2018 has come to an end and we would like to take this chance to thank all the supporters of our Digital Marketing Terms Decoded series. Let’s have a recap of all of the terms we talked about!
Weekly blogs and updates on the digital marketing with a focus on Healthcare by UpOnline Digital Marketing.
Digital Marketing Terms Decoded - Year in Review Glossary
2018 has come to an end and we would like to take this chance to thank all the supporters of our Digital Marketing Terms Decoded series. Let’s have a recap of all of the terms we talked about!
5 Digital Marketing Trends to Watch in 2019
By: Joyce Ho
2018 is coming to an end and we likely can all attest to an increase in technology use in our homes and on our bodies (wearables). We have been thrown into the age of personal assistants and many technologies have evolved to increase automation further with the goal of improving our quality of life. Many digital tools and trends have increased in popularity in 2018 and we are excited to see how they can further compliment our demanding lifestyles in 2019.
Google home, Amazon Alexa, Microsoft Cortana, Apple Siri, you name the rest. Smart speakers were a big hit when they first came out and you can only imagine better and more coming in the new year. 31% of smart speaker owners say they spent more money on Amazon/Google since getting their smart speaker and more people are buying straight from smart speakers. Businesses are all excited about integrating their marketing strategies into voice search because smart speaker optimization (SSO) is now becoming a thing! Search ‘intent’ has become much more personal with the use of voice search and people are using questions more than statements. “Where is the nearest fast food restaurant?” More and more people are relying on voice search, so marketers need to focus on understanding the customer behaviour and applying the right tactics into their SSO. We’re excited to see what extensions will be added to increase the functionality of these products in 2019.
2018 is coming to an end and we likely can all attest to an increase in technology use in our homes and on our bodies (wearables). We have been thrown into the age of personal assistants and many technologies have evolved to increase automation further with the goal of improving our quality of life. Many digital tools and trends have increased in popularity in 2018 and we are excited to see how they can further compliment our demanding lifestyles in 2019.
Smart Speakers
Google home, Amazon Alexa, Microsoft Cortana, Apple Siri, you name the rest. Smart speakers were a big hit when they first came out and you can only imagine better and more coming in the new year. 31% of smart speaker owners say they spent more money on Amazon/Google since getting their smart speaker and more people are buying straight from smart speakers. Businesses are all excited about integrating their marketing strategies into voice search because smart speaker optimization (SSO) is now becoming a thing! Search ‘intent’ has become much more personal with the use of voice search and people are using questions more than statements. “Where is the nearest fast food restaurant?” More and more people are relying on voice search, so marketers need to focus on understanding the customer behaviour and applying the right tactics into their SSO. We’re excited to see what extensions will be added to increase the functionality of these products in 2019.
6 Tips to Create an Effective Landing Page
In today’s highly competitive world, online presence is unquestionably an important marketing leverage for every business. And as you dive deeper into the territory of digital marketing, you will soon realize that marketing your business and reaching your goals require more than just a website and social media accounts. Whether your objective is to increase traffic, capture interest, or increase sales, there are several marketing tools that can be used when building effective marketing campaigns. A landing page is one of the many marketing tools.
What’s a landing page?
If you search the term “Landing page” online, you will receive numerous results with general definitions; such as HubSpot’s landing page definition: “a web page that allows you to capture a visitor’s information through a lead-capture form” or Web Ascender definition: “a part of a first impression...your handshake or greeting, or smile.” Simply put, a landing page is a web page that a consumer “lands” on after clicking a hyperlink from a different page, search result, or most often, a search advertisement. Landing pages are often “stand-alone” pages - in other words, these pages have no links to any other sources or navigations (such as, your business’ website). The purpose of a landing page is to essentially move visitors down the sales funnel and eventually make them a lead. An effective landing page should be transactional; determined by its engagement or conversion rate. As a result, making a purchase, giving a call, or subscribing to the business are some examples of a “transaction.” In that case, a landing page should have a clear and direct intent with specific information of what the business is offering to “push” potential customers to convert.
Top 4 tips for Doing Live Stream Marketing on Facebook
Facebook livestream has been popularly used to broadcast live moments and connect with other users instantly. Thanks to its convenient interface, anyone with a smartphone and a Facebook account can stream live video. Marketers are all excited about this trending marketing technique because 80% of people would rather watch a live video from a brand than read a blog. Facebook live is changing the way people communicate and if you are thinking of doing live stream marketing for your business, be sure not to miss these top 4 tips!
