, you can connect with a credible SEO agency or a digital marketing agency to get it all sorted!

[josefmarlon]

NoFollow Links vs. Follow: What You Need to Know

Link building remains a cornerstone strategy for improving website visibility and authority. While many businesses turn to the best SEO companies for guidance, understanding the fundamental concepts of link attributes is crucial for anyone involved in digital marketing. Among these concepts, the distinction between nofollow and follow links stands out as particularly significant, yet often misunderstood.

The Foundation of Link Authority

When Google revolutionised search engine technology with its PageRank algorithm, it essentially viewed each link as a vote of confidence from one website to another. This fundamental principle continues to influence how search engines evaluate website authority and relevance today. However, as the digital landscape evolved, the need for more nuanced link attribution became apparent, leading to the introduction of the nofollow attribute in 2005.

Understanding Follow Links

Follow links, also known as dofollow links, represent the default state of hyperlinks on the web. When a website links to another site without any additional attributes, it creates a follow link. These links serve as endorsements, passing along what SEO professionals call "link juice" – a term that represents the transfer of authority and trust from one domain to another.

The significance of follow links cannot be overstated. They serve as the building blocks of the internet's interconnected nature and play a crucial role in how search engines determine website authority. For instance, when an ecommerce SEO company develops a link-building strategy, securing quality follow links from relevant, authoritative websites often tops their priority list.

The Role of NoFollow Links

NoFollow links, marked with the rel="nofollow" attribute in their HTML code, tell search engines not to pass authority or PageRank to the linked website. While this might sound counterintuitive to SEO goals, nofollow links serve several important purposes in maintaining the integrity of the web's link ecosystem.

Initially introduced to combat comment spam on blogs, the nofollow attribute has evolved to serve broader purposes. It helps websites maintain editorial integrity when linking to paid advertisements, user-generated content, or resources they do not fully endorse. Many SEO services offered by the best SEO company now emphasise the importance of maintaining a natural mix of both follow and nofollow links in a website's link profile.

When to Use NoFollow Links

Understanding when to implement nofollow links is crucial for maintaining ethical SEO practices. Here are several scenarios where using nofollow links is appropriate or required:

Paid Partnerships and Advertisements: When a link exists as part of a paid arrangement, search engines require it to be marked as nofollow to maintain transparency and prevent artificial manipulation of search rankings.

User-Generated Content: Forums, comment sections, and other areas where users can freely post links benefit from nofollow attributes to prevent spam and maintain quality control.

Untrusted Content: When linking to resources you haven't fully vetted or do not wish to endorse, using nofollow helps protect your site's reputation and authority.

The Evolution of Link Attributes

In 2019, Google introduced two new link attributes to provide more nuanced ways of identifying link types: rel="sponsored" for paid partnerships and rel="ugc" for user-generated content. These additions join the original nofollow attribute in giving webmasters more precise tools for qualifying their outbound links.

Despite these changes, the fundamental importance of both follow and nofollow links remains unchanged. The best SEO companies understand that a natural link profile typically includes a mix of both types, as this reflects organic linking patterns and demonstrates authenticity to search engines.

Impact on Search Engine Rankings

While follow links directly influence search rankings by passing authority, the role of nofollow links in SEO is more nuanced. Although they do not directly transfer PageRank, nofollow links can still provide value through:

Brand Visibility: Even without passing authority, nofollow links expose your brand to new audiences and can drive referral traffic.

Link Profile Diversity: A natural mix of follow and nofollow links suggests organic link-building practices to search engines.

Indirect SEO Benefits: High-quality nofollow links can lead to additional exposure, potentially resulting in natural follow links from other sources.

Strategic Link Building in Modern SEO

Today's effective link-building strategies require a sophisticated understanding of both follow and nofollow links. Rather than focusing solely on acquiring follow links, successful SEO practitioners recognise the value of building a diverse and natural-looking link profile.

Consider a hypothetical scenario where an online retailer implements a comprehensive digital marketing strategy. Their approach might include:

Collaborative content creation with industry experts, earning natural follow links through valuable insights and data.

Sponsoring relevant industry events, accepting that these promotional links will be nofollow but valuable for brand exposure.

Engaging with industry blogs and forums, where some links may be nofollow but help establish industry presence and expertise.

Best Practices for Link Management

Managing your website's outbound links requires careful consideration of when to use follow versus nofollow attributes. Here are some key considerations:

Editorial Integrity: Use follow links when linking to trusted, authoritative sources that add value to your content.

Risk Management: Implement nofollow attributes when linking to user-generated content or paid partnerships to maintain compliance with search engine guidelines.

Link Quality: Focus on acquiring links from relevant, authoritative websites regardless of whether they are follow or nofollow.

Future Considerations

As search engines continue to evolve, the way they interpret and value different types of links may change. However, the fundamental principle of earning and providing valuable, relevant links remains constant. Staying informed about these changes and maintaining ethical linking practices will continue to be crucial for long-term SEO success.

Understanding the distinction between follow and nofollow links is essential for anyone involved in website management or digital marketing. While follow links remain crucial for passing authority and improving search rankings, nofollow links play an important role in maintaining a natural, diverse link profile and managing risk in digital marketing strategies.

The key to success lies not in focusing exclusively on either type but in developing a comprehensive strategy that leverages both follow and nofollow links appropriately. By understanding when and how to use each type of link, websites can build stronger, more authentic online presences that stand the test of time and algorithm updates.

Remember that while link attributes are important, they are just one aspect of a comprehensive SEO strategy. Working with experienced professionals who understand these nuances can help ensure your link-building efforts contribute positively to your overall digital marketing goals.

[dubaiseocompanyuae]

Understanding Google Algorithm Updates: A Complete History

Google Algorithm Updates are changes made to the Google ranking algorithm to improve how search results are generated. These updates help Google provide users with more relevant and high-quality results. As the internet evolves, Google continuously modifies its algorithms to ensure that the most useful and trustworthy content appears at the top of search results. Staying updated with these changes is crucial for anyone involved in SEO and digital marketing.

Google Algorithm Updates Released

Over the years, Google has released numerous updates to its Google ranking algorithm. Each update can significantly impact website rankings and visibility in search results. Being aware of these updates allows website owners to adjust their SEO strategies accordingly and maintain their search rankings.

List of Google Algorithm Updates

Florida Update - Nov 16, 2003 The Florida Update was one of the first major updates to the Google ranking algorithm. It targeted websites using spammy techniques like keyword stuffing. This update marked a shift towards prioritizing quality content over manipulative practices, leading to more relevant search results.

Panda Update - Feb 24, 2011 The Panda Update focused on content quality, penalizing sites with thin or duplicate content. This update aimed to encourage the creation of valuable and original content, impacting many sites in the Google ranking algorithm. Websites that provided high-quality content benefited, while those with poor content saw drops in rankings.

Penguin Update - Apr 24, 2012 The Penguin Update aimed to address link schemes and spammy backlinks. It penalized websites using unethical link-building tactics, emphasizing the importance of acquiring high-quality, relevant backlinks as part of the Google ranking algorithm. This update reshaped how SEO professionals approached link building.

Hummingbird Update - Aug 20, 2013 The Hummingbird Update introduced a new algorithm designed to improve Google’s understanding of user intent. It focused on semantic search, helping users find more relevant results by considering the context of queries. This update significantly changed how the Google ranking algorithm processed complex queries.

Mobilegeddon - Apr 21, 2015 With the growing use of mobile devices, Mobilegeddon prioritized mobile-friendly websites in search results. Websites that were not optimized for mobile saw drops in their rankings, highlighting the importance of responsive design in the Google ranking algorithm. This update encouraged businesses to invest in mobile-friendly designs.

RankBrain - Oct 26, 2015 RankBrain marked a significant advancement in machine learning. This update helped Google better understand complex queries and user intent, improving the accuracy of search results and enhancing the overall effectiveness of the Google ranking algorithm. It was a crucial step in making search results more relevant.

Fred Update - Mar 8, 2017 The Fred Update targeted websites that prioritized ad revenue over user experience. It penalized sites with low-quality content filled with ads, reinforcing the need for valuable content in the Google ranking algorithm. Websites that focused on user experience saw improvements in their rankings.

Medic Update - Aug 1, 2018 The Medic Update primarily affected health and wellness sites. It emphasized the importance of expertise, authority, and trustworthiness in content, pushing low-quality sites down the rankings in the Google ranking algorithm. This update highlighted the need for credible content in sensitive topics.

BERT Update - Oct 25, 2019 The BERT Update enhanced Google’s natural language processing capabilities. This update helped Google better understand the context of words in queries, improving the relevance of search results. This change significantly impacted how the Google ranking algorithm interpreted user searches.

Core Web Vitals - May 2021 Core Web Vitals introduced new metrics focusing on user experience, including loading speed and interactivity. Websites that met these standards benefited from improved rankings in the Google ranking algorithm. This update made user experience a critical ranking factor.

Page Experience Update - June and July 2021 This update built on Core Web Vitals, emphasizing overall user experience factors such as mobile usability and safe browsing. Websites that provided a better user experience saw positive impacts in their search rankings.

Helpful Content Update - Aug 2022 The Helpful Content Update targeted low-quality, unhelpful content. Sites providing genuine value to users were rewarded with higher rankings, reflecting the ongoing importance of quality in the Google ranking algorithm.

Dec 2022 Link Spam Update This update aimed to combat spammy link practices. Websites with unnatural links faced penalties, while those following ethical link-building practices were rewarded. This change reinforced the need for clean backlink profiles in the Google ranking algorithm.

Mar 2023 Core Update The March 2023 Core Update refined algorithms to enhance search result quality. It focused on improving content relevance and authority, further shaping the Google ranking algorithm.

Nov 2023 Review Update This update improved how reviews were displayed in search results. Sites with genuine and informative reviews received better visibility and rankings.

Mar 24 Core Update The March 24 Core Update aimed to enhance the overall quality of search results, ensuring that authoritative content received higher visibility in the Google ranking algorithm.

Aug 2024 Core Update The August 2024 Core Update continued to prioritize content quality and user experience, further impacting SEO strategies and rankings.

Impact on SEO Ranking

The various Google core updates significantly influence SEO rankings. Changes in the Google ranking algorithm can lead to fluctuations in website traffic and visibility. Adapting to these updates by focusing on high-quality content, ethical link-building, and excellent user experience is essential for maintaining or improving website rankings. By staying informed about Google core updates, webmasters can ensure their strategies align with current best practices, ultimately leading to better search performance.

Conclusion

Understanding the history and impact of Google Algorithm Updates is crucial for anyone involved in SEO. By adapting strategies to align with these updates, website owners can maintain their rankings and ensure their content remains visible to users. As Google continues to evolve its Google ranking algorithm, staying informed about changes and best practices will help businesses thrive in the digital landscape.

[amangotogroww]

Hyperlocal SEO: Targeting "Near Me" Searches for Maximum Business Growth

In today’s fast-paced world, "near me" searches have become a staple for consumers looking for products and services. Hyperlocal SEO is a powerful tool that helps businesses capitalize on this trend by targeting highly specific geographic searches. This blog will explore the importance of hyperlocal SEO, provide actionable strategies, and share insights on optimizing for "near me" searches to boost local visibility.

