Top 10 Social Media Trends For 2021

28 Oct 2020 Social Media

Covid 19 has worked as a catalyst for accelerating initiatives and ideas that were still in the wings and may have not have happened so soon if it was not for the pandemic. The future of social media may not look anything like what we have witnessed till now. Here is the forecast for social media trends for 2021.

1. Impact of a socially conscious audience – We know-how in 2020 the socially conscious audience impacted the brands, politics, and society. The focus for companies will now have to move to areas such as social justice, mental health, and inclusivity as the highly charged Generations Z and Alpha are well aware of these issues and they use social media to bring attention to them. The companies will have to go beyond words and take action on demonstrating their commitment to creating an honest social impact. They will have to reposition themselves in 2021 by using more cause-driven messaging which will drive higher engagement with the younger generation.

2. Rise of digital disinformation – The year 2020 has been very difficult for one and all and it has brought forth the issue of disinformation. The focus in 2021 for brands and social media channels will be on putting forward the truth to put an end to all the false stories. Brands will have to be transparent with the information so that there are no information gaps, thereby excluding the chance of any misinformation being passed on to the audience. They will also need to invest in ensuring that all communication channels, be it social media, email, etc. are secure and verified to avoid hackers from giving out any false information. Brand monitoring will have to be scaled up and brands will have to be careful with the information they put out to avoid any kind of controversy with the authenticity of the information.

3. The new normal for social media giants – The social media giants will stay as relevant in 2021 as they have been in the past with some new features and changes according to the current trends. There have been many negative stories that have surrounded some of the social media platforms, but they have still shown growth in the user numbers and their reach. For brands, they should focus on being on a few social media channels rather than hopping on to any and every niche platform that comes up. They should keep innovating with the new features that are offered by the selected channels and monitor closely these channels. Analytics tools will help gain consumer insight which can guide content planning and ideation. Lastly, monitor all investments made in paid social closely to optimize the campaigns.

4. Old school marketing methods for a new market – 2021 will see a rise in old-school marketing as brands switch to simpler ways of engaging with their audience. Podcasts and newsletters have gained importance once again during COVID times. Voice is likely to become big in the future with the use of voice search, voice notes, and now voice tweets as well. Companies need to focus their efforts on providing information that the consumers are looking for quickly which can be done through podcasts and newsletters which take lesser time to put together over video content. The creative segmentation of the consumer database has further led to ensuring that companies can deliver highly personalized messaging to get the information they are looking for. Omni channels influencers should be explored as they have multiple connection points with their audience, ensuring higher engagement and impact of the content they share.

5. Social gaming = gaming social – Video games served as a form of distraction during the lockdown imposed due to COVID 19. One can find many forums and groups around games which have created communities dedicated to fanbases. 2021 will see brands becoming more focused on these gaming communities grow stronger. Brands should focus on looking for communities with the right demographics to increase their customer base. They should try and understand the people who belong to these communities and what is it that makes them tick to create content designed especially for them.

6. AI marketing – Marketing today is all about connections and conversations to grow the brand, build relationships, and create sales. With the pandemic, companies have realized that it is not all about sales for the customers. It now involves information, engagement, and social issues that are driving consumers and their future retention. Brands should look at Chatbots, social media channels, and SMS as ways to provide an opportunity to its consumers to start a conversation with them. They should explore AI-based opportunities to make their prospects as connections. Humanizing the brands goes a long way in making a brand more approachable. Integrating customer service data from all channels such as chats, emails, and calls into the analytics platform will provide insight into all aspects of the customer journey from identifying key messages that engage consumers, listing down the pain points obstructing the sales process and post-sales complaints that can have a direct impact on the brand.

7. Nostalgia marketing – Positive emotions connected with ‘good old days’ help people disconnect from their current struggles. Brands should focus on connecting that positive emotion with themselves. This will help build an emotional relationship with the consumer as you made them feel good and hence, they associate your brand as a good brand. To achieve success in this, the focus of any brand should be on knowing your audience in different demographic sets. Then the next big step would be to dig deep into the historical data to target these demographic sets. Some old products can be considered for re-release to target the existing audience and entice the younger generation to buy the product. Engaging with influencers who have focussed on building communities based on nostalgia element. They can help connect with the audience that is already connected with the past.

8. Memetic media – Memes are the way forward into 2021. They are the new way to communicate and a fun way to engage communities on the internet. Memes can be both positive and negative. Since they have been gaining popularity, they have been used for malicious reasons as well. Hence in 2021, brands will need to protect themselves from memes. As memes appear across social media channels, there will be more monitoring for brands to minimize the propaganda potential of it. Brands will have to use image recognition to see if their logo features in any of the memes. Memes can work in favour of the brands. They can connect their content to popular memes which can lead to higher engagement and more virality for the brand. User-generated memes can be shared on the most effective channels giving credit to the creator to build a strong brand connection while encouraging others to create branded content too. With memetic media set to grow, there will be possible regulations that will be put in place. Ensure that as a brand you are aware of them and do not break any rules.

9. The four Cs of COVID 19 content – Even when the pandemic is over, the repercussions of it will be felt for years making it hard for the consumers to simply forget. Brands will need to adapt their communications keeping this in mind. The 4 Cs of COVID 19 content will set the tone for 2021. The 4 Cs are Community, Contactless, Cleanliness, and Compassion. The brand will have to focus on monitoring the pandemic and how they can help customers through it which will impact the communication strategy. Promoting key messaging with the focus on content that covers the needs and concerns of the consumers will help in engaging and building stronger connections with the community. Address the issue of cleanliness and have a more compassionate campaign. Be on the lookout for how the audience is responding to the brand messaging with ever-changing issues in the current scenario. Prepare a crisis plan to prepare you for the unexpected.