Best Practices For Creating a Facebook Single Image Ad
With an estimate of 1.47 billion people logging in to Facebook every single day, it comes as no surprise to find Facebook as the top social media marketing hub in the industry. And with Facebook giving you all the power to track and reach your core audience and other potential customers with the same interest (in spite of your low-budget/high-budget marketing strategy), there’s no other reasons why you shouldn’t use Facebook for marketing. So as Facebook Ads becoming a standardized marketing leverage for many small to large businesses it’s easy to see the dramatic growth in competition for eyeballs and clicks.
The result of this competition upsurge is one of many reasons why Facebook has been perpetually changing its ad serving algorithms and landscape; to cut down the overwhelming amount of content (posts from businesses, brands, and media) in users’ News Feed—especially in the past few months. These News Feed “changes,” were carried to minimize public content (i.e., advertising or news) which Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, described as, “passive experience” and show more personalized content. Zuckerberg stated that the Facebook’s “measures of engagement will go down,” but each content will consequently be more of value to every user if public content is reduced.
Digital Marketing Terms Decoded - October Edition
Welcome back to Digital Marketing Terms Decoded! We are here on our October series, helping you build a stronger digital marketing presence. Before diving into this edition, make sure to check out our previously explained terms here. Happy Marketing!
October's Digital Marketing Terms Decoded is here with new additions to your marketing glossary. From search ads to display ads, rich snippets, and retargeting, we're breaking it all down.
Making Your Website Secure with HTTPS
Google has been pushing for secure sites and if you haven't done so already, now is the time to switch. If you've noticed the Chrome address bar, it displays whether the site you are on is "secure" or "not secure." This started with Chrome's July 2018 update, and coming this September and October 2018, Google will remove the "secure" marking for sites that are encrypted with HTTPS. Instead, non-secure sites will be marked with "not secure" and this marking will turn red when users enter information such as an email or password.
This is an evolution in the practice of whether or not we need to consider a website secure or not. Encryption is used to avoid eavesdropping by any parties between the web browser and servers handling the information. In ‘the old days’, it was practice that only sites that dealt with secure information or e-commerce needed to be encrypted. Previously, such a label was reserved for websites that, for example, had their encryption certificate expire, or not match the domain a user visited.For many reasons, most of them considered positive, best practices have been moving in the direction that all websites should be secured with encryption. In order to help nudge that mindset in the right direction, Google, through its chrome browser, started labeling sites without encryption as 'insecure'. Google also modified their search ranking algorithm, to give preference to sites that are encrypted over those that are not. Together these and other 'carrot and stick' initiatives help move the bar of what is considered a safe, optimized, and protected website.
HTTP and HTTPS Explained
HTTP stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol and it moves information in plain text between your browser and the web server. Anyone who intercepts this transfer of information can read the plain text, making it insecure. It’s important to keep sensitive data such as passwords and credit cards on websites. HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) was introduced where an encryption protocol called Secure Socket Layer (SSL) was combined with HTTP, making sites secure. However HTTPS does not protect you from everything such as hacks or hiding your identity — it just makes transferring data safer.4 Must Haves for Your Practice’s Facebook Page
1. Make Sure Your Facebook Page Is Found
Before worrying about anything else, you need to make sure existing and prospective patients know that you're on Facebook. A key component of your Facebook dental marketing strategy is continuously promoting your page and letting people know you're active on social media! Clients rarely think to look you up on Facebook themselves unless prompted to do so, which means that you need to include a strong call-to-action wherever patients will see it.
Some of the best ways to promote your dental practice's Facebook page:
- Place a linked icon to your Facebook page on your dental practice's website header. This will remind people to follow and like you on Facebook as they browse through your website.
- Customize Your Vanity URL and add your practice's name so your Facebook business page doesn't look something like this: Facebook.com/68058675043/. Optimizing your Facebook URL helps you get higher search engine rankings and makes it easier for patients to find you.
- Invite friends and family to like your page. Although they aren't strictly patients, if they share and promote your Facebook page, you’re bound to catch an eye or two. Don't overlook this source of potential referrals!
- Put up a visible poster about your Facebook presence in your dental office's waiting room. Analog calls-to-action still exist! Make sure your staff tells patients to follow your page and keep up with what's happening online.
2. Post Engaging Content
Your dental practice's Facebook page is meant to provide information about services, your facilities, staff and events. It's often forgotten that posts should also tell your practice's story. Represent your practice on Facebook with unique team and office photos! This provides patients with the opportunity to get familiar with your practice and meet your team.Posting about teeth whitening, oral hygiene, and professional dental experience is all well and good, but people won't choose to make you their dentist because you can fix teeth - that's a given. People choose dentists based on the people who work at your practice and the experience they expect from a visit.