1. What is Hyperlocal SEO?

Hyperlocal SEO involves optimizing your online presence to target customers based on their immediate geographic location. Unlike traditional local SEO, hyperlocal SEO zooms in on smaller geographic areas, focusing on consumers who are ready to act.

Example: A user searching for "coffee shop near me" will see results for nearby businesses that have optimized their SEO to target these hyperlocal queries.

2. The Growth of "Near Me" Searches: Facts and Figures

Key Statistics:

Between 2014 and 2020, “near me” searches skyrocketed by 900%, driven by the rise of mobile devices【Source: Google Trends】.

82% of smartphone users perform local searches, and 76% of them visit a nearby business within 24 hours【Google Consumer Insights】.

Searches for "open near me" grew by 400% between 2019 and 2021, showing the demand for real-time, location-based services【Google Data】.

Takeaway: Businesses that optimize for "near me" searches are better positioned to capture high-intent customers, who are typically ready to purchase or visit within hours.

3. The Importance of Hyperlocal SEO for Businesses

Increased Visibility: Businesses that rank well in hyperlocal searches, especially in Google’s "Local Pack," receive a significant number of clicks. 44% of users click on a business from this section【BrightLocal】.

High-Intent Consumers: "Near me" searchers are often ready to take action. 88% of local mobile searches lead to a call or business visit within a day【Nectafy】.

Competitive Edge: Optimizing for hyperlocal SEO helps small and medium-sized businesses compete with larger companies by dominating search results in specific geographic areas.

4. Key Ranking Factors for Hyperlocal SEO

Proximity: The distance between the searcher and your business plays a crucial role in determining your ranking.

Relevance: Your business must match the user’s search query. Optimizing for local keywords and ensuring your business description is accurate can improve relevance.

Prominence: Google considers factors like online reviews, local citations, and backlinks to evaluate how prominent your business is in your area.

5. Actionable Tips for Optimizing for "Near Me" Searches

5.1. Optimize Google My Business (GMB) Profile

Claim and Verify Your Listing: This ensures full access to optimization tools and helps your business appear in Google’s Local Pack.

Accurate Business Information: Keep your Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP) consistent across all platforms.

Use Local Keywords: Add location-specific keywords in your business description, such as "best bakery in Brooklyn."

Tip: A complete GMB profile is 2.7 times more likely to be considered trustworthy by consumers【Google My Business Insights】.

5.2. Create Localized Content

Develop Location Pages: If your business operates in multiple areas, create separate landing pages for each location with unique content.

Blog About Local Topics: Write content that focuses on local events or news relevant to your audience. This can increase engagement and relevance.

Example: A restaurant can write a blog post about “Top 5 Local Eateries in Downtown” while promoting its own services.

5.3. Mobile Optimization

Responsive Design: Since 60% of Google searches are now done on mobile devices, make sure your website is mobile-friendly with fast loading times.

Mobile-First Indexing: Google primarily uses the mobile version of your site for ranking, so ensure the mobile experience is seamless.

Fact: 80% of "near me" searches happen on mobile devices【Think With Google】.

5.4. Leverage Local Citations and Backlinks

List in Local Directories: Submit your business to local directories like Yelp, TripAdvisor, or industry-specific platforms to increase visibility and improve credibility.

Build Local Backlinks: Partner with community-based websites, local bloggers, or chambers of commerce to earn backlinks that enhance your local SEO rankings.

5.5. Encourage and Respond to Customer Reviews

Generate More Reviews: Encourage customers to leave positive reviews on your Google My Business profile and other review platforms.

Respond to Reviews: Whether positive or negative, engaging with reviews shows that you value customer feedback and enhances your online presence.

Tip: Businesses with higher ratings (4-4.5 stars) typically perform better in local search rankings【BrightLocal】.

5.6. Voice Search Optimization

Use Conversational Keywords: Since many "near me" searches are performed through voice assistants, focus on long-tail keywords like “Best pizza delivery near me” to capture voice search traffic.

FAQs: Include a Frequently Asked Questions section on your site that addresses common local search queries.

5.7. Implement Local Schema Markup

Schema Markup: Use structured data like local business schema markup to help Google understand the specific location, services, and hours of operation of your business.

Fact: Websites using schema markup typically rank 4 positions higher than those without【Search Engine Land】.

6. The Role of Local Search Ads in Hyperlocal SEO

While organic strategies are vital, combining them with paid advertising can give your hyperlocal SEO a boost.

Google Local Services Ads: These ads appear at the top of search results, allowing customers to call or book services directly through the ad. It’s perfect for local businesses like plumbers, electricians, or law firms.

Geotargeted Ads: Running location-based Google Ads allows you to narrow down your target audience to specific geographic areas, increasing the relevance of your ads.

Fact: 85% of clicks from Google Ads occur on mobile devices, making geotargeted ads crucial for capturing local mobile traffic【Google Ads Study】.

7. The Future of Hyperlocal SEO

Emerging Trends:

AI-Driven Personalization: As Google continues to refine its algorithm, AI will play an even bigger role in predicting user intent, delivering more personalized local search results based on browsing behavior and location history.

Augmented Reality (AR): Tools like Google Lens are integrating real-world searches with digital data, meaning users may soon be able to point their camera at a store to get business details in real time.

Conclusion

Hyperlocal SEO is critical for businesses looking to attract nearby customers who are ready to make immediate purchasing decisions. By optimizing your Google My Business profile, creating localized content, using mobile and voice search strategies, and leveraging paid ads, you can ensure your business stands out in "near me" searches.

[netsqure]

Understanding Google Algorithms and Updates 2024

Search algorithms from Google are the basis of how the world’s most well-known search engine sorts through and ranks vast online data. In 2024, knowing the algorithms and changes is more important than ever for those involved in SEO, digital marketing, or content creation. This article will give a complete review of Google algorithms and their updates for 2024. It will also explain the reasons behind them, what they mean, and how to use the maze of them efficiently.

What is a Google Algorithm?

Importance of Google Algorithms

Knowing the Google algorithm is crucial for a variety of reasons:

SEO Optimization: Knowing how Google ranks web pages helps you optimize your website for search engine visibility.

Traffic Generation: Rankings higher on Google can bring more traffic to your website, which could translate into increased business or visibility.

User experience: Google algorithms are made to encourage websites that provide an excellent user experience. Therefore, aligning your site to these guidelines can enhance user-friendliness.

Content Quality: Algorithms give top-quality, relevant content, requiring creators to keep the highest standards.

Overview of Major Google Algorithms

To fully comprehend the effects of Google changes in 2024, it’s beneficial to look over some of the most important algorithms that have affected search results over the decades:

PageRank: the first algorithm created by Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Sergey Brin that ranks web pages by the number and quality of backlinks they have.

Panda: Panda was First introduced in 2011, the program concentrates on content quality, penalizing websites with thin and low-quality content.

Penguin: Introduced at the end of 2012, this system will target websites with manipulative or spammy links.

Hummingbird: First released in 2013, the app focuses on understanding the motives behind queries rather than simply matching keywords.

RankBrain: An artificial intelligence-based system launched in 2015 that assists Google in sorting through its search results and giving more relevant answers.

BERT Added in 2019, the BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations to Transformers) aids Google in better comprehending the meaning of the words used in search results.

Significant Google Updates in 2024

Although Google often makes minor algorithm changes, some critical updates coming in 2024 will be significant for SEO and digital marketing. Here are the major updates that you must be aware of:

Core Web Vitals Update

One of the most significant changes in 2024 is focused on Core Web Vitals, a set of responsiveness, speed, and visual stability measures. It aims to enhance the user experience. Three main components of Core Web Vitals include:

The largest Contentful Paint (LCP ): Measures loading performance. Ideally, LCP should occur within 2.5 seconds from when the page’s loading process begins.

First Input Delay (FID ): Measures interactivity. Pages should have an FID of less than 100 milliseconds.

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS ): Measures visual stability. Pages should have a CLS lower than 0.1.

Websites that comply with these standards will likely get higher rankings as Google continues to put a premium on the user experience.

MUM (Multitask Unified Model) Update

The Multitask Unified Model (MUM) is an AI-powered update that lets Google better comprehend complex queries and give more thorough solutions. MUM can analyze images, text, and videos in a variety of languages, thereby making the results more comprehensive and accurate. The new technology means content creators must concentrate on creating multimedia-rich, thorough content that answers user questions thoroughly.

Local Search Update

Local search has become more crucial, and the update for 2024 improves Google’s ability to provide appropriate local listings. This update highlights the necessity for businesses to enhance the quality of their Google My Business profiles, get positive reviews, and ensure that their NAP (Name, address, Address, and phone number) information is uniform across all platforms.

Spam Update

Google continues to take action against spammy practices. The 2024 spam update targets websites that use manipulative practices, including Keyword stuffing, cloaking, and deceitful redirects. This means that maintaining an ethical set of SEO methods is more crucial than ever before.

Product Review Update

Reviews of high-quality products are being given greater prominence in search results following the 2024 update. Google will now assess the depth, quality, and value of reviews. Reviews that contain detailed, thorough information and personal insights tend to be ranked higher.

How to Adapt to Google Updates in 2024

The process of navigating Google’s updates requires an adaptive and proactive method. Here are some suggestions to keep your head above water:

Focus on Quality Content

The quality of content is paramount. Make sure your content meets the following criteria:

– — Informative and Valued: Offer genuine worth to your readers through thorough, well-studied details.

Engaging and Readable: Use simple phrases, intriguing headlines, and engaging formats such as infographics and videos.

Original and Unique: Do not duplicate content. Give new perspectives and innovative ideas.

Optimize for Core Web Vitals

Enhancing your website’s Core Web Vitals can significantly increase your rank. Make sure to focus on:

– Speed Optimize images, use browser caching, and use the content delivery network (CDN).

Responsiveness: Ensure your website is mobile-friendly, responsive, and quick to user inputs.

Video Stability: Reduce the risk of unexpected layout changes by defining size attributes for videos and images.

Enhance User Experience

Google’s focus on user experience is a sign that your website should:

Easy to Navigate Utilize clear menus and easy navigation.

Accessible: Make sure your website is accessible to everyone who visits your site, including people with disabilities.

Secure Install HTTPS to secure your website and safeguard user information.

Leverage Structured Data

Structured data can help Google to understand your content better better. Use schema markup to increase your website’s visibility on SERPs by providing rich snippets of content, FAQs, and much more.

Prioritize Local SEO

For local businesses, concentrate on the following:

Google My Business: Make sure your profile is updated with current information and engaging content.

Local Keywords Use keywords that relate to your area of residence.

Review and Ratings: Inspire satisfied customers to leave reviews of their experience.

Stay Updated and Adaptable

SEO is a continuously evolving area. Keep up-to-date with the most recent developments by:

Follow Industry Blogs as well as News: Websites such as Search Engine Journal, Moz, and Google’s own blog are fantastic sources.

Participating at Webinars and Conferences Get in touch with experts from the industry and keep abreast of the latest developments.

Continuous Learning: Learn SEO through courses and certificates to ensure your skills are current.