10. Remixing is the new user-generated content – The way user-generated content is being created and shared is new. Remixing is on the rise through apps like Instagram Reels, TikTok, and Koji. Remixing involves using the existing formats, templates, or ideas and recreating them to express the user’s personality. 2021 is all set to bring more opportunities for remixing, with brands engaging with a new audience and creating content that stands out. Giving out logos or branded templates will help users create remix effectively and encourage creativity. This will provide an opportunity for brands to engage and encourage them to create more. Consider channels that you may not be included in your strategy. TikTok helps brands in connecting with the younger, more creative audience. Remember to be vigilant of the user-generated content as all of it is not positive.

2021 promises success for those who put their consumer at the centre of their marketing strategy.  The brands who fully understand their consumers- their needs, motivations, conversation, and take action based on these insights, will survive what lies ahead. It is now the time to listen to what the customer has to say to achieve brand success in 2021.

How To Build A Robust Backlinking Strategy?

27 Oct 2020 Digital Marketing, SEO

Backlinks are the second most important ranking factor as stated by Google. These rankings play a vital role in driving traffic to your website, grow readership, and increase the audience base. An important element in building your website authority to improve ranking in search engine results pages is through strategic networking and links to your websites from other well-known sites.

What is Link Building?

Link Building is an SEO strategy that involves getting links from other websites that can be included in the content of your website. The main goal of link building is to increase the search visibility of your website on search engines. These links work to boosts the SEO as they send signals to search engines about the helpful information being a part of the content on your website and the site is high quality.

There are many ways to devise a robust backlinking strategy. Let us understand these in detail.

  1. Resource Link Building – One of the most effective ways to build links is through resource link building. This requires identifying where the business can add value to the audience by creating a good resource page. To use this method, a thorough analysis of your competitors needs to be done to see who links to their website and not yours. This will help in devising a content strategy that will attract the attention of the businesses that link to your competitors and make them shift to your website to link with. Some of the examples include universities, travel, and tourism boards, etc.
  2. Turn Your Mentions Into Backlinks – This is one of the easier ways to gain new backlinks as someone has already written about your brand. This may be on a website, on social media, or any other channel. To get the backlinks, these mentions need to be converted to links that require getting in touch with the publisher of the content who usually has no issues doing the same.
  3. Broken Link Building – It is about finding informative webpages in your industry or niche with external links to dead pages. You can offer an alternative piece of content for the broken link to the webmaster and build new links. This is a lengthy and time-consuming method and requires special tools to find broken links.
  4. Benefits Of Guest Blogging – It is an effective way to reach a new audience and gain more exposure. The process requires publishing blog articles on other popular websites. This not only helps in gaining backlinks but works in your favour in building your online reputation.
  5. Supplier Links – If you are in the business of selling products of others, then it presents an excellent opportunity to earn some very authoritative links to your website.
  6. Business Association Links – Very similar to supplier links, here you need to compile a list of all associations that you are a member of and their websites. Look for a member page on something similar on their website and if not listed, get yourself listed. Another way to gain links is by approaching organizations in your industry that offer links to its members as a part of their membership. Getting membership in such organizations can benefit you in gaining more links.
  7. Writing Testimonials – Offering to write testimonials for brands that you have worked with is an excellent way to earn high-quality backlinks. Get in touch with brands that you work with and offer to write a review about your experience which they can post on their website. Brands are happy to receive positive feedback that they can share with others and link back to your website.
  8. Consider The Authority Of The Website Or Linking Page – A link acts as a vote of confidence in the website it is being linked to. A backlink from an authoritative website sends a signal to the search engines that your website is a credible source for the content it is being linked to. The higher the authority of the referring domain linking to the website, the more value you will gain from that backlink.
  9. Analyze Competing Sites – It is important to analyse the backlink profiles of competing sites to get an insight into their link building strategies and explore ways to replicate their links. The main focus here is to understand the reasons behind your competitors gaining those links and determine if the same can be done by you. Some easy links that can be replicated are user-generated, guest post links, and links from resource pages.
  10. Digital PR – A good way to build quality backlinks to your website is by using the power of Digital PR. It can help build relevant links on topics from well-known publications in your industry. These links help in positioning you as an industry expert which can majorly contribute to driving referral traffic. To obtain these kinds of backlinks you will need to provide linkable assets and promote them to journalists using PR tactics.
  11. The Skyscraper Method – It is a link building technique which involves
  • Finding content that has many links
  • Create better content
  • Promote your content to those who have links with the original piece.

This method works well as you build upon content that is already proved to be successful. It will help you build links that contribute to generating organic traffic and help to rank the website for competitive search terms and keywords. Do keep in mind that this method is all about creating the best piece of content available on the web for the chosen topic.

  1. Roundup Posts – It is a great way to build links to the content that is being created as a part of the content marketing strategy. Many people publish a roundup post regularly and are looking for content that they can include. All you need to do is get in touch with them and let them know about your content.

Many different ways can be used to get backlinks to your website. Which method works for you will depend on how you carried out link building in the past, the industry that you are in, and what the competitors are doing.

The AIDA model for content marketing

26 Oct 2020 Content

Content marketing is used by many businesses as a means to promote products and services, building a brand image, and reaching out to a new audience. Content marketing can be very effective when the focus is on creating original content that appeals to the target audience. AIDA can help grab the attention of the people and guide them through the content to the extent that they take action on what they read.

The AIDA model is a tested marketing methodology that has been used by various organizations. It can be effectively used to improve the content marketing strategy of any business and drive sales.

What Is AIDA?

A = Attention

I =  Interest

D = Desire

A = Action

AIDA, when carefully followed in a piece of content can help consumers along the experience funnel. It starts with getting the attention of the target audience, engaging them, getting them curious and excited with the content for them to continue reading. The next step focuses on building their interest in the offering to the point that they relate to the product/service/ information being offered. By this time, as a business, you build on their desire to purchase the product, service, or experience and finally nudge them to the point that they take the action.

Let us dive deeper into understanding the AIDA model for Content Marketing. We will explore the different concepts and how they can be applied to different pieces of content.