Here are some ideas and examples of posts that can represent your dental team and practice in a positive, approachable light:
- Staff members with patients (Kid’s first visit to the dentist, long-term patients that have been loyal to your practice for several years, smile makeover patients...)
- Employees having fun and taking part in your dental practice’s activities
- Employees' value and loyalty towards your dental practice
- Office celebrations (birthdays, anniversaries…)
- Contests and promotions
- Community involvement
Related Article: The Importance of Content-Based Marketing
3. Optimize Page and Posts
Having all of your practice's important information clearly displayed on your Facebook page will allow you to effectively attract prospective clients and increase appointment requests. Make it convenient for patients to request appointments, ask a question, or contact your practice by including appropriate CTA buttons in your header. (Facebook lets you choose your CTAs according to your type of business and goals).Optimizing your Facebook page also includes adding the following to your 'About' and 'Our Story' sections:
- Complete practice contact information (aside from the CTA)
- Hours of operation
- Accurate statements concerning your dental practice and some differentiating information.
- A link to your website
- A Google Map to visually show physical location
- Add the dentistry categories you consider your practice part of in the 'edit your details' section.
The list goes on further, but the essential point is: If there's an applicable field, fill it and use it to promote your practice.
As for posts, keyword optimization is imperative because Google indexes your post text the same way it does your website content. Use words connected to your services and practice that clients would think of in their searches!
For example, if your practice is located in Whitby, Ontario, your posts could incorporate geographically optimized keywords like "The best smiles in Whitby." If you're a pediatric dentist, post articles about infant dental health and mention your pediatric dentistry services in the caption. It all depends on what your practice can do for people, so make sure to think about what your clients are looking for!
Related Article: Search Engine Optimization: What You Should Know As A Dental Practitioner
4. Respond to Reviews
Managing your online reputation is an essential part of building a loyal, trusting relationship with patients – both prospective and existing. When patients provide their feedback in your Facebook page's "Reviews" section, take the opportunity to respond and engage with them. It's great to let positive reviewers know that their support is appreciated and confirms your care for their opinion and experience.
Related Article: 5 Ways to Publicly Respond to a Bad Online Review
Additionally, other people who see unanswered negative reviews may think that you don’t take feedback into consideration. Your dental practice's Facebook page provides an opportunity to connect with patients and show them how much you care. When you see a negative review, you should respond respectfully and handle the issue in a productive way. So grasp at every chance you can to let people know that concerns, inquiries, and frustrations are taken seriously by your dental team.
Related Article: Tackling Your Online Reviews
There you have it! Four things to keep in mind if you want to make the most out of your dental practice's Facebook page. Here at UpOnline, we are always eager to provide clients with valuable social media strategies and digital marketing services, so contact us if you want to know more about how we can increase your dental practice's online exposure!
How to Use Podcasts to Boost Your Brand Marketing
Podcasts are a great option to boost your brand marketing and can set you apart from your competitors. Podcasts are most-often arranged as a radio show format where the host(s) discusses different topics, often featuring a guest.
Here are a few reasons why podcasts are an excellent form of marketing:
Podcasts are easily accessible
While podcasts are mostly listened to at home (48%), many people also like to listen from their car (26%) or at work (12%). People appreciate the on-demand nature of podcasts and a majority of podcast consumers use a smartphone, tablet, or other portable device for listening. Podcasts are very popular for on-the-go listening and multitasking.Podcasts are inexpensive
Starting or producing a podcast is often cheaper than many other forms of marketing. The essential tools for creating a podcast are a microphone and (simple) editing software usually available at little or no cost (consider Audacity). You'll of course still have to invest time in writing, recording, and editing your podcast. You can later upgrade to a higher quality microphone and editing software once you're more experienced and the effort shows dividends. However, you should usually focus on the quality of your content before looking into advanced equipment.Digital Marketing Terms Decoded - August Edition
Welcome to the August edition of our Digital Marketing Terms Decoded series, here to help you build a successful online marketing strategy. Whether you've encountered any of the upcoming terminology before or just started dipping a toe into the pool, we’re here to make sure everything's crystal clear! Before diving into this edition, make sure to check out previously explained terms here. Happy Marketing!
August's Digital Marketing Terms Decoded is here with new additions to your marketing glossary. From online advertising to website development, search engine optimization, and user experience, we're breaking it all down.
Google Ads
Google Ads is a digital advertising system largely focused on keywords, which businesses can use to promote their brand and online presence via Search Ads, Display Ads, Video Ads, or App Ads. The program works both on a pay-per-click and/or cost-per-impression basis. Businesses and marketers use the platform to create ads based around keywords that people are likely to input in their Google searches. When one of these keywords is searched, the ad is triggered and displayed under 'sponsored links' which show up above/below and separately from organic search results.