The Future of Google Algorithms

In the future, Google will continue to optimize its algorithms to enhance user experience and deliver better results. Here are some of the trends to keep an eye on:

Increased Use of AI and Machine Learning

AI, as well as machine learning, are going to play an increasingly important part in the way Google sorts and ranks content. Knowing how the technologies operate and incorporating these into an SEO strategy will be essential.

Greater Emphasis on Voice Search

With the advent of smart speaker technology and the virtual assistant, voice search optimization has become more crucial. The focus should be on the natural processing of language (NLP) and conversational keywords.

Enhanced Focus on User Intent

Google continues to enhance its understanding of what users want, providing more relevant outcomes. Producing content that aligns with user expectations will be crucial to maintain top rankings.

Conclusion

Being aware of and adjusting to Google algorithms and updates to 2024 is vital for anyone working in the field of digital marketing, as well as SEO specialists or creators of content. Focusing on high-quality content, optimizing for user experience, using the power of structured data, and being aware of the latest trends in the industry will help you manage these changes effectively and keep a solid online presence as Google’s algorithms continue to change. So do your strategies to remain competitive in the constantly evolving digital world.

[blog-submission]

Top 10 Digital Marketing Agency In Delhi

Digital marketing has become a powerful tool for businesses and a way to create lasting bonds between businesses and their customers. Some of the famous companies in India are using digital marketing to increase sales and reach the target markets. One of the most important aspects of today’s world is digital marketing. With just one click, it allows you to advertise your business, goods, and services across various online channels. The best decision you can make to improve your skills and help your business gain an impressive and well-known position is to pursue a career in digital marketing.

Looking for the best digital marketing agency in Delhi? You have reached the right page. Since not all companies are reputable. Here, we will help you find the right digital media agency in Delhi NCR to suit your business needs.

Check out the top 10 digital media agencies in Delhi NCR to boost your brand presence online:

Vyapar Infotech One of the best digital marketing companies in Delhi NCR is Vyapar Infotech. Here, they offer a comprehensive list of services that fit the bill of digital marketing. Our dedicated team is based in Delhi and works hard to provide an unforgettable brand experience to each of its customers. Vyapar Infotech provides end-to-end solutions for all digital marketing needs. We have great customers and some of the best companies in the world with their outstanding sales service. Visit us to know more about our services.

Nettechnocrats The medical and healthcare sector makes up the majority of their mid-sized customers. Net Technocrats, an IT company based in Noida, India, also has a site in New Delhi. The 99-person company was founded in 2012 and focuses on mobile app development, content marketing, and digital strategy. Shopping A modest advertising agency is called AJ Marketing. The company was founded in 2019 and has offices in Singapore, Minato City in Japan, Bangkok in Thailand, and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Their team consists of experts in various fields, including content marketing, mobile and app marketing, advertising, and social media.

digital display Dignitas Digital, based in Philadelphia, is a company that develops custom software and manages SEO. Their team of 35 people, founded in 2012, works with customers in the logistics, IT, and education sectors. Traditional app development and digital marketing are examples of jobs. Degree of EZ

A digital marketing company called EZ Rankings has offices in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and New Delhi, India. EZ Level was founded in 2010 and offers SEO, social media, web design, and conversion optimization services. They provide services to many clients in different industries.

Wat Consult Wat Consult’s qualified staff guarantees the best results for its clients. Full-time job openings in SEO, social media management, and content creation. They also have nice seats. But it’s not shocking. After all, they are in DLF Select City Walk. Digital signage In Delhi, Digital Markitors is one of the best SEO companies. They have more than ten years of experience. Also, they are successful in supporting companies that produce goods and technology in general. However, they never collect from their customers (in themselves, they scam), unlike many electronic repair companies that pay Nehru Place.

side street Page traffic gives a brand name to exactly what they advertise: internet traffic. Also, they have a large staff that can handle many tasks at the same time. They currently work more than 4000 jobs. It is different from your previous company, which requires the participation of the whole team, their families, friends, and even partners to make a campaign. web social A group of digital experts called Webeesocial. They have received many accolades for their creativity in the digital realm. That includes the ACT Summit “Best Digital Innovation” award. Weebeesocial like Man City wins the Premier League every year on social media. public eye

Social Eye helps brands build online communities. Also, they use the latest techniques to create interest and spread the right information. In addition, they have never missed a social media platform in all these years. So you have to believe them when they say they have “social eyes”.

How to choose the best digital media agency from the top 10 agencies in Delhi? We are currently experiencing a rapid digital transformation. So, every brand and business should be involved at some level in the digital sphere. However, in the face of rapidly changing technology and increasing competition, simply “being present” online is not enough. The benefits of establishing an online presence are increasing, but so are the challenges. Because we understand that digital marketing has many different aspects that are unique. It covers a variety of topics, including PPC for e-commerce, email marketing, and content marketing. So, if you are looking for the best company among the 10 digital media companies in Delhi, consider the factors below. The first step is to define your goals You need to determine your brand needs before working with a digital media agency. Knowing what you want to do will help you communicate effectively and achieve your goals. Before you start looking for a company, your company can be evaluated by internal needs by identifying them. The first step is to choose your budget, but the most important thing is to know why you want to use them. Ask to see their latest projects and results. You should request a portfolio of their most recent work and projects, which will provide you with demonstrable evidence of the company’s success. Finding a company that is willing to share its work and results will be important to your decision-making. The most important thing is to choose a company that will provide you with the right process, detailed plan, and results that you are looking for. How do they run their own business? The company’s results for itself are some of the best examples of what it can bring to your business. If you are considering hiring a company to run your blog, first find out how they run their own blog. How do they manage their own social media accounts if you are considering hiring them for social media? Consider all these factors before choosing a company. Make sure the company is updated. Lifestyle is constantly changing in the digital age. Yesterday’s fashion may be tomorrow’s fashion. Also, it is important that we develop a flexible mindset as marketers In this situation, it is important that the company you work for remains up-to-date, looks at progress and changes, and includes them in its marketing plan, especially if it is a long-term plan. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Writing great content that matches the searcher’s intent is key to SEO. You should have a “goal plan” and a topic plan for the content you post. You can compare having a company take care of this to asking the company to take your place. Although this is undoubtedly achievable in the long run, the best results happen when the business really understands SEO from the inside; otherwise, your experience may be very different. Additionally, SEO is most effective when your internal staff and company work together to create content. Tip: Learn about your company’s SEO strategy and guidelines. Although they say they do it all and write for you, you have in-house experience in certain areas that will allow you to create content of a high caliber. Content marketing

Content marketing is related to SEO. Content marketing is a unique technique for getting links from other websites and high rankings for content through inbound marketing, either naturally or through deliberate link building. Additionally, the content should support email marketing and encourage lead generation. This is a very specific skill set, especially if your company is planning your website, digital strategy development, etc. Ask your company about link-building techniques and content marketing strategies. They can be professional if they focus on creating high-quality content that can be published and promoted by social media groups, blogger campaigns, and other strategies. Evidence, research, and studies Of course, you should always be looking for proof. Although some good companies have the “cobbler without shoes” problem, that is, they do not manage their own market because they are too busy serving their customers or -relying on word of mouth and referrals, lack of evidence can be a warning sign. But even these organizations should be able to produce compelling evidence. With the top 10 digital media companies in Delhi as business owners, if you are looking for the best, we recommend joining Vyapar Infotech today. Access to specialized services such as web design, web development, social media marketing,

[thegrowthbox]

Best Social Media Platforms To Consider For Your Business

Businesses today recognize the importance of establishing a strong brand voice, tracking competitors' efforts, and engaging with customers through social media marketing. Consequently, it becomes imperative to understand and select the most suitable social media platforms for your company, as doing so can significantly enhance visibility, drive revenue, and propel your business to new heights.

The power of social media platforms in increasing brand awareness is well-known. Since 2015, the usage of social media has nearly doubled, transforming it from an optional marketing avenue to an absolute necessity. However, determining which social media site is the right fit for your company can be a daunting task. To assist you in making an informed decision, we have compiled a comprehensive list of social media platforms and their unique attributes to help you identify the best ones for your business.

Google My Business (GMB): is a top contender in the social media platforms list. In 2019, an average GMB listing received 317 Maps visits and 943 Search views per month, based on an analysis of 45,000 business listings. GMB allows you to distribute localized content, making it crucial to claim and verify your GMB listing before delving into content creation. This platform rightfully holds the first position on our list of social media platforms.

Facebook: Another prominent social networking platform, holds immense value for businesses across various industries. According to the Search Engine Journal, industries such as automotive, consumer goods, e-commerce, entertainment, financial services, gaming, media, retail, telecommunications, and technology dominate the platform, making it a critical space for businesses to establish their presence.

YouTube: YouTube renowned as one of the most popular social media platforms, witnesses a staggering billion hours of video watched every day. Creating a YouTube channel enables you to share videos and garner followers and interactions. Additionally, YouTube functions as both a social media platform and a search engine, making it essential to follow SEO best practices if you aim to succeed on this platform.

WhatsApp: WhatsApp known for its messaging capabilities, has also developed a commercial platform to cater to businesses. It provides features such as a legitimate business profile, customer service options, and purchase updates. WhatsApp offers two distinct applications: WhatsApp Business for small companies and the WhatsApp Business API for medium and large enterprises.

Instagram: An image-based platform, that serves as a prime choice for coaches, influencers, and businesses selling products. Notably, 75 percent of 18-to-24-year-olds use Instagram, making it an ideal platform if your customer base skews toward a younger demographic.

Twitter: A microblogging social media platform operational since 2004, boasts an estimated 300 million users worldwide. Characterized by short, concise posts, Twitter has earned the moniker of the "SMS of the Web." It's brevity and quick engagement make it an excellent social media platform for businesses seeking to convey succinct messages.

Telegram: A secure social messaging service, that provides opportunities for direct assistance, chatbot development, and broader business promotion through channels, enabling you to reach a larger audience securely.

Pinterest: Pinterest Functions as a digital bulletin board where users can pin and organize content by category. Rich Pins allow you to add location and product details, making it an appealing platform for businesses aiming to provide additional information about their offerings.

Reddit: Reddit renowned for its integration of niche communities and content, boasts a vast number of subreddits, numbering over 150,000. To effectively utilize Reddit, it is essential to avoid self-promotion and instead focus on engaging with your target audience within specific niches, as self-promotion is against the platform's terms of service.

LinkedIn: While not boasting as many users as Facebook, holds significant potential for business-to-business (B2B) companies. Notably, 50% of US college graduates actively use LinkedIn, making it an ideal platform to target and engage with this specific demographic.

Snapchat: A platform where the content disappears, offers a unique approach to social media engagement. Publicly visible Stories vanish after 24 hours, creating a sense of urgency and exclusivity. Moreover, the disappearing feature of videos or photos sent as messages can be adjusted to suit your preferences.

Medium: Medium Serves as a social network and publishing platform rolled into one. By republishing your blogs on Medium, you can reach a wider audience and benefit from the platform's engaged community of readers and writers.

Tumblr: A microblogging and long-distance informal communication website, that allows users to share various forms of content, including text, images, links, recordings, and more. The platform caters to diverse interests and offers a space for users to express their creativity and passions, from sharing adorable kitten photos to showcasing their craftsmanship and artistic endeavors.