A = Attention

This is the toughest stage in the AIDA model where it is all about getting the attention of the reader. To capture the attention, the focus needs to be on a relevant concept for the target audience. When planning the content be it an article, a post, or a landing page, you need to think about the target audience and how the content is going to make them take the necessary action. Focus on asking a question like

  • Who is going to be reading the content? Develop a persona to describe them to get a better understanding of the target audience.
  • What is the pressing problem that you wish to address through your content?
  • What kind of solution will your content provider to the target audience? Will the content introduce them to an idea that can make a shift in the way they address the problem, or buy a product or service? To what extent can it help solve the problem?
  • How does the audience address their problem? What is the most effective way to get the message across?

One of the best ways to capture the attention of your prospects is by creating a catchy headline and having a highly engaging lead paragraph. Think out of the box and adopt a tone that resonates with the audience. Many different writing styles can be used, but you should focus on using the language and terminology that is well understood by the target audience. If you feel that the content strategy is not working as per plan, audit the headline and the lead paragraph.

I = Interest

Once the reader is hooked, the next challenge is to maintain their interest. It is time to help them see how well you understand their problem and engage them deeper. Use the information you have and try and hold the reader’s attention. By crafting content that informs, educates, and makes the reader feel that the content was written for them on their pressing issues, you will be able to generate an emotional reaction. Use research statistics, expert views and analysis, and case studies to support the claims you make. Sometimes sharing personal experiences can reassure the reader and make them feel more connected.

D = Desire

For people creating content, it can get difficult to distinguish between interest and desire. Having your audience interested is key to reaching the next stage where the reader starts to think about desiring the product or service being offered. In other words, reading about something and then thinking that the product or service being offered by the business is great, to deciding that it is something that you as a reader need to address your issue. To understand this better, let us look at an example of a business providing social media solutions in a B2B setup. Here the audience that you are trying to target is the social media managers for big companies whose main concern is to quantify the impact of social media campaigns and its impact on sales. There are many tools available but none as the product you offer which can get the results with a few clicks. As a content marketer, it is your job to capture the interest of the audience by pitching a catchy headline that appeals to the audience. Then through your content which is based on scenarios faced by the targeted audience, you can explain how best your product will help them achieve their objective of tracking and quantifying every interaction. This will hold their interest and help you tap into the emotion that the social media manager feels- mainly the desire to control the outcome or the fear of being caught in a situation where they are not able to achieve their objective-thereby creating a desire to have access to your offering.

A = Action

Once the desire is stirred up amongst your prospects, the next stage involves taking action. The main focus here is to have a call to action which makes the intentions clear and points the reader in the right direction. Call to actions should be simple statements that let the readers know what to do next like signing up for a newsletter, buy a product, watch a video, etc. Remember that every content should have a call to action. Carefully plan and design the call to action- the layout, button structure amongst other things. There may be concerns about privacy related to sign-ups and parting with payment details. Ensure that the privacy policy is clear and offer a guarantee. Address all issues that may stop the target audience from taking action.

A good content strategy is one of the most effective ways to grow your business. Focus on getting your content read by more people, keep them hooked, and direct them towards taking action. Use the AIDA model effectively for your content marketing.

 

Digital Marketing for SMEs

20 Oct 2020 Digital Marketing

The way to succeed in today’s competitive market is by reaching your prospective customers quickly. The majority of the buyers are looking for products online. This presents a huge opportunity for SMEs’ to focus their marketing efforts towards investing in a wide range of digital methods that they can adapt to suit their objective, budget, and industry. Whether they’re trying to grow a construction business or restaurant, digital marketing is necessary. Digital marketing has transformed the way SMEs connect and engage with their customers. SMEs can use digital marketing to effectively put their brand in front of the target audience at the right place and at the right time.

What is Digital Marketing and why is it important?

  • Digital marketing is the form of marketing that relies on electronic media to spread the message across. This mainly includes websites, emails, search engines, social media platforms as well as TV and radio commercials. Investing in digital marketing is crucial for SMEs as both the consumers and the competitors are online. If the prospective consumer is not able to find you online, they are most likely to switch to other brands for fulfilling their needs. The consumer expectation has changed in the digital world of today. They search for products and services online, and if you do not have social media presence or a website, you can’t compete.
  • It helps in measuring the effectiveness and performance of the campaigns- it is possible to monitor the performance of the campaigns in real-time. There is timely data available through various tools like Google Analytics to review the effectiveness and performance of the current strategies and make changes accordingly to refine them to focus on the customers’ requirements. Metrics like engagement and conversions help in measuring the success of the campaign.
  • Drives new inquiries to grow any business, the customer base needs to grow for higher revenue and profit. Customers can be reached through social media channels, websites as well as video marketing. Mobile customers are a rapidly growing market and the above efforts help in attracting these users to ensure you can generate more traffic and capitalize on it.
  • Websites serve as a 24/7 sales representative- For SMEs, having a strong online presence can help in boosting and generating sales and reach the audience more efficiently. A well planned and designed website works round the clock for you to attract potential customers by providing information related to the products and services.
  • It is cost-effective- SMEs sometimes do not have the budget to focus on traditional marketing such as print ads, TV, etc. This can be a disadvantage for them. Digital marketing is far more cost-effective. A well-crafted digital marketing strategy can help reach prospective customers at a much lower cost than traditional marketing methods. Attention should be paid to understanding the results of the data generated by digital marketing tools to increase revenue without spending a lot of money.
  • Maximize ROI- high ROI is the ultimate goal of any business investing money in the marketing campaigns. With digital marketing being far more cost-effective than traditional marketing, it has been more successful in generating higher ROI. Analytics tools help in understanding what is working and what is not to make necessary adjustments ensuring effective utilization of marketing budget.
  • Helps build brand awareness- digital marketing has revamped the way businesses engage with potential as well as current customers. It has served as an effective tool for building trust and fostering long-term relationships. Social media has helped businesses reach the target audience and connect with them. Content created to target the prospective customers can ensure brand visibility and develop trust by addressing the interest and their pain points.

After getting an understanding of what digital marketing is and why it is so essential in today’s day and age, let us look at some digital marketing strategies that SMEs should implement.