Related Article: How To Improve Your Google Ads Campaign
Backlink
Responsiveness
Related Articles:
Why Your Practice Should Be Mobile Friendly
What Makes a Good Dental Website?
Long-Tail Keywords
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| Image Source: neilpatel.com |
Related Article: Most Valuable Keywords
Conversion Rate
Related Article: How to Craft an Effective CTA
We hope you’ve enjoyed this edition of Digital Marketing Terms Decoded. What marketing concepts or terminology do you want to know more about? Contact UpOnline for more information on online marketing tactics and make sure to follow our blog so you don’t miss out on the upcoming tips, tricks, and trends of digital marketing. Keep an eye out for our next edition!
Related Articles:
Digital Marketing Terms Decoded - June Edition
3 Things To Think About When Designing Your Website
9 Digital Marketing Stats You Should Know
How to Get More Patient Referrals Through Email Newsletters
Email Newsletters can be a powerful tool for patient referrals. With the right approach and content, enewsletters can build trust and a strong relationship between the patient and the doctor/practice. All of which can translate your brand and reputation, through interactions with your patients outside of the office, to potential referrals.
Email Newsletters' success as a marketing tool comes in large part due to the analytics. At even the basic level, tracking tools allow measuring the open rate of newsletters sent and click-through rates that show how many times viewers opened and/or clicked embedded links. These results give a better idea of what content works best with each subsequent issue. When you figure out what content and links that patients are gravitating towards, you are closer to boosting patient referrals. If you have been considering a newsletter for your practice, it is beneficial to note that emailed versions are also extremely cost-effective compared to print campaigns. If you are considering newsletters or already have an enewsletter and you're looking to maximize its potential, here are 5 ways to earn patient referrals through newsletters:
6 Ways To Use Pinterest As Part Of Your Digital Marketing Strategy
If you haven’t taken the opportunity to use Pinterest to promote your brand’s social media presence, now is the time to create a Pinterest Business Account and kick off your online marketing strategy. Business accounts include additional features that are advantageous for marketing on Pinterest and other social platforms, so don’t miss out on these essential tools! Pinterest Business Accounts include Pinterest Analytics and special Pins such as Rich Pins, Promoted Pins, and Buyable Pins.
If you’re not sure how these features can add to your marketing strategy, keep reading to find out their benefits when it comes to engaging with followers, promoting and sharing content, providing a better user experience, studying viewers’ behaviour patterns, and tweaking your marketing strategy according to your audience’s interests.
Need a Pinterest marketing guide? Say no more. Here’s our take on how you can use Pinterest and its many features for your digital marketing strategy. Happy Pinning!
Pinterest Content
Pinterest is a visual-based social media platform where ‘Pins’ - Pinterest’s ‘visual bookmark’ version of posts - are shared and saved. This means that the images you use have an essential impact on the success and visibility of your Pins.Content components that you need to focus on for your Pinterest marketing strategy are:
- searchable titles
- eye-catching headlines
- high-quality, selective images
- a link to your main page or website
- strong calls-to-action
- optimized keywords
Make sure each Pin has a purpose and adds value to user searches. Use the description box to its full potential, i.e. be descriptive! Tell your audience what you’re showing them and how they can benefit from it in relation to your overall brand.
Posting frequently also proves beneficial for gaining followers and interactivity. Some research suggests posting between 5-30 new pins per day including a mix of Repins and your own unique content. Posting between 8-11 PM and avoiding posts during work hours is the best time frame to publish on Pinterest. The ‘perfect time’ can be narrowed down even more for your specific business if you monitor which of your Pins are gaining the most engagement at different times (more on that later).
When a user repins, they are adding an image they found while browsing on Pinterest to their own board. The source-link of the image is always maintained and if your next pin is viral enough, a lot of traffic will be coming your way!
Don’t forget about User-Generated Content (UGC) – engaging with followers and replying to comments shows great online initiative for customer service! By commenting on followers’ Pins or addressing their comments on your Pins directly, you may build a close relationship with your audience and show them you’re really there. People would rather know that someone just like them is behind the screen.
Including details and rich content will help Pinterest locate and serve your Pins for related searches. Your content represents your brand, both visually and textually, so make sure your image and text are crafted to benefit your audience’s interests and help them find what they’re looking for. Make your brand valuable!
Related Article: Branding: The Underrated Step to Building a Successful Healthcare Practice
Call-to-Pin!