StumbleUpon: A discovery engine, that recommends and identifies content for its users. With over 25 million people using StumbleUpon for entertainment and information, businesses can leverage the platform's ability to drive traffic and engage users with relevant and compelling content.

Conclusion: Integrating social media into your digital marketing strategy is a powerful technique that requires careful consideration of which platforms to utilize. Instead of attempting to use every available social media platform, it is crucial to research and identify the platforms that align with your small business's specific needs and target audience. By prioritizing the most suitable networks, you can effectively leverage social media's potential to enhance brand visibility and achieve your business goals. We hope this comprehensive overview has helped you identify the best social media platforms for your business.

Reference link: https://vocal.media/01/best-social-media-platforms-to-consider-for-your-business

[digitalmarketingwithlena]

DIGITAL THURSDAY: Let's talk about SEO part 2 !

Hey digital marketing lovers, 💙🌐

Every Thursday, I'll introduce a new topic about digital marketing: today is SEO day, part 2 ! 💻

Last week we started talking about SEO and what are the best practices to optimize it! This week, I will continue to give you advice on how to optimize your SEO.

First, SEO-friendly writing does not mean writing for search engines. You have to:

Write relevant content about your topic

Put conclusions at the beginning

Use lists instead of paragraphs

Make your links part of the copy

Include internal sub-headings and it should include your keyword phrase

Proofread your pages

Now, let's talk about meta-description. It is a meta tag that describes what the page is about. It increases traffic and conversions. Be careful, Google can generate a description for your webpage that is different from the description you created!. To optimize your meta-description, follow these best practices:

Keep the meta descriptions around 160-165 characters max

Identify what your competition's kryptonite is

Be specific, inspire confidence

Refresh your meta description

Finally, don't forget that you can format the text (bold, heading tag..). You need to think about the UX.

It is also important to optimize the image file names to improve your SEO. (Image Alt text or HTML tag).

Image file size (it adds weight to a page). So it needs to be less than 200KB. However, you can compress the image thanks to a free website.

The image file name needs to follow the same rules as the URL (hyphen, low case). Here is an example if you want to add a picture of Laday Gaga winning the Grammy Awards in 2019: lady-gaga-grammys-2019.jpg Don't write more than 4 words.

Alt text supports good SEO

For the format:

Use lists instead of paragraphs

Limit list items to 7 words (people can't remember more words!)

Write short sentences

Finally, let's speak about user experience. This means designing a website in such a way that the user experience is the best possible.

Thus, the website user must be able to find his way while browsing your website without being frustrated. Here are the best practices to optimize your customer experience:

Have an ergonomic website with a beautiful design

Make sure that your site gives the user reassurance about its credibility

Have an intuitive website with a fluid navigation

Have a website that is easy to use

Your website must be adaptable to all media (phones, tablets, computers)

Now, you know, even more, things about SEO. It is your time to play and define or improve your SEO strategy! Let's GO!

See you next week for another Digital Thursday !! 🕺🏽

[dekho2016]

No. 1 SEO Sites List

In this year gain more traffic and visitor on your new business by visit No 1 SEO Sites List. It's best Off-page SEO sites list place, kindly visit on the site and increases your business website visibility by creating social backlinks.

[hansoulchews]

Enchanted (6/11 of Exile) |Vernon Chwe x Reader

Pairing: Vernon Chwe x gn! reader / past Park Seo Joon x gn! reader

Genre: fluff, angst, strangers to lovers

Sypnosis: Famous singer-songwriter, y/n, quietly released an album 2 years after ghosting the music scene suddenly. After their infamous scandal in which y/n was videoed to be in an altercation with established actor, Park Seo Joon at a restaurant, y/n ceased all their music activities and went into hiding, refusing to comment further on the issue. Lucky for all you conspiracy theorists! It seems as though all the questions left unanswered in 2019 are finally addressed (or so we think!) in this unexpected album drop.

A/N: Ahhhh we finally got to Vernon 😭😭 It feels like forever but here we are!!! I hope you’ll enjoy this as much as I did writing it hehe

Series Masterlist | Next

Enchanted is a song that describes the infatuation after meeting someone for the first time, wondering if the feeling is reciprocated. This song parallels White Horse, in which the fairytale imagery is very prominent, only contrasting between infatuation and heartache. This song acts as a turning point in the heartbreak anthems we have been listening to. We are curious to know if this song is about a new person in y/n’s life. Due to the bridge trending on TikTok on the first day of the release, the song has peaked the Melon Charts, ranking #2, just below ‘All Too Well’ (10 minutes version). Funnily, y/n has said that the bridge of this song was their favourite as it represented the authenticity of their stream of consciousness when penning down the sound. Click here for the premiere of y/n’s live commentary of the album during the listening party.

October 2019

You smoothed out the creases in your outfit, ensuring that everything was in place before you head out for the party. Yes, party.

Joshua had organized a get-together with the members as well as some of the idol groups for a Halloween party. Initially, you vehemently rejected his invitation, unsure if you’re ready to show your face to your colleagues and peers of the same industry. Joshua then assured you that you don’t have to come if you don’t want to but that if you wanted to go, it was a safe space and that everyone who is attending has to sign an NDA.

After deliberating (and honestly, the FOMO feeling as you see Minghao and Hoshi buying their costumes and props), you changed your mind and decided to go to the party. When Joshua heard that, he immediately pulled out his phone and coincidentally had a costume online site tab opened. That was how you spent the rest of your Sunday, 3 weeks before the party.

Seungkwan was the co-organizer of the party. And as the residential Virgo moon party planner, of course he had a list for everything. Especially a guest list. To help you mentally prepare yourself for the party, Seungkwan, who you never had the chance to meet before, emailed you the guest list. You were relieved to see that all the guests invited were musicians and not actors.

Seungkwan and Joshua went big with this party, renting out a ballroom at a fancy hotel with a private entrance to ensure privacy of the idols attending. The ballroom was not so big, allowing more casual and intimate exchanges and conversations. The DJ played instrumentals of familiar tracks, sometimes even of the idols who are present.

You were extremely nervous.

You just hoped that the topic of Seo Joon wouldn't arise at this party.

The plan to make you feel comfortable at this party was to have one of the guys to hang back with you. Woozi volunteered himself, of course, not really foreseeing himself socializing and moving around a lot at the party.

You decided to come as Ramona Flowers. You were lowkey scared the wig was gonna slide off at any given time because it was one of those party wigs that you just have to put on and use the small combs in the inner side for security. Woozi got you a classic drink he knew you would like, cranberry vodka, while he chose wheat beer, not wanting to get tipsy as he was still heading back to the studio later in the night to work on an incomplete song.

However, Woozi’s plan to sit and chill with you changed when Yoongi approached him and whisked him away, interested in his current projects and just wanting to catch up with him. You sighed, not really blaming Woozi. It was not his obligation to babysit a whole grown ass adult at a fun party.

You took the chance to look around. There were idols you recognized but were not really familiar with as you were a soloist and your schedule is less packed than theirs, not really giving you the opportunity to socialize with them. You felt a few tentative looks too. It was expected. An artist that had an unclarified scandal and who completely ghosted the industry is in their presence. You decided to take that as a chance to step out of the ballroom to take a breath of fresh air near the foyer. You sat down at the garden bench nearby.

“Have you seen this girl?” You turned around. It was Vernon dressed as Victor from Corpse Bride, holding a piece of tissue paper with the messy sketch that Scott Pilgrim did of Ramona in the house party scene. You let out an unexpected giggle.

“I didn’t think anyone would even make a reference about me to me.”

“Eh, gotta give you credit for nailing the look down to the T.” He shrugged.

You touched your chest, feigning flattery. Vernon let out a small chuckle.

You could hear the slight hum and vibration from the liveliness of the party. Other than that, you shared silence with Vernon.

“You alright? I saw Woozi Hyung going with Yoongi to his studio.”

Vernon and you had a weird… friendship? You weren’t really friends but because you have been hanging out even more (and now as late as you can) at Woozi’s studio where Vernon has been dropping by to submit lyrics or to just chill at, you have become quite familiar with him. There were never opportunities for the both of you to spend time alone together. Now, it feels a bit awkward but anticipatory.

“I’m okay. Just… There's too much going on in there and I don’t know if I can fit in.” You said softly, a bit shy that you were pouring out your honest thoughts towards this guy you barely knew.

“I understand. It can be too much.” Vernon mumbled. He kept quiet afterwards. Awkward silence seems to be a common thing between you and Vernon. It made you feel a bit uneasy but it definitely piqued your interest, to know what kind of person he is, what he is really thinking about (and at times, what he thinks of you…).

“But I admire you… it takes a lot of courage to show up when there are people who have concluded their perceptions of you as fact.” There was a faint blush creeping up his ears but it was so dark outside that you couldn’t catch it.

You bit down a shy smile. “Thank you…” You trailed off, debating whether you should say the next thing you were thinking about. But the silence continued to drone on, making you slightly antsy. Fuck it.

“What about you? Have you concluded your perception of me?”

Vernon looked at you with a contemplative look in his eyes. His intense stare (and his handsome face) made you look away from him, unable to stand his strong gaze.

He hummed for a bit. “I don’t know you enough to conclude any perceptions.”

You nod your head, understanding his answer.

Vernon’s mind was churning. He didn’t know if he should say this but it has been at the back of his head for a while now.

“But, I do want to know you more… you know… to make my conclusion.” He scratched the back of his head and it made you laugh a bit. You felt better that he was feeling and acting as awkward as you.

“We have plenty of opportunities…” You said with a small voice, not sure if he was serious about knowing you more.

“Yeah, I see you a lot nowadays. Maybe we can hang out at Woozi Hyung’s studio more comfortably now.” He bit down on his lips, feeling a bit nervous. He could feel that this moment would alter and shift where he stands with you, from somewhat strangers/acquaintances to possible friends. As he witnesses your friendships with his other members bloom, he feels curious to know if you will grow to be as comfortable with him.

Vernon had always admired you as an artist. Your writing style and how the storytelling flow is formatted in your songs inspires him in his own lyric writing process. Of course, he is too shy to tell you this.

Joshua knows of his little celebrity crush on you and was the one who urged Vernon to approach you to check up on you when he saw you exiting the ballroom. Vernon completely got your costume when you stepped in the party and was thinking of… smooth ways to approach you. He quickly took one of the napkins and asked one of the managers for a pen, knowing that he always has one on him all the time. He knew Scott Pilgrim vs The World by heart, including all references, so he decided to quickly scribble the drawing Scott did of Ramona as he went around to ask if anyone knew her.

“Yeah, I would love to hang out with you. Either at Woozi’s studio or…” Liquid courage really helped you to be this brave to propose an outing (not a date, not a date) with a man as attractive as Vernon.

“Or?” Vernon raised his eyebrow.

“Or.” You laughed as you said that, slowly stepping back, ready to join back the party. Vernon pursed his lips and nodded, trying to appear cool.

“Let’s head back inside. It’s getting cold.” Vernon changed the subject, allowing the promise of possibilities to hang between you both in a lighthearted way.