  1. Optimization – It is one of the most important steps that any SME should take before going ahead with spending on online advertising. If the customers visit your website and they do not like what they see, chances are that they will never return. There are many aspects to website optimization, with SEO playing an important role in the ranking of the website on search engines. Optimizing helps in online visibility which can be attributed to website design, accessibility, user experience, content, and speed. Minimal designs are known to capture the attention of the audience. With the use of colours and visual content, you can establish your brand and its image. Websites should be designed keeping in mind the functionality to guide users to take action and look for products and services. It should be easy for a user to fill out forms, use drop-down menus, etc. With more and more traffic being generated from smartphones, the websites should be optimized for all different devices. Research has shown that when a website takes longer than 3 seconds to load, the bounce rate goes up thereby losing half the potential customers. Optimizing the size of files, photos, and graphic content will ensure faster loading time. Last but not the least, the content of the website needs to be good in quality and should be informative to encourage a visitor to stay and come back for more. It should relevant to the target audience. Using keywords in the text content, image tags, links, etc will help when people search for your content online as search engines will index the website.

 

  1. Social Media Marketing – Social media is a great tool for online marketing. It is the best way to reach people who are active on social media channels. Marketing on social media helps in many ways for SMEs to get noticed. Ads and posts can be created keeping in mind the target audience to reach the users who are likely to buy the product and services. Social media offers great ways to engage with the target audience and build strong relationships. Emphasis should be on interacting regularly on social media through posts. This not only helps increase the reach but Google also ranks organically as the brand is seen to be popular and worthy of organic ranking.

 

  1. Backlinks – Linking websites on high ranking websites and online directories are referred to as backlinks. Sites with quality backlinks are ranked higher by Google. Backlinks should be added naturally over time. This helps Google in perceiving that the website is gaining popularity and is worthy of indexing for its quality content.

 

  1. Google My Business – SMEs should get their business listed on Google. The profile should carry pictures and up to date information and encourage customers to review and rate the small business on Google. These ratings greatly impact in attracting customers to increase sales and grow the business.

 

To make digital marketing work for your business, you need to have a strategy in place to optimize and utilize all the resources available. An efficient digital marketing strategy means using all digital channels and creating a wholesome campaign. Integrating all the platforms goes a long way in achieving the objectives.

Google Adds AI To Algorithm

18 Oct 2020 News

Each time Google updates its algorithm, it is moving a step forward in making the search experience easy and more relevant to the users. It is imperative to stay up-to-date with the latest features and updates by Google.

As a part of the Search On 2020 event, Google made several announcements related to its search engine which provide varying levels of functionality. These new features aim at explaining how AI is now increasingly influencing the algorithms of its search engine and helping people find the information they need.

• Spelling recommendation improvements -The BERT algorithm being used currently, processes almost all the request in English. With the new algorithm, it will understand the misspelled queries using 680 million parameters which will help in terms of the quality of the search. In other words, Google has improved its spelling predictions to help find better matches for users.

• Identifying passages of the text – The second new feature is the ability of the algorithm to better understand a passage within a page by indexing individual passages of text within web pages in order to find relevant information hidden in the page relative to a user’s query. This helps with very specific and precise requests. This feature will arrive in November and will improve 7% of search results in all languages from the start.

• Key moments in videos -The videos also fall under the new innovations with a better understanding of the content to bring the visitor to the search engine directly to that part in the video where the answer to the question can be found. Using the AI approach Google has been able to align with YouTube chapters where creators are able to add descriptions relative to each segment of the video via timestamps, which can help Google by providing more context as to the content in each part.

• Hum to search – Something on the lines of Shazam, Google with its audio algorithms is now able to identify popular songs based on humming or whistling to the search app. It is very simple, hum a tune using google assistant and the algorithm will work to identify the potential song matches.

• Subtopics in search queries – Google is adding subtopics to its search queries. It means Google will show the users subtopics as options within the search results which will deliver greater diversity of content when something broad is searched. For example, if you search for home exercise equipment, Google will now be able to give results based on relevant subtopics like budget, small space ideas and show a wider range of content on the search results page.

• PinPoint for Journalist – Google has announced PinPoint which aims to help the journalists. It will be a free tool that will be available in 7 languages allowing them to search for information related to entities like names of people, places, companies, etc.

Additional features that Google will unveil in the coming weeks will be new visual search possibilities in Google Lens, the Knowledge Graph, Google shopping, Google Maps, and Google View. Keep a lookout for more updates from Google to stay ahead and informed.

Four Reasons why Appointment Scheduling is Essential for Every Business

14 Oct 2020 Uncategorized

Your office schedules hundreds of appointments each week. For a good clinical workflow, arranging activities such as negotiating follow-ups, sending reminders, and making new appointments are all key. That said they will suck up a lot of the time of your workers too, which is always at a premium. This is where a good appointment scheduling software comes into the picture.

Software systems for online scheduling reduce unnecessary time and improve medical office performance. Here are the top 4 reasons for considering this the best appointment scheduling software:

Save Time

Without the best appointment scheduling software, you would waste many hours a day on the phone or email simply trying to manage the new appointments, the reschedules and the cancellations. In order to make more out of your time, you would need a free online appointment scheduling software that would help you focus on rendering service, rather than being on the phone.

Stay Motivated

Telephone scheduling calls keep the workers most of the day unfocused and frustrated. Your front office has many tasks to perform during the day, including customer service, welcoming patients, answering questions and clerical errors. Distractions also lead to expensive mistakes and errors. Constant scheduling of appointments also interrupts these significant duties. Streamlining the scheduling process frees workers to complete the work they need. Therefore, a free online appointment scheduling software is a necessity to keep the team motivated so that they can conduct their core tasks.

Save Money

You’re wasting money if you’re not listening to your patients. A large number of patients agree that the opportunity to self-schedule their appointments is a priority. As an example, one can look at the medical industry where hundreds and thousands of appointments are made, adjusted and cancelled every single day. What does this mean for the business and more importantly, what does this mean for the patients? Patients benefit from the convenience of the best online appointment scheduling software. You can cut back on the needless expense of a human appointment scheduler with new innovations and the low cost of scheduling technology. Expand the patient potential of your practice while allowing your current employees to concentrate on more significant tasks. For more productive and effective work, online scheduling also enhances coordination between employees.

