July 2016 Internet Marketing Update: What We’re Learning
Online marketing is growing bigger and gaining more momentum every day. New perspectives, tools, and advancements are popular topics of discussion among the leaders of the industry. Staying on top of the latest trends and updates is important for both the JB Media team and the Institute team. We’re in the business of learning and sharing knowledge, so being aware of the changes happening in Internet marketing helps us improve not only our services, but ourselves as well. In light of that, we’ve taken note of a few things that we’ve been following recently, so you can stay current in the ever-changing world of Internet marketing too.
SEO
SEO for Bloggers: Nailing the Optimization Process for Your Posts
Moz’s Whiteboard Friday is a great way to get expert information in a fun way. Rand Fishkin, the Wizard of Moz, vlogs about the latest trends and updates in the world of online marketing every week. In this episode, Rand cleverly highlights the importance of integrating SEO strategies into your blog posts. These days, blogging is rapidly becoming a hot topic in SEO since it’s a lot harder than it seems to create interesting and relevant content. His video breaks down a step-by-step process that you can easily adopt in order to help increase search traffic to your blog over time.
This is not something where you follow this process and you have instant results with your first post. That’s not the case. No one has that in blogging. That’s just not how it works. You’re going to launch, promote, analyze, apply the information that you learn, and launch again. This process is going to happen over and over, and the more you learn and apply, the better you’re going to get at this system.
For anyone who manages or writes content for a website, this episode should be first on your list of things to explore. And in case you aren’t in a place where you can listen to the whole video, Rand and his crew include a video transcript of every vlog for convenience and easy accessibility.
Watch the video or read the full transcript.
Snackable SEO Tips for Blogging
In addition to Moz’s Whiteboard Friday, the JB Media team is also reading up on other blogging tips. We know that constructing site content that search engines favor isn’t easy – it takes a lot of time and dedication. However, if you forget to integrate SEO strategies into your content, you might as well be throwing your words at a stone wall. Without high search rankings, no one will find your site or read your work. That’s why our friends at SEMrush put together their top 46 SEO tips for WordPress bloggers. It’s a “no nonsense, easy to digest actionable list to help you totally transform your blog, sky rocket your readership and find yourself with those all important rankings that you deserve.”
Read all the bite-sized tips here.
Make A Captivating ‘About’ Page
It’s easy to slap some words on your ‘About’ page and throw some fluff around, but not taking the time to cultivate a thoughtful and interesting page that describes your company could be a big mistake. ‘About’ pages can be among some of the most frequently visited, so if your audience isn’t completely hooked after the first paragraph, you can wave them goodbye.
To help you figure out the secret to writing a captivating ‘About’ page, Tam Henderson of Social Media Today provides some helpful tips to fix your landing page content.
Nobody else has your history, your provenance, your expertise, your reputation, your values or your unique take on business. You see, your About page kicks open the doors to your business and lets your customers take a peek inside the engine room – in all its sweaty, honest, human glory. And if they relate to what they see? Ka-ching.
As business professionals, we know that having a strong ‘About’ page on our website is our best chance at getting conversions. It’s important to spend time doing effective keyword research, competitor research, and crafting a genuine and compelling story. People need to know what you’re about, trust your expertise, and be able to relate to your values. And as your company evolves, so should your ‘About’ page.
Social Media
Facebook’s Introducing Topic-Specific News Feeds
Andrew Hutchinson of Social Media Today recently provided a great overview of Facebook’s new ‘Topic Feeds’ feature. Facebook’s confirmed the changes are still in the testing phase, though it isn’t known how widespread those tests are.
Hutchinson writes that sometime soon you’ll log into Facebook and be greeted by a message introducing you to Topic Feeds. Topic Feeds allow users to follow a specific topic, such as Sports, Travel, Funny, or Animals, but these feeds aren’t necessarily limited to who you follow. The new feature also shows posts from users who may not even be within your network.
It’s another way for Facebook to get people consuming more content on the platform, though without the normal refinements of the News Feed, which is based on your behaviors and interests, the feeds themselves feel a little clumsy…The feeds may also be another way for Facebook to move in on Twitter territory of real-time news – though, as noted, the feed items themselves are not necessarily in chronological order.
While this feature is still in the testing phase, it’s good for any company with a Facebook page to be aware of the coming changes. As Topic Feeds continue to evolve (and hopefully become more refined based on your activity), they could prove to be a very useful tool for business professionals and social media managers.
Tweet More Content With Extended Video Length
In last month’s Internet marketing update, we mentioned that Twitter was rolling out some changes to its platform designed to place a greater emphasis on images, GIFs, and videos. Those changes allowed users to post an image without taking up valuable character space. This month, Engadget reported that the platform is extending those changes to videos as well. As of July, Twitter users will now be able to post longer videos.
Starting today, Twitter users will get just as many seconds of video as they do characters of text. According to an announcement, Twitter is opening up 140-second videos to everyone on the service.
“Select publishers” on Twitter will have access to ten-minute videos, complete with a full-screen viewing mode. The company will also be expanding the monetization advertising options they rolled out through Open Amplify last year, as well as releasing a new standalone app called Engage, which serves as a tool for celebrities to interact with fans.
While the changes are rolling out over time, it’s great to know in advance about these shifts when planning Internet marketing campaigns. Posts with images, GIFs, and videos typically get more engagement on social media, and Twitter is making it easier than ever to cultivate an engaged audience.
5 Stats About Social Media Everyone Should Know
Hotel News Now recently released new statistics about social media platform usage. As an Internet marketing company, staying up-to-date on the latest social media data is key to optimizing our reach across different platforms. Here are five stats everyone who uses or manages social media should know:
- 84% of Facebook’s daily active users are outside the U.S. and Canada
- 79% of Twitter accounts are outside the U.S.
- 75% of Instagram’s user base is outside the U.S.
- 433 million LinkedIn users are in more than 200 countries and territories
- 10 billion videos are watched per day by Snapchat users
For a more detailed picture of the latest social media data, read the full article.
Online Advertising
The Death of Flash
Recently, JB Media’s own online advertising specialist, Peter Frisa, wrote a blog called The Death of Flash, in which he talks about the upcoming policy changes regarding Adobe Flash support in Google AdWords. Those changes have finally come to pass, so whether you specialize in online advertising or not, everyone on your staff should stay up-to-date on these policy shifts, as they will affect how we reach our audiences via advertisements.
Of course, this list doesn’t cover every single new thing that the JB Media team is following. With every change that happens, we have to take the time to think about and discuss what it means for our clients, our students, and ourselves. While it’s important to be aware of these updates, understand that you don’t have to change your marketing strategy instantaneously – real change takes time to implement and be successful. Hopefully however, this list should give you a good idea about what kinds of changes are happening within Internet marketing.
If you don’t have a lot of time to stay on your toes about the latest news in online marketing, no worries! Let us keep up for you: Sign-up for our monthly newsletter to get our monthly updates.