Once you reentered the party, Vernon led you to the rest of the members who have now settled themselves at one section of the ballroom, snacks and alcohol completely covering the low table.

You spent the rest of the night in a comfortable and enjoyable exchange with the rest of the members.  Oftentimes, you catch Vernon looking at you, making you a bit flustered and shy. When he catches your gaze, he’d give a warm smile and there was a nice feeling blooming in your chest.

[thevirgodoll]

Do you know of anyone who is great at resume writing? I’m 25 and stuck in a rut getting an actual “big girl” job. I’m still working part time and cannot get any other full time job atm.

Well, I’m actually great at writing.

You are going to be great at resume writing.

Layout

•Most sites have templates these days but I will give you a guide anyway.

•Your personal information should be at the top — name, address, phone number, email, LinkedIn (if you have that)

•Your name should be in very large letters/bolded.

•The body should be in 12 pt font.

Fonts: Times New Roman, Calibri, Garamond

•One page only. The employer is only taking so many seconds to read your resume so do not make it longer (unless you have too much stuff to fit on one page which is rare)

•Use bullet points

•Resume should pretty much be without photos unless your profession calls for otherwise

•PDF format

Education and Activities

•List your educational background. Since you have little professional experience, this will take up majority of your resume.

-> Degree you have, University attended, year graduated

•Scholarships received, honors received

•Be sure to include where you went to school, city and state. Don’t include any school addresses.

•List honors and awards, only include a brief explanation if said award is unclear.

•List activities you’ve been involved in with the year(s).

•Titles received in extracurricular activities/leadership roles

•Impressive achievements outside of school

•Volunteer work you have accomplished, your role in the foundation and how much time allocated

Experience

•Any experience must go in chronological order. Recent then work backwards, with the employer name, city, state, and title on each job. (no actual addresses...)

•Part time jobs are appropriate to list, so please list them

•Current jobs must be listed in present tense, while past are always in past tense...

•Use the same dates throughout. If you’re going to use “June 2020” and “July 2020” then use that format. Or “7/2020”. Whatever you do, don’t mix them together.

•No long winded sentences. Always keep it short with action words “managed finances in Spring 2020”/“designed graphics for XYZ in Fall 2019”

-> It has to describe your skills and what you can do.

Skills

Don’t sell yourself short on your soft and hard skills... but don’t lie either. Don’t say you can code if you can’t, don’t say you speak Spanish if you can’t speak it fluently.

•List the programs you are proficient at.

•Whatever skills that are relevant to the job — list it.

Hard Skills (Measurable abilities).

Examples: Foreign language proficiency, coding/computer programming, certificates, SEO marketing, Data management, Powerpoint, Excel, Online networking, Nursing, Law, Writing to name a few

Soft Skills (Personal skills).

Examples: leadership, effective communication, creativity

Examples of action words being used in a resume

•Organized and coordinated major projects for XYZ organization (date 2020)

•Developed and executed marketing strategies for sorority organization Fall 2019

•Collaborated and communicated with Student Government Association through secretary role in (insert date)

Resources for words to use in a resume:

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, November 10, 2021

Welcome to my latest summary of the top news, studies and helpful resources for ecommerce, social media, SEO and content marketing (with a special focus on Etsy), compiled since my last update in October (although a few articles are older than that).

This will be my last lengthy post of 2021, given that holiday shopping has started earlier this year, and my jewellery business needs me. I still intend to post a shorter summary of really important news here on Tumblr, and will also continue to post articles from elsewhere on Twitter. Expect the news to pick back up in January.

This will also be the last update in this format. Thanks to reader feedback, I will be developing a template that separates out all social media information (including search algorithms, advertising and social ecommerce) so that those who want to avoid social media can skip one entire section, while users can find all of their Facebook, Twitter etc. news under one heading for that site. I will also be slightly reformulating the remaining sections.

If you have further suggestions, please let me know! Post here on Tumblr, email me through my website, or connect on Twitter.

Hoping that everyone has a successful and happy holiday season!

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES

Following up on the increase in Etsy Payment reserves being placed on established sellers, I discovered that while most cases seem to involve intellectual property infringement, some sellers have done nothing wrong, and some have been waiting 6 weeks to hear back about automated deactivations of items that are fine to list on Etsy.

Japan Post suspended service to the US and Australia, except for some lettermail and surface methods. Canada Post temporarily suspended air service to Australia & New Zealand; only "surface" service and expensive priority were available for a few weeks, the first of which can take 3+ months. Orders shipped surface this month may not arrive until next year. Australia Post is really slammed right now. USPS is also not shipping to either country right now, but there are alternatives through various couriers. Right now, it is best to keep checking the various carriers to make sure they are still providing services.

PayPal’s Seller Protection will now be limited to orders that ship with tracking that can be accessed online; no more receipts from the postal service, stamped Customs forms, or electronic proof of shipping. It is unclear how many countries this affects, but Canada and the US are included.

ETSY NEWS

Etsy has a sales hub page to promote to buyers in the month of November, and they want sellers to put things on sale and offer free shipping to “seal the deal”. There are technically 2 separate sales running, the first from Nov. 1-20, while the second goes to Dec. 1.

Remember back in 2019 when Etsy introduced priority placement in US searches for items with free shipping,and told non-US sellers that they would have more tools for adjusting domestic prices soon? Well, they finally released one. You can now price your items differently within your own country than for other countries, which will also help sellers who need to charge domestic taxes in their item prices because Etsy doesn’t provide them with those tools either. The catch is that you can only have one non-domestic price, so it still doesn’t really help much if you ship to more than 2 countries and only offer free shipping to some, just like the shipping upgrade tool they have never improved over the years. (Embarrassingly, Etsy’s second quarter press release on August 4th mentioned this as if it was already in place in the second quarter, yet it wasn’t announced until the fourth quarter.)

Speaking of quarterly reports, the third quarter was pretty good, although Etsy is still hedging bets on how the holiday season will go.

Etsy Labels for the US printed for the wrong day on several occasions, mostly on the weekends. While they did apparently work correctly on October 30 & 31, since Etsy hasn’t explained what happened, we can’t be sure it won’t happen again. (The only way to avoid this completely is to not use Etsy Labels.)

Etsy has been pushing hard to show buyers (mostly US buyers) an estimated delivery date; here is how they calculate it. Note that if you select a carrier and mail class, they will calculate everything for you, because they claim they are “...able to adjust transit times for top carriers for sellers when we detect carrier delays.” As Etsy continues to develop their tracking technology, we should expect it to become compulsory to enter more information in the future. As for now, Etsy will again this year email your customers when Etsy thinks the order will be delayed.

Etsy is telling some buyers and sellers that sellers need to reply to buyer messages within 48 hours or the buyer can open a case. The good part is that these buyers do have to contact you instead of going straight to a case, but 48 hours will not be enough time for shops who take weekends off, and there is conflicting language involved. Buyers are told that the seller has “48 hours to resolve” the issue, while sellers are told they just need to “respond” within 48 hours.

You no longer need to have at least one message in the 3-month span to qualify for the Star Seller Program.

The availability to edit image alt text is now live for all sellers, but in English only.

Josh Silverman got decent media attention for his blog post telling people to “shop small” so they can avoid supply chain issues. “The average Etsy seller works from home without complex overseas production lines and fulfillment requirements, and their supply chain looks a lot more like locally-sourced raw materials and two hands.” The problem here is that many of us do have supply chain issues right now, as all that making by hand usually can’t be fuelled entirely by local purchases, especially if the business owner wants non-retail rates. Business Insider published an article [soft paywall; you may be able to read it by logging in through Google et al] quoting several sellers who had supply issues. [Disclosure: I am one of the sellers who was interviewed.] Here is a snippet:

Silverman also mentioned that “nearly every item from a U.S. seller will include an estimated delivery date this holiday season”, predisposing US buyers to shop only with US shops if they care about such things, even though many items from other countries will have the same details. Small businesses are also just as likely to face shipping hikes and slowdowns, as well as supply chain problems.

Also in the media, Vox did a primer on drop shipping, including calling out Etsy & Depop for making big bucks off of the practice. “Ultimately, Etsy turned a blind eye to lower-quality merchants, wholesale resellers, and drop shippers. It was a financial trade-off, and the company grew more profitable as it blindly welcomed more sellers. Etsy had its biggest sales year to date in 2020, earning $1.7 billion in revenue.”

I often complain about how out-of-date and inaccurate some of Etsy’s Help pages and blog posts are, especially on topics such as search. Someone compiled a great list of contradicting examples on Reddit.

Etsy is tacitly acknowledging the recent delays in contacting Etsy Support by publishing an article on how to get help, including Etsy Support.

Etsy had a class-action lawsuit against it dismissed in Pennsylvania, over charging tax on face mask sales.

According to Forbes, Etsy is using AI to help its sellers. Many of you will be interested in this quote: “We need to do what our sellers need, not want,” Silverman says. “To serve the sellers, you need to obsess over the buyer experience.”

If you run a Team on Etsy, you may have noticed that membership dropped hugely last month. That’s because Etsy removed all accounts that hadn’t logged in to Teams or the main forum since January 2019. And if you use the Etsy forum, you may have noticed that we now all have “badges” and “ranks”.

Depop’s CTO says that the platform is receiving “advice and knowledge” from Etsy since the purchase. “We are reviewing the way we operate, around marketing and around product. From a marketing point of view, we are looking at values: we share the values of sustainability, diversity and inclusion – Josh [Silverman, Etsy CEO] is absolutely unmovable on these things.”

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES

You may have noticed the Google search results now have “indented results”, with multiple links from one site displayed in many cases.

Google likes shorter URLs but says they aren’t a ranking factor [video]

Someone read and summarized the 172-page Google Quality Rater Guidelines for us, which give us insight into what Google wants from websites.

SEO terms can be confusing if you are still learning, so here is a great glossary with both general and technical definitions. And once you are finished with that, here is a superb list of resources to learn more about SEO for free, including SEO for certain website builders.

Google rolled out an anti-spam algorithm update in early November. Reports on the Core Web Vitals update indicate it wasn’t that big a deal, at least not for SEO. Despite that, other less-announced changes seem to have created more volatility in Google search results this year compared to 2020.

My periodic reminder that Google isn’t the only search engine out there - this edition involves Search Engine Land’s Guide to Bing SEO. “Bing accounts for 26.5% of all desktop searches in the U.S., according to Comscore (April 2021). With the recent prevalence of working from home, people are spending more time on their desktop computers, which might also mean that more people are now using Bing.”

CONTENT) MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails)

Instagram’s ecommerce boom has led to a rise in people reselling stuff from AliExpress et al as their own goods - with huge markups.

All Instagram users can now add links to their Stories, as of late last month.

Facebook Groups are getting a bunch of new tools, including personalization, community awards and chats.

PayPal was interested in buying Pinterest, but decided against it.

Twitter had a strong third quarter and says that Apple’s recent tracking changes didn’t affect Twitter much.

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

For a lot of companies, performance advertising doesn’t really pay off as much as the numbers might lead you to believe, retargeting ads in particular. Rand Fishkin covers the arguments against relying on it. And if you don’t know what performance advertising is, here are the basics. “Performance based advertising is a strategy designed to achieve specific and measurable financial results within a short amount of time.”