Additional Features

Beyond appointment scheduling, an online appointment scheduling software provides many features. With a secure online scheduling system for appointments, your practice can:  Eliminate the need for employees via phone or in-person to plan, shift, or cancel an appointment. Online scheduling of meetings frees workers to concentrate on important issues. Manage all this through the machine – right down to finding open appointments that suit the needs of the patient. Easily mimic patients. Many applications give patients auto reminders, days and even hours before their appointment (via email, mobile, text, or even mail). “I forgot,” is no longer a legitimate excuse. Without an appointment, answer simple questions. Most software provides HIPAA Compliant screening procedures that remove simpler medical conditions and issues. Solve easy diagnoses without having an appointment schedule. Many appointment scheduling software also allow pre-appointment forms to be uploaded by the office. Instead of wasting appointment time, the patient should fill these forms out ahead of time. The majority of patients prefer making their own online appointments. Not alone are you. Most health care providers fail to refine their plan for scheduling. 26 percent of scheduled online appointments are on the calendar for the same day or the next day, filling up vacant spots. Practices can now deliver real-time patient scheduling at any time and from anywhere – even at 3 a.m. with Internet connectivity.

If your company depends on appointments from clients and consumers, you need to make sure they are readily available with the best appointment scheduling software. A perfect way to do that is to use a free online appointment scheduling software. This way, your clients will be able to see exactly which appointments are available and book them immediately.

Unfortunately, in the e-commerce process, appointments are frequently ignored, with businesses tending to concentrate on marketing and outreach. That would be a shame because of an inaccessible (or confusing) framework for appointments.

Moving your appointment scheduler online also ensures that your customers are more open to you. Customers just don’t have time to schedule appointments during working hours in today’s linked and busy world: data reveals that 35% of customers prefer making appointments during non-business hours, and 40 percent of online bookings actually happen after hours. There are substantial amounts. At a much cheaper cost, an appointment scheduler will give your customers 24/7 access to your appointments system.

It is definitely inconvenient for customers to miss appointments, but the implications go far beyond this. And if 5% of your clients don’t attend their appointments, you’re missing out on 5% of your profits. In fact, possibly more than 5%, since high-value customers are typically the busiest, and thus the most likely to miss an appointment with your team. Through submitting appointment reminders automatically and integrating with your customers, the best appointment scheduling software will significantly minimise no-shows.

Converting visitors and engagement into appointments is one of the major challenges faced by online companies. You would miss out on a lot of business without a strong and quick CTA (call-to-action) in any of your marketing materials. A good CTA will increase software sales conversions by 32 percent . Neglecting to verify the CTA is another cardinal sin as well. An appointment scheduling system helps consumers to directly see your accessibility and facilities from your materials for outreach. Of course, you can go much further. Using AI assistants as an alternative to their appointment booking systems, some businesses have had great success. Not only will these assistants allow your clients to see which services and appointments are right for them, but they can also address fundamental questions and even perform customer service duties. An appointment scheduling software is something that can revolutionize the way a business works.

How Do You Optimize Your Homepage For SEO?

14 Oct 2020 SEO

The homepage is a company’s virtual show window. When visitors come to your website and do not like what they see, they will leave. A good homepage is not only designed well, it is free of clutter and addresses questions that the target visitor would have. It will also have a call-to-action directing the visitors to take the next step. Homepage SEO can pose a challenge. If you do not optimize the homepage for search, then the likelihood of visitors finding you is low.

Factors that contribute to making a good homepage

  • Simple and clear design-helps in finding the information a visitor is looking for which is presented attractively and makes browsing easy thereby boosting the experience of the visitor through easy navigation.
  • Compelling homepage copy-should speak to the target audience in their language, answer their questions, help in building trust, and include keywords for the page to rank well in search engines.
  • Call to action– helps in leading the users towards becoming your customers.

A good homepage will always have a compelling headline to get the attention of the visitor with subheadings that tell you more about the company and what they have to offer. The visuals should support the text and remember, visuals play a vital role in holding the attention of the visitor so choose the visuals that support the text. Share your offering with the visitor and how it can benefit them. Emphasize on providing a solution to the problem and build trust with the visitor.  Last but not the least, have a call-to-action.

How do you optimize your Homepage for SEO?

In this section, we will focus on listing down tips that will help optimize SEO for the homepage.