Did Facebook and Google commit collusion to manipulate ad prices? That’s what an antitrust lawsuit accuses them of.

Here’s a quick summary of some of the Google Ad changes last month. Also, the Google Merchant Center has reduced the number of feeds you need to advertise in different countries - only one feed is required now.

“Apple’s advertising business has more than tripled its market share in the six months after it introduced privacy changes to iPhones that obstructed rivals, including Facebook, from targeting ads at consumers.” [soft paywall; Financial Times] “By contrast, Apple offers detailed information to anyone signing up to its ads service.”

Many ecommerce platforms have followed Amazon and have greatly increased their onsite ads, [soft paywall; Modern Retail]

If you are interested in advertising on Twitter, here’s most of what you need to know. TikTok more your thing? Then you want this guide.

The Microsoft Channel app for Shopify gets you free Bing Shopping ads, only in the US and Canada for now.

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING

We are all going to have to learn Google Analytics 4 eventually, so here’s more on what’s different, and why.

Instagram updated its Insights Analytics to include more about the people who click on your posts.

If your page often shows up on the second page of Google results, your Google Search Console impressions may have gone up when they changed mobile search to infinite scroll.

Speaking of the Console, it is now showing your long-term keyword trends.

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS

Amazon has been caught (again) using its data on third-party sellers in the marketplace to come up with its own house brand items, this time in India. [in depth article from Reuters]

Amazon is also going to be sharing some of its product data with its third-party sellers, including items people are searching for that Amazon currently doesn’t have many or any of.

Amazon’s third quarter results missed estimates on revenue and sales, although ad sales were way up again. They also warn that costs will be up in the fourth quarter due to supply chain issues, and wage increases.

eBay had a lot of issues with its recent category updates. They also have stagnating sales and buyer numbers based on their third quarter financial report. “Gross merchandise volume, the total dollar value of sales on eBay from which the company takes a percentage, fell 10%.But a strong showing by its payment services and the expansion of its advertising portfolio drove a 11% jump in revenue, [above] expectations.” You can read a seller’s coverage of the report here.

BigCommerce is offering their platform in more countries over the next several months. [soft paywall; Modern Retail] “After launching in France, Italy and the Netherlands this summer, the Austin-based company is taking its service to Germany, Spain and Mexico in January 2022. It plans to swiftly follow up with more territories next July in its bid to become profitable next year.”

Facebook is so large and has so much information on its users that it could “dominate ecommerce” if it continues to improve its current ecommerce programs.

Pinterest has again offered new marketing and advertising tools to its business users, including slideshows and a more detailed profile for merchants. “...shoppers on Pinterest have 85% bigger baskets than shoppers on other platforms and spend twice as much per month.” In addition, the Verified Merchant Program is being introduced in Austria, Brazil, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland.

Big brands can now sell on Poshmark. “The secondhand sector is getting too large for brands and retailers to ignore. According to ThredUp's latest survey, used apparel sales are projected to reach $77 billion in five years.”

Michaels is planning to start a new marketplace for handmade crafts, as well as one for third party suppliers. “A spokesperson for Michaels told PYMNTS in an email that plans for the creator marketplace “is in development but not ready to discuss broadly yet.” The third-party marketplace for components and craft materials is “coming soon,” but no specific date was provided.”

The latest in buy now pay later news saw website builder Wix adding Klarna to its payment options, as is Stripe (for the US and Canada only at the moment).

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

While a third of people in the US are worried that shipping issues will delay their online holiday orders, more are buying more online than are moving back to brick and mortar stores. The predictions for holiday ecommerce sales vary, as do those for retail overall. Sadly, over one quarter of US shoppers haven’t paid off their credit card bills from the 2020 holidays (if they used credit cards for those purchases).

It’s much easier to keep an old customer than to find a new one, especially now that cookies and tracking are becoming less popular. Data will still prove key to customer retention. “Customers will share information so long as they get something in return,” Lynne Capozzzi, chief marketing officer at digital experience platform Acquia. That means providing value.”

MISCELLANEOUS

Part of an ongoing series on product photography, here are articles on basic photo composition and then advanced photo composition.

Want to start learning how to code? Here are 11 free ways to pick up coding skills.

[vgeasy]

Top digital marketing trend for 2021

Digital Marketing is a dynamic and steadily evolving industry. New innovations and approaches are imagined on a successive premise. The present innovation could turn old inside a range of 24 hours. Hence, it gets basic for advertisers to keep themselves refreshed with the most recent happenings in digital marketing. Here is a list of some of the top trends in digital marketing.

Chatbots: It is an application used to lead an online visit discussion through text or text-to-discourse as a trade for a human specialist. This innovation is relied upon to be a crucial segment of digital marketing techniques in 2021. It goes about as an essential device for client care and can be a savvy arrangement since it gives an option in contrast to a live individual.

Survey's forecasts that

1. Chatbots will power 82 to 85% of customer service by 2021

2. Top benefits of chatbots are 24 hours service and answers to simple questions.

3. 61% of customers our visitors prefer messaging on online chatbot to communicate with a business or brand

4. By 2022 to 2023 chatbots will help business save over 8 billion dollars per annum (forecast)

5. 80 to 85% of business want chatbots in 2021

Voice-Search Ready

As we know, the voice search is already here. The right question is, is your business ready? Is your digital marketing strategy ready?

If talking is the new typing, then the new SEO is VSO or voice search optimization. Make sure your website is fully optimized so that you can boost your brand’s visibility.

Video Marketing: Video Marketing is one of, if not the, most important marketing trends today and likely for the next 5-10 years.

·       70% of consumers say that they have shared a brand’s video.

·       72% of businesses say that video has improved their conversion rate.

·       Nearly half of consumers say that watching product videos makes them more confident in online purchase decisions.

·       65% of executives visit the marketer’s website and 39% call a vendor after viewing a video.

·       Video is the most popular & best way customers want to learn about new products.

Visual Search: The move towards visual search is not going unnoticed, as the statistics below demonstrate:

·       Images are returned for 19% of search queries on Google.

·       More than half a billion visual searches on Pinterest monthly.

·       Image ads in Pinterest have an 8.5% conversion rate, and Pinterest is projected to clear $1 billion a year in ad revenue by 2020.

·       The image recognition market is expected to grow to $25.65 billion by 2019.

·       By this year, all brands which redesign their websites to support visual and voice search will increase digital commerce revenue by 30%.

Online Reviews

Online reviews can represent the moment of truth in your business's capacity to draw in new clients or customers. While any company can talk up their items or administrations, different purchasers can give genuine, unprejudiced reviews. Having many reviews from checked sources can make your business stand out from the opposition and begin building trust before they even snap on your site.

The most helpful survey for a business to get is through Google Business. These are the most confided in sources, they're the most noticeable, and your Google Business listing allows individuals to call or visit the site. Facebook is another incredible wellspring of online reviews, and you can utilize them to assemble a tributes page on your site, while Yelp is reasonable for restaurants, lodgings, and sporting businesses.

Live-streams and an increase in influencer marketing content

Influencer marketing is an amazing system that permits you to expand your online reach, increase brand mindfulness, and construct a solid standing for your company by allowing outside sources to advocate for your brand. Late investigations have discovered that influencer marketing has been a fruitful technique for a surprising 94% of advertisers from different industries overviewed.

Stay at home requests meant occasions were canceled, and buyers couldn't go to face-to-face occasions. They weren't even ready to associate with their loved ones. This prompted an uptick in the number of individuals turning into live-streams, regardless of whether it was a branded live-transfer, a live video from their #1 VIP, or an online workshop.

On Facebook, live viewings spiked by half during lockdown periods, while viewings on Instagram flooded 70%. TikTok goes through the shot in 2020, and there's a decent chance we'll see this upward direction continue to work out in 2021.

Browser Push Notifications: These are notifications shipped off a client through the work area or versatile web. The point to be noted is that these are delivered regardless of if the client is on the site.

Social Commerce: A combination of E-commerce and Social Media has made the innovative idea 'Social Commerce.' Social media site Instagram is turning more visual with pictures and videos. Another component lets its clients buy items straightforwardly within Instagram.

Augmentative Reality (AR): Augmented reality is an emerging trend within marketing and sales allows brands to give their customers unique experiences on mobile devices.

·       Potential consumers have always wanted to try products before purchasing them. Fitting rooms, sample for taste, automobile test drives, and many others.

·       Snapchat filters are the most common uses of AR technology.

·       Google Lens and Google Translate are some commonly used examples of AR.

Interactive Content

Contents that are interactive like tests, inquiries, reviews, challenges, giveaways, surveys, gadgets, and so on, can do good for your image. Interactive content can enhance the client's delight.

They increment the time clients draw in with you, which helps your remaining in calculation-based quests and feeds. However, more significantly, individuals need to be locked in, so intelligent substance quite often improves your client experience.

Local SEO

People around the globe are opting for a more sustainable way of living, hence they are going local. So, it is becoming important for every business to grow its local customer. One of the ways of doing this is optimizing the website for local searches. Local SEO is even more powerful than broad SEO as people searching for a specific type of business within their geographic location have more intent to purchase. So, more and more businesses are optimizing their website for the local population.

Customer Segmentation

This year targeting the refined niche segment is going to be in trend. Focusing on a large number of small marketing campaigns targeting specific audiences will be more prominent in the years to come. Targeting small segments helps in knowing the requirements and needs of the customers. this not only brings refined traffic to the website but also improves the conversion rate and ROI.

[smabrothers]

11 Reasons Why You Should Update Your Site this Year

DO YOU LOVE YOUR WEBSITE?

If the answer is no or not really, you shouldn’t even continue reading this article. Just go visit our shop, choose a design that you like and start building a website that you’ll be proud to share online, and invite prospects to browse through. A site that will effectively promote your work and help you book more clients. Otherwise, what’s the point in keeping this powerful marketing tool, investing time and effort into it, if it doesn’t help your business grow and flourish?

It’s not enough to JUST have a website. It needs to look good, it needs to present information in a clear, accessible way. It needs to create a strong first impression and make your prospects feel like they’ve found THE ONE. Otherwise, you’re competing for the attention of the same audience alongside another few hundred businesses. And let’s agree, that’s an exhausting game.

If you’re not sure whether your current website does a good job, here are 11 aspects you can look into to decide whether it’s time for a revamp (listed in no particular order). Know that our Biggest Sale of the year is coming soon. If you want to grab a higher discount code this Black Friday, join our Facebook Community group. That’s where all the secret deals will be shared! 

1. It’s Not Memorable and Doesn’t Stand Out

What was cool 3 years ago, may not be this year. Maybe you were one of the early adopters of a new design style or aesthetic, but that was 2-4 years ago. Look around, everyone has similar website designs, especially if they use them ready out of the box. That’s why we created Flexthemes and Flexblock – to empower you with more design freedom. Create your blocks and page layouts. Make your website look and feel like YOU. It’s all simple and intuitive. No code skills are required. 

 And, you can personalize your mobile site version too, if you want.  