  1. State the purpose of the company – The homepage should serve as a welcome center for all the visitors giving them a short insight into the product and services you offer and the distinguishing features that set you apart from your competitors. Managing the content on the homepage will help briefly put across the best traits and linking other pages for detailed information to help visitors navigate smoothly.
  2. Selection of keywords – You should focus on selecting multiple theme-based keywords to spread the reach. If you have stiff competition, target non-branded keywords which can give you a higher chance for SEO and generate interest amongst the target audience.
  3. Optimize the title – The webpage should carry an SEO-friendly title which includes keyword/keywords. When people link your homepage, they may include the whole title as anchor text. As the homepage carries the most links, you can rank for the keyword in the title. There are some tips you can keep in mind for optimizing the homepage title tag
  • Include target keywords– one of the most commonly missed SEO elements on the homepage is the title tag. The title tag should carry keywords that state what the business is all about.
  • Do not just focus on keywords– use creativity to come up with a title that includes the keywords.
  • Keep it relevant-a well-researched term brings traffic to the website. Keep an eye out for competition, keep it relevant, and use it throughout the homepage copy text.
  1. Optimize the meta description – The meta tag description can strengthen the click-through rate and drive people to your website. Effective use of meta description act as a sample for users within the search engine result page that helps in getting their attention even before they get to the homepage. This is the opportunity to write briefly about your company that appeals to the target audience. Remember, the meta description should carry the brand name and the targeted keywords.
  2. Optimize the H1 tag – H1 headers are a prime spot for keywords. You need to strike a balance between catch headlines and high-value keywords. To leave a lasting impression on your visitors, the focus needs to be on placing the keywords strategically.
  3. Link carefully – The homepage is the ideal place for internal linking. This not only improves navigation for the visitors but also helps in establishing site hierarchy. The homepage serves as a hub and google requires it to sort out the site architecture. The footer can act as an additional menu with internal links that directs the visitors to other pages on the website. Footer has known to help generate traffic to the most important pages.
  4. Offer a good experience – Make sure the homepage is optimized to generate a positive experience for the visitor. This can be achieved through the use of subheading and graphics to put across a point. Try and avoid large blocks of text and focus on content that addresses the target audience.
  5. Optimize homepage loading speed – Page speed is the most important element for optimizing a homepage for SEO. 1 second delay reduces the page views by 11% and decreases customer satisfaction by 16%. Page load time is also important for improving positioning in organic listings as google now prioritizes based on mobile-first indexing. Page speed leads to a greater return on investment as an improved user experience helps in retaining its visitors.
  6. Create an appealing content flow – In the process of homepage SEO, the focus should be on creating content that engages the visitor with information regarding the company and its product and services. A good way to do this is by creating a menu. The homepage content should reflect the menu and site architecture. Separating different sections helps the visitors find important information easily. Place the core content in the first few sections to get the attention of the visitor immediately. The visitors should be able to transition from one focus to the next effortlessly with the use of interesting visuals and impressive site design. Remember to include a commercial keyword or several keywords while creating the homepage content as it is the most promoted page.
  7. Add an SSL – An element that plays an important role in optimizing the homepage SEO is the security feature. An SSL certificate is the first step to making any website secure. This feature is crucial for an e-commerce website as it helps make the potential customers feel more secure about making transactions.
  8. Optimizing main keywords on the homepage – Optimize the homepage for the most relevant and important keyword and then support it with other internal pages that are relevant.
  9. Use branded anchors as your keyword tags – The focus for any webpage should be on branded anchors. This helps in keywords being ranked naturally.
  10. Optimize around branded terms – To optimize the homepage for SEO, the focus needs to be on optimizing around branded terms. Optimizing for the company name or the product name is essential and an opportunity for optimization for the homepage. Additionally, research keywords that the target audience is using to find the company’s product and services and terms that the competitors might be using and capitalize on them. Strike a balance between the branded and the non-branded keywords.
  11. Homepage image SEO – Search engines do not give any weightage to visual and videos. So when optimizing the homepage for SEO, complement the visuals with appropriate alt text as it helps the search engine understand the content of the homepage better and rank it higher.
  12. SEO audit tools – These are important for site auditing to identify SEO issues that may exist on the homepage. These tools regularly crawl the website and check all data points and let you know of any issues that need optimizing and how best to fix them.
  13. Call to action – Having a good call to action is as important as having rich content, keywords, heading tags amongst other things for homepage SEO. While the call to action does not fall in the SEO but they do help in achieving the overall SEO objective.

Homepage SEO involves many things that are required for a homepage to rank higher. Quick load time, using keywords in the title tag, H1 tag, meta description, SSL certificate all contribute to making the page mobile-friendly and load quickly. Follow the steps mentioned above to achieve success in optimizing the homepage for SEO.

 

5 Reasons To Revisit Your Website Content

12 Oct 2020 Web design

The worldwide web is the best and the most effective way to promote and market your business.

What is most important is not just developing a website, but to update it to keep it relevant, fast, and safe. Trends in web design are always evolving so are the trends in the products and services you offer. Updating content is crucial in staying relevant for people searching for you. Additionally, search engines like Google are constantly updating their algorithms to provide the best possible search results. Hence, it is critical to revisit your web design and content to stay relevant and maintain your site rankings.

In this article, we will look at 5 reasons why we should revisit website content

  1. Updated content leads to more traffic – The first impression of any website is the overall look, but a visitor is also looking for information on your website and that is why they are there. Keeping the content of the website updated helps in determining the effectiveness of the website and building trust with the customers. It also helps in building the domain authority of your website in your niche. It is the content of the websites that is crucial for its success. It should be simple, on-target, and effective to engage the visitor in the 2 to 4 seconds window and hopefully convert them into customers.
  2. Keywords Trends are evolving – Monitoring keyword trends and updating content is important for Search Engine Optimization. Updating the copy of the website regularly ensures that the outdated keywords are updated with the current relevant ones to drive traffic to the site. How people search and the way they search has changed drastically over the last few years with the increasing use of mobile devices. Keeping tabs on search trends will ensure that the website delivers the most relevant information to your audience.
  3. Updated content leads to frequent indexing – The more frequently you update the website with new articles, updated content, new pages, or downloads, the more frequently the search engine will bring up your site. This helps in achieving higher rankings based on content. A website is indexed based upon various factors like incoming links to the site, the keywords used and how often is the website updated. With every update, the search engine notices and re-arranges the site ranking. Thus, updating the content regularly increases the chances of a higher ranking of the website. Quality content is the key.
  4. Customers problems have evolved and so have the solutions you provide – The content on the website should empathize with its audience and help in providing a solution for their problem. It is important to get a clear understanding of what the audience is looking for by getting into their shoes. The problem they face now may be very different from what they have faced in the past and the website needs to reflect that. E.g. COVID 19 has presented companies with the challenge of setting up and managing remote working. The problems evolved overnight and the focus shifted to providing cybersecurity for home setups. The websites providing solutions had to address these issues with the content on their website to stay relevant and present themselves as experts. As the business grows and expands, so does the consumer demand in your niche. The content on the website should be updated to reflect the needs of the clients and how best you can meet them.
  5. The competition is way ahead of you – It is important to stand back and look at your website and do a comparison of it with your competitors’ websites to see how they address the problems of the audience. Do they present themselves more convincingly with their offering? What makes them more trustworthy in your niche? Or are they simply better in providing the product and services? A critical analysis of your website will help you in reorganizing the content, focus on providing the solutions which the audience is looking for in a more empathetic manner and redesign the site layout to get ahead of the competition.

A website is a very important tool. It gives an overview of what your business is about. Investing time and money and thought into its content should be one of the top priorities for your business. Hope this article will help you relook at your website and its content and make the necessary changes to gain the maximum out of your website.