2. It Doesn’t Reflect Your Brand

This one should be straightforward. Your website promotes your business online 24/7. If you’ve rebranded recently, if your photography style changed and evolved, if you’re offering new products and services to your customers – your website should reflect and advocate that change. Otherwise, you’re attracting the wrong type of clients, those who are after your old type of work. This brings us to reason #3.

3. You’re Not Attracting the Right Clients

We explain this in more depth in How Design Affects Your Business Growth article, but the point is – if you are not getting inquiries from the type of clients you want to work with, you are not positioning yourself correctly on the market. One golden rule is to carefully curate your work. Check the content and galleries you show on your website, remove the type of work you don’t want to do in the future (i.e. family, portrait, editorial, etc). Carefully select your BEST, fresh images (the type of projects you want to do more of) and include them on your homepage. This will immediately filter out some of the inquiries which are not a good fit for you. Make sure all your content is consistent, including colors, fonts, icons. An example of consistency in a website would be this.

4. Outdated Theme & Technologies

This one affects your visitors’ experience on your website. “Old school is cool” does not apply when it comes to functionality. The digital world is constantly changing and evolving. Web standards shift each year, dictating new tools and technologies for building a good website. Your clients’ preferences and tastes shift even faster. What was trendy yesterday, may not be next week. Hence, if you want your business to succeed, you need to be agile with your visual presentation and website design.

 If you’ve built your website over 3 years ago, most likely it’s far behind in terms of looks and functionality. It probably has outdated code that can slow down its loading speed or the way it responds on different devices. It may also not be compatible with some of the latest popular browsers. Take our example, 3,5 years ago we launched our first Classic themes with the drag and drop page builder, a year and a half ago we released FlexBlock, and in November 2019 the world greeted the first Flexthemes. 

 The difference between our old, classic themes and the Flexthemes is huge (we explain it here). Building a custom-looking website with our new themes is a whole lot easier. You don’t need to know code, you don’t need to add CSS snippets or hire a technical team. The new visual editor is so simple, your grandma could probably do it (yet please don’t make her do your tasks). 

The bottom line here, if it’s been a while since you’ve built your site, start looking for website design inspiration and a more modern template to use as a base.

5. Mobile Friendly

I sure hope this is not the case, but if you still don’t have a mobile-friendly website – get a new theme NOW! Even if you do have a responsive or adaptive design, you still need to keep up with the latest trends. Newer themes include modern CSS code which allows your site to adapt nicely to any device. They also allow you to hide certain page blocks for mobile and ensure a faster and smoother user experience. Also, you must know that Google cares about the experience you offer to your mobile guests, since over 50% of website traffic comes from portable devices. 

Offering more control to our clients over the design and functionality of their mobile websites has always been an important goal on our list. With Flexthemes, the steering wheel is in your hands. You have access to the mobile view of your website sections, can easily make adjustments, hide or show certain areas of your site to ensure a truly wonderful and unique browsing experience for your mobile guests. 

If you’re not sure how many of your prospects access your website via their phone, if you’re wondering whether it makes sense for you to customize your mobile site – check your site’s stats. You can do that via your Google Analytics account if you have one connected to your website. 

Mobile is important and it won’t go away in the next years. Don’t leave money on the table with a poorly performing mobile site, it’s one of those crucial business aspects that you can’t ignore anymore.

6. Your Website Loads Slow

Aim for a loading time under 4 seconds. If you’re not sure how quickly your site loads, use tools like Pingdom or GTmetrix to check how long it takes for your site to load, and which files are the troublemakers. Poor results could mean you have some work to do. Slow loading speed could be caused by several reasons: heavy, unoptimized images, underpowered hosting and, even an old, poorly performing theme.

The first one can be easily solved by following this Ultimate Guide to Saving Your Images for the Web. For the second one, check out this article describing 5 key criteria to choosing a good hosting provider. Yet, if the issue is caused by an old, outdated website template, you can start shopping for a new one.

 View Flothemes website templates here.

7. Your Bounce Rate is High

This is extremely important. If you’ve been pouring your heart and time into blogging, SEO and marketing, bringing a lot of traffic to your website – yet the second they access your homepage (or any other page), they bounce right off of it – you have a problem. You’re losing leads and potential clients.

A high bounce rate indicates that you’re doing something wrong, either with content, with the navigation of your website, or the overall look and feel on your site. On average, a bounce rate between 40-60% is considered to be OK (this varies depending on your industry).

You can check your bounce rate via Google Analytics. Log in and go to Acquisition >> Overview tab. If it’s higher than 70%, follow these 9 Steps to reducing your Bounce Rate. If it doesn’t help, it’s time for a website redesign, and we do suggest seeking some expert advice in UX and UI.

In case you want to dive deeper into Measuring Performance and Tracking Success for your site, download our SEO guide here.

8. Security

To be honest, new or old, any website can be hacked. The experience is stressful and painful, especially when you lose information, or/and have to rebuild everything from scratch. However, older websites rely on older technology, therefore chances of a security breach are higher. Make sure your theme is updated and follow these 12 steps to make your site more secure.

9. SEO

Let’s start with the basics. Do you have a blog? You should, as it’s a powerful marketing tool to drive more traffic and users to your website, through keywords, internal links and, backlinks.

You also need to know that search engines love good, updated content. Every time you make an update to your site, Google and other search engines crawl and index your pages, thus your site ranking gets recalculated. If you keep your content updated and of GOOD QUALITY, you increase your chances of getting noticed on Search Result pages. Pair that with a charming, good-looking website, and you’re guaranteed more attention.

If SEO is something that you’ve been planning to dive deeper into, check out our SEO guide for photographers. Also, take a look at this incredible post by Dylan M Howell on Content Strategy and How to Blog like and Expert. 

10. Do I need Call to Action?

Of course, you do. And it’s not just a button or link added here and there. It has to be placed strategically, to keep your users engaged with your website and browsing through more content. We explain How Call to Actions work in Design in this article, but the idea is to guide your site visitors through your content to your Best Work, then to your contact form or sales page. If your current website is limited in CTAs (Call to Actions) and doesn’t allow much customization – it’s time to get something more flexible and powerful. With Flexthemes for example, you can easily create new page layouts to support your sales campaigns and convert more users into prospects. They allow you to fully customize any layout, add buttons, images, videos, texts, and other design elements. 

Never leave your site visitors wondering what they should do next. If it’s not subtle and intuitive, they’ll leave and never return. And that’s sadly a lost business opportunity.

11. All those Cool Apps & Integrations

An old outdated website template may not keep up with all the new apps, plugins, and integrations available out there. So, if you want to integrate your favorite Studio Management System, Photo Editing app or, any other useful tools that simplify your workflow – be prepared to update your website on a regular 1-2 year basis, and use the most modern, up to date templates for that. 

[ridhijoshi1322]

4.Practical techniques to improve the local seo of your commercial enterprise

The character of seo is dynamic. To stay relevant on this competitive marketplace, you need to live on the pinnacle of your seo sport. A strong seo approach helps a enterprise pressure traffic, generate more income, advantage certified leads, and comfortable top ratings in seek engine effects. In particular for neighborhood business, you need a sturdy and dependable seo method in area. It will assist them to gain high-purpose qualified leads and improves concentrated on. Additionally, it could help best digital marketing agency chennai stay relevant among the competition and compete with big manufacturers. Certainly, you need effective and actionable procedures for local seo to comfortable pinnacle seek engine scores. Do you own a local business? Are you suffering to at ease a top ranking in search engine outcomes? In that case, then right here are 4 actionable and sensible strategies to enhance the nearby ranking of your internet site

Read Also: What is Guest Blogging for SEO and what you need to know?

1. Optimize your google my commercial enterprise web page

optimizing your google my enterprise (GMB) page is one of the maximum vital and practical processes to enhance your neighborhood search engine optimization approach. Whilst you leverage your GMB page, it's going to help you put your nearby enterprise on google maps. So, it’s important that you list your local enterprise on GMB. This will help your target market locate your enterprise quickly and without difficulty. It can also result in an development inside the search ratings of your neighborhood enterprise. Right here’s a listing of easy but effective tips and tricks to optimize your GMB web page. Usually add the region, hours of operation, touch information, relevant images, and brand of your local enterprise. You may additionally add the charge methods you take delivery of and the form of services or products you offer. Never leave any statistics incomplete. Continually make sure that you offer whole, dependable, and updated facts about your enterprise. In case you exchange your commercial enterprise logo or upload a new charge kind, make certain to replace it in GMB listing straight away. People believe human beings. So, you need to motivate your customers to offer you proper on line scores and remarks. Additionally, you want to make sure that you react to the remarks and rankings quick.

 2. Constructed a cellular-responsive website

with the easy accessibility and availability of excessive-velocity net, the popularity and use of mobile gadgets are increasing fairly. That is why the wide variety of searches on cell is likewise developing. Did you recognize, in 2019, the number of mobile customers is predicted to surpass 4. Sixty eight billion? Additionally, in 2021, fifty two. 2% of all internet site site visitors become generated by cellular devices. Having said that, the share of cellular generated website visitors is handiest predicted to increase within the coming years. Those stats virtually imply the significance of having a mobile-responsive internet site on your nearby business. Once you create a cell-responsive internet site, it'll help decorate your target market’s revel in. It's going to also help you live ahead of your competitors and enhance your neighborhood search engine optimization. But, if you are suffering to create a mobile-responsive website, then all you need to do is observe those recommendations and hints. The first element you need to do is optimize your visuals, consisting of pics and motion pictures. Optimizing visuals will help you decrease your page load time. Another manner to construct a cell-responsive website is to create a simple and easy navigation layout on your website. Simple navigation will encourage your target audience to visit your internet site extra often. You furthermore might want to look at the web page load speed of your net pages. If your website is sluggish, you then need to paintings on it to improve the rate. The faster the web page loading pace, the less complicated it'll be to get the attention of your target visitors. Additionally, you want to add social media sharing buttons to your product pages and/or weblog posts. You need to make certain that it’s brief and smooth to proportion your posts if they need to share it with their networks. Are you thinking how to analyze whether or no longer your internet site is cell-friendly? There’s a tool from google, the cellular-pleasant test, which will let you take a look at your website’s responsiveness. This tool can give you insights based totally on which you can construct a cell-responsive internet site on your local business. 

3. Optimize internet site content for neighborhood keywords

your objective is to improve your neighborhood seek ratings. So, you can not have the funds for to ignore the importance of neighborhood keywords to your website content. Commonly, local keywords are the ones which might be relatable and suitable on your nearby audience. So, how will you identify nearby key phrases? You could use google’s key-word planner and use the area filter to identify the first-rate performing, regionally relevant key phrases on your website. As soon as you've got the list of applicable nearby keywords, all you need to do is encompass them on your website content material. Other than website content material, you could also consist of them to your internet site’s urls, meta descriptions, and titles. But, just a word of warning – don’t overuse them. While you overstuff your content material with key phrases, it can appearance spammy. So, ensure to feature the keywords obviously and distribute them evenly during your content. This could not only assist you optimize your internet site content material for nearby keywords however additionally help you improve your ranking within the search engines like google and yahoo.