 

10 Podcast Editing and Recording Software

9 Oct 2020 Podcast

There are now over 800,000 active podcasts with over 54 million podcast episodes currently available worldwide. Because of a low cost of entry, in the first ten months of 2019, a record 192,000 new podcasts have been launched. According to the Internet Advertising Bureau, and PriceWaterhouse, ad revenue is expected to reach $679 million this year, increasing to $863 million in 2020 and over $1 billion by 2021. Popular podcasts can charge advertisers between $10 to $50 for every 1,000 listeners, approximately two or three times the ad rate for broadcast radio. Many blue-chip online advertisers now sponsor podcasts and a growing number are producing their own.

Podcasts have found their way into our daily lives. You can find just about any topic, idea, or niche on the platform, and yes it all for free. Due to the high demand, every celebrity (be it a chef or an author or any other specialized field), TV shows, websites now have a podcast. Anyone can start a podcast – all you need is a topic, a good quality microphone, and a way to record it. There are many software products available in the market for recording and editing podcasts. Which one you select will depend on the budget, your goals, and the audio editing skills you have. We will explore some of the best podcast recording and editing software products, with the aim of helping you find the one best suited for you to attract the attention of the audience.

Before we list the options for recording and editing podcast software, let us understand why we would want to use podcast editing software in the first place.

  • Recording – podcast editing software also serves the purpose of recording software. This works well as it means that you only need one platform to record as well as edit the podcast. Though there is one exception in the case of recording remote conversations with a co-host or an interviewee. You will need to use dedicated recording software to later import into the podcast editing software and put it all together.
  • Editing – podcast editing software is mainly used to edit the podcast of any mistakes and unwanted sections.
  • Fixing the volume levels and cleaning up – editing software is used to clean out any background noise, ensure the consistency of the volume throughout the podcast and ensure that the volume level of the podcast is at the acceptable level.

10 Podcast Recording and Editing Software

  1. GarageBand – It is a free Digital Audio Workstation known for its audio recording capabilities featuring a versatile set of audio recording tools. The software interface is easy to understand and get used to and is a great choice for anyone who wants to create podcasts with ease. The editing tools are as remarkable as the recording tools. It allows the users to clean up and remove any mistakes and control the volume. What makes this software more attractive is the fact that it is iOS based which means it is accessible from an iPhone and an iPad and you can record the podcast in the app without having any access to a Mac computer. Some of the other advantages of using GarageBand are that it is free and is included in all apple devices, offers a portable podcast recording and editing tool for on-the-go podcasting, and allows users to share their audio recordings on social media.
  2. Audacity – Many popular podcasters started with Audacity for their initial episodes. It is a free Digital Audio Workstation that works with macOS, Windows 10, and Linux. Recording your podcast, music or any other type of audio material through a microphone or a mixer is a smooth and easy process that even beginners can use it. Having said that the editing tools of the software are powerful enough to meet the demands of professionals as well. This cross-platform editing software supports many plugins that allow its users to apply audio effects to their recordings. Many online tutorials can be found on how to use this software.
  3. Alitu – Is a perfect software for people looking to make podcasting as easy as possible. This software removes background noises from any and all the audio clips you import and improves the overall quality. It also merges the audio files automatically which allows you to create a new episode quickly and reduce the postproduction time. One of the attractive features of the software is that it has a theme music maker that can be used to create intros and outros for the podcast. Post-editing, the podcasts can directly be exported on to the podcast hosting platforms like Buzzsprout, Libsyn, or Speaker.
  4. Hindenburg Journalist – Specially designed Digital Audio Workstation for podcast, interviews, and radio, this software works on Windows and macOS and has an easy interface. It allows you to record and edit and the software automatically sets levels for you based on loudness. Post recording and editing, you can upload the podcast directly to SoundCloud or Libsyn. It is one of the best podcasting solutions available at the price in the market.
  5. Adobe Audition – Professional podcasters are well aware of the Digital Audio Workstation made available by Adobe as it has set the industry standards for years. This iconic recording and editing software has everything you need to record and edit your podcast. There are many templates to choose from and one can set up multitrack recording sessions if several voices are to be recorded at the same time or you can access the software library for royalty-free sound effects to make the podcasts more interesting and entertaining. The Essential Sound Panel allows for audio levels to be adjusted with precision.
  6. Pro Tools – This Digital Audio Workstation has every possible tool imaginable for recording, editing, and mastering the audio. Pro Tools supports collaboration in the cloud and enables the inclusion of other Pro Tools users in the project. It allows you to add plugins to apply audio effects or create high quality reverbs. ProTools when connected to a number of control services help in speeding up the mixing process and even allow audio and video mixing. It can be challenging for newcomers and needs good sound engineering experience to work with this software.
  7. TwistedWave – It is a simple podcast editing software that also offers audio recording options for all-new episodes of the podcast. It requires you to push a button to add markers to parts of the recording that you want to edit and reduce the postproduction time. Compression and limiting are some of the editing tools that help improve the quality of the podcast. This software can be used through a web browser or on all Apple devices. Some of its additional features include automatic silence detection and metadata support.
  8. Zencastr – This software provides a mix of features that make it a very attractive option for long-distance solution for podcast recording and editing. It can feature unlimited guests, records each one of them in a separate lossless WAV track, and saves the file on the host’s local drive or cloud services. Zencastr has a soundboard that can be used by the host while recording which leads to less editing later. It is easy to add intros and outros music, sound effects, and clips to the podcast while recording. In the end, the finished audio is processed in a single mixed track with adjusted levels. Some of its additional attractive features include a sleek web-based interface, up to 3 hours of recording time per session, the free version offers users 8 hours of unedited MP3 recording for 2 guests.
  9. WaveLab10 – This software is designed for professionals to perform the most challenging audio editing tasks. WaveLab10 is used to process recordings before they are published in the digital format. It features restoration tools that help recover damaged or inaudible sections of the recordings. You can use the software to create stereo and multitrack recordings of the podcasts and apply the professional tools to add a finishing touch to each new recording made in the audio editor. Some of its additional features include powerful batch processing tools, excellent sound design features and offers industry-leading audio analysis options.
  10. Fission – This podcast editing software has a varied set of audio editing tools that makes the editing process easy and simple. It integrates with Audio Hijack software that can be used to record the podcast and then edit in fission before uploading it to the hosting platform. It allows you to fade, cut, or merge multiple files without any quality loss, and chapters for the podcast can be created. All audio files edited using Fission can be uploaded to SoundCloud directly which makes it a perfect choice for podcasters using it as their hosting platform.