 4.Beef up your social media presence

the popularity and utilization of social media are growing. Also, your brand’s presence on social media can impact your scores within the seek engine. If this confuses you, don’t fear, we’ll discuss this in detail. It’s crucial to set up a robust presence on social media. It is able to assist your emblem build more credibility and win the agree with of your audience. Except this, digital marketing company in chennai could additionally generate awesome organic visitors and oneway links from social media in your internet site. All you want to do is to promote your nearby enterprise on social media systems actively. This could assist you growth your logo’s reach and awareness. As a result, it can help you get the attention of your target audience and get them to notice your emblem, products, or offerings. One manner to ensure that you get the attention of your audience is to submit applicable, actual, and valuable content material. This may increase the chances of your audience following your logo on social media and they may even visit your website. Your target market may also even want to percentage your content with their networks as well. As a result, when carried out efficaciously, it will let you growth your emblem’s visibility and force extraordinary traffic in your website. Additionally, it can help you beef up your local seo approach. Final mind

Read Also: Ways to Get More Referring Domains to Boost SEO Ranking

when executed efficiently, the tactics mentioned above allow you to improve the scores of your neighborhood commercial enterprise in seek engine consequences. Please test beneath to master the artwork of nearby search engine optimization and comfortable pinnacle ratings for your nearby commercial enterprise.

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, May 2, 2021

Welcome to my latest summary of recent ecommerce news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & Etsy. If you are interested in Etsy news, please read my top story below, as there seem to be a lot of changes afoot. (There is also a section general Etsy news below that.)

If you have any questions or news you would like me to cover, please drop me a line here on Tumblr, reply to this post, email me, or contact me on Twitter.

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES

Something is brewing at Etsy: as of April 26, people in almost all non-Etsy Payments countries “temporarily” cannot open new shops. They hid this development in a Help file, but someone reported it to Ecommerce Bytes, which garnered more attention. Why does this matter? Currently, Etsy Payments (EP) is only available in 44 countries; i.e., most of the world cannot currently open a new shop on Etsy. [Updated May 3 2021] Apparently the only exception is India; see the screenshot below, which someone kindly sent me:

(please click to see it in more detail, or check it out on Twitter)

There was no warning, and no published end date, even though they say it is temporary. Of course, they say it is to protect buyers, but they said that when they removed standalone PayPal too, and we know that was just about making more money. It’s possible they are adding new payment companies to the backend which will be able to operate in most of these countries, greatly expanding their take from EP. The first quarter report is scheduled for May 5, and that is often the time they announce new or expanded income streams. Expect to learn more sometime around then. In the meantime, watch for payment glitches.

It is also possible that the above situation is related to the glut of bad press Etsy has garnered recently. They released a blog post on April 29th, explaining how they plan on spending $40 million extra this year on marketplace enforcement. Turns out, they were just trying to get out in front of an April 30th report from Business Insider [paywall], which describes 800 policy violations in listings on the site. You can get the details in articles from Engadget and Gizmodo. This might get more traction, as both Insider and Gizmodo noted it is very easy to find more prohibited and even illegal items on Etsy.

“After Etsy deleted the listings the outlet identified, Insider reports that it was still able to find several others for ivory products, brass knuckles, mandrake roots, tools for using cannabis concentrates, mass-produced products, and other banned items. We poked around Etsy’s marketplace as well, and within a few minutes found a bunch of prohibited products, including a vintage ivory bracelet put up for sale as recently as March, several weapons that are plainly marketed as such, and a shop with more than 1,000 reviews selling all manner of spells for attracting love, wealth, and what have you.” [from Gizmodo]

Note that Etsy has also changed the wording of its Prohibited Items policy to include new definitions for counterfeit items. See discussion on this Reddit thread. Etsy is also still getting negative attention for allowing fake COVID-19 vaccine cards to be posted for sale. Vice has the most recent article, and Forbes has an overview of this hot new scam area.

So, is all of this linked, and if yes, what does it mean? Etsy hasn't cared about enforcing its listing policies for many years, as long as the media doesn't notice. Heck, you can still buy gift boxes of manufactured candy in thousands of shops, which is expressly prohibited, yet reporting never removes them. Is the media finally noticing enough to make a difference, or is Etsy really embarking on a huge cleanup that includes (at least temporarily) banning people from most countries from opening new shops? We will likely learn more this month, and perhaps even this week.

ETSY NEWS

Etsy says that shoppers are searching for “eco-friendly” items more often this year, and released a trend report on the topic. Insights include “42% YoY increase in searches on Etsy for reusable cotton menstrual pads...100% YoY increase in searches on Etsy for reusable straws...76% YoY increase in searches on Etsy for food covers...54% YoY increase in searches on Etsy for reclaimed wood shelves...176% YoY increase in searches on Etsy for environmentally friendly candles...712% YoY increase in searches on Etsy for eco-friendly tissue paper...285% YoY increase in searches on Etsy for vintage hoodies.” Definitely read the report if you want to know everything that people are looking for.

They also did a UK-based article on trends in outdoor items. Search tips of note: “2,644% YoY increase in UK searches on Etsy for patio furniture...Over 1,000% YoY increase in UK searches on Etsy for spring wreaths...1,266% YoY increase in UK searches on Etsy for garden lights or lanterns” It is hard to say how much these trends can be extrapolated to other countries, as the UK appears to have embraced online shopping much more during the pandemic than some other countries (see story below).

The latest Etsy Success podcast [transcript with podcast links] covers their buyer research, as well as a few questions from sellers. Not much here, except for the fact that they do expect wedding sales to pick up.

Reverb had a really large data breach, exposing the personal information of over 5 million customers.

As mentioned above, Etsy’s first quarter financial results for 2021 will be out on May 5th.

Apparently, Etsy is testing videos in search; here is a forum thread on the topic.

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES

Here is an intermediate/semi-advanced article on ecommerce websites and common SEO issues. If you don’t do any of your own coding and don’t have much control over site design and indexing, skip the first 3 points.

Link building: what is a high-quality link? (you know, the type we are always told we need.) Moz’s Whiteboard Friday covers the basics. [video & transcript]

If you are new to blogging or writing instructional articles for your website, this template for writing for both readers and for Google SEO should be very useful.

Google introduced an algorithm update for product reviews starting April 8th. If you review other products on your website or blog, you will want to get the details here and here.

The Google page experience algorithm update has been delayed; it is now going to start in June and be completed by the end of August. That and more is covered in the Google Search News video for April. [YouTube video with highlights and links in the comments]

Yes, you can use SEO to get more attention to your podcasts. Here’s a detailed how-to.

Focussing on YouTube? Here are some tools for YouTube SEO. (Some are free or have free versions.)

There are probably as many Google SEO myths as there are Google algorithm factors, but Google saying something isn’t true isn’t always proof it is a myth. With that in mind, please enjoy this summary of 15 Google ranking factor myths (some of which are in dispute).

[semi-advanced content] The current state of long tail SEO has changed due to both searcher behaviour and Google, and that has led to both more and less opportunity. [Google redirecting results to what it thinks the searcher really wanted, even when the exact words aren’t on the page that they rank first, reminds me of what is happening with Etsy search lately.]

(CONTENT) MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails)

Facebook still has the most traffic in the US, compared to all other social networks, but YouTube is even more popular. YouTube and Reddit are the only established major platforms with significant growth since 2019. You can read more details from the actual study here.

Instagram is working on new ways for creators to make money on the platform, not just those with business accounts.

HubSpot put together a summary of how the algorithms work on Facebook, Twitter, And Instagram.

Reddit appears to be testing a group voice chat feature, which would compete with Clubhouse.

TikTok isn’t just for young people; parents and grandparents are now on the platform too.

Twitter’s timeline algorithm (active if you are seeing “Top Tweets” on your feed) tends to ignore a lot of external links, and more than half of the posts can be “suggestions” from people you don’t follow. I’ve noticed lately that Twitter rarely makes suggestions in my chronological timeline anymore, except when I don’t have any activity for over 24 hours.

Twitter obeyed an order from the government of India and removed several dozen tweets which criticized the government’s COVID-19 response. The tweets in question can still be seen outside of India, however.

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

Understanding the definition of “return on ad spend” (ROAS) is the first step to making sure your ROAS is good for your business. “in general, a ROAS of 4:1 ($4 in revenue for every $1 spent) or higher usually suggests a successful campaign. But keep in mind that this is just a benchmark, not something to swear by. Some businesses need a ROAS of 10:1 to stay profitable, while others can do well with just 3:1...A large profit margin means you can continue the campaign with a low ROAS, whereas smaller margins demand a relatively higher ROAS and low advertising costs to maintain profitability. ROAS can also vary by platform. For instance, the average ROAS for Google Ads is 2:1.”

10% of money spent on US online ads last year went to Amazon, but they are still well behind Google. Meanwhile, Facebook’s ad revenue was up 46% in the first quarter of 2021, Google’s was up 32% & Bing's increased by 17%.

eBay launched the ability to automate their Promoted Listings.

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS

Payment processor Stripe purchased TaxJar, with a plan to integrate it into Stripe. This would provide new options for calculating & filing US taxes to Stripe customers. TaxJar will also have a standalone version for the moment. While TaxJar does do US taxes for business from many countries, it has almost nothing available regarding non-US taxes at this time. (Someone needs to do this for other taxes including UK VAT registration, since they don’t have a minimum threshold for micro businesses, and are no longer in the EU, so won’t be included in the new VAT collection rules come July 1. How many sole proprietors want to be registering for & remitting all of these countries by ourselves?)

In related news, Florida has joined most other US states in requiring online businesses to collect state sales tax even if they have no base in Florida. Missouri is now the only state with sales tax but without such a law, and they are working on it.

eBay has rolled out its new coupon code tool. Also, they released lower than expected projections for the current quarter, which has disappointed the analysts.

Meanwhile, Amazon hugely beat its first quarter expectations, and projects the growth will continue. Prime Day will be in June instead of July this year; date to come.

Also, Amazon is letting its larger brands email customers directly, which was previously not allowed. Customers do have to follow the brand to receive these messages.

Mailchimp will soon be offering ecommerce stores, including a free option that has a 2% transaction fee, or more advanced versions with lower transaction fees for $10 and $29 a month respectively. US and UK customers will be able to start a store as of May 18th.

Shopify probably doesn’t feel that threatened by the new competition, as their first quarter revenue was up more than 100% over the previous year. Note it is estimated they got 8.6% of US ecommerce revenue in the quarter, while some believe that eBay, Apple and Amazon lost market share.

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

Mastercard says that people worldwide spent $900 billion more online last year compared to 2019. They expect the ecommerce trend of grocery shopping and bargain hunting to continue more than other retail areas.

Regions that had stricter lockdowns during the pandemic may have had a greater increase in ecommerce activity; this report compares the US and the UK.

Generation Z is likely to stop shopping with you if your site has issues. “Seventy-one percent of respondents want the experience to be personalized, and 76% said their favorite brands should reward them for their business, the survey found.”

MISCELLANEOUS

Brave browser has disabled FLoC, Google’s new tracking that is supposed to replace cookies in the next year. They explain why here. If you like Chrome but don’t want FLoC, try DuckDuckGo’s FLoC blocking Chrome extension.