The quality of the audio you share with your audience through your podcasts can play a major role in the popularity and its success. It is imperative to find a podcast recording and editing software that preserves the quality of your material and helps you in establishing yourself as a success in the podcasting niche. Which podcasting software you select will depend on your experience and your expertise in podcasting.

Retargeting on LinkedIn

7 Oct 2020 Social Media

Retargeting is a great way to increase the impact on users who have shown an interest in your company. Retargeting also referred to as remarketing, is a form of online advertising which helps your brand stay in front of the bounced traffic after they leave your website. Retargeting is a tool designed to help companies reach out to the majority of users who do not convert on their first visit. However, how you use will differ across the different digital channels.

Let us look at a step-by-step guide to LinkedIn retargeting which includes:

  • Retargeting and how does it work on LinkedIn?
  • What are the different types of retargeting on LinkedIn?
  • How do you set it up?
  • What are the best ways to use it?

Retargeting and how does it work on LinkedIn?

Retargeting is a cookie-based technology that uses simple coding to anonymously follow your audience all over the web. Small code is placed on your website which drops a browser cookie anonymously when you have a site visitor. When this same visitor browses the web, the cookie enables the retarget provider to know when to serve up information, ensuring that your information is served to people who have previously visited the site. LinkedIn uses the same concept of retargeting that is used across other digital channels. The user visits your website from a LinkedIn campaign and leaves. The website drops the cookie, and the same is used to show the same visitor more targeted ads in LinkedIn. There are some ways LinkedIn offers for retargeting. Let us take a look at them.

Different types of retargeting on LinkedIn

  1. Retarget by website – Matched audience can be configured to directly impact the users who clicked on the LinkedIn ad and were directed to your website but did not convert. This kind of retargeting can only target the visitors coming from LinkedIn.
  2. Retargeting by video or lead generation forms – To retarget video viewers, it is important to select the appropriate completion quartile. If the video is less than 30 seconds, choose 50% completed or higher else select 25% completed or higher. For targeting visitors with lead generation forms it is important to select the right action. To generate new leads, retarget the ones who opened the lead generation form but did not submit. For nurturing the existing leads, the focus needs to be on retargeting those who submitted a lead generation form.
  3. Retargeting by List uploads – The set up allows for the list of leads and customers from other sources to be uploaded. Care should be taken to ensure that the lists adhere to the LinkedIn formatting guidelines. Contact targeting can also be done by setting up data integrations with supported partners of LinkedIn. After the lists are uploaded, LinkedIn matches them with their database. This way they are able to find leads and customers who have a profile on LinkedIn.

Setting up Retargeting

Having looked at the different kinds of LinkedIn retargeting, let us get into the details of how each one of them is set-up

  1. Setting up the Insight Tag – For website retargeting, you need to set up an Insight tag that will help track conversions, retarget and help in gaining real-time insights on the professional traits of the website visitors.
  • Start by adding a lightweight javascript code to your site
  • Ensure that there is just one Insight Tag per domain and it is installed in the global header of the website. In cases where it is not possible, tag the individual pages of the website.
  • While the tag takes time to build the audience, set up your website targeting segments right away.

Important things to keep in mind during the set-up stage

  • The audience will not be matched unless the Insight tag is correctly installed.
  • Provide enough time for the website traffic to build. It may take up to 48 hours for the audience to build. It may even take longer depending on the traffic to the website
  • There should be 300 members in the audience before the campaign can begin serving impressions.
  • Once 300 members are matched, the campaign will automatically start delivering if u have activated the campaign.
  1. Retargeting by video or lead generation forms – This retargeting impacts people who have taken some action on the website by watching a part of the video or submitted a form. In this, details of the specifics like retargeting the audience that viewed 25%,50%,75%, or 97% of the video ad or opened or submitted a lead generation form and specifying which campaign needs to be retargeted should be provided.

Important things to keep in mind during the set-up stage

  • Provide enough time for the audience to build which may take up to 48 hours.
  • There should be at least 300 members who must be targeted before the campaign can begin serving impressions.
  • Once 300 members are targeted, the campaign automatically begins delivering if the campaign is activated.
  • When setting up the campaign, exclude those who have submitted a lead generation form for awareness or consideration campaigns.
  1. Retargeting by list uploads – In this retargeting, you learn how to import or integrate email lists for contact targeting. The idea here to use an already available database of users who have shown interest in the business and take the advertising impact to LinkedIn. There are two ways to get started with contact targeting. One through uploading a contact list and second through connecting data integrations.

Important things to keep in mind during set-up

  • Use the template provided by LinkedIn for proper formatting. Check spellings for accuracy to help get the highest match rate.
  • Larger lists are likely to have better match rates. Consider uploading a list of at least 10,000 contacts or more for optimal results.
  • When selecting contacts, target influencers, or decision-makers for optimal results.
  • Avoid hyper-targeting which can limit the scale and delivery of the campaigns.

You may have a list of target companies that can be used for retargeting on LinkedIn.

In this, the focus is on reaching the decision-makers at the target accounts.

Important things to keep in mind during set-up

  • Use the template provided by LinkedIn for proper formatting. Check spellings for accuracy to help get the highest match rate
  • Larger lists are likely to have a better match rate. Consider uploading a list of at least 1000 companies or more for optimal results.
  • Avoid hyper-targeting which can limit the scale and delivery of campaigns.

LinkedIn Retargeting is a very powerful tool that can be used to make a second impact on people who have shown interest in your company.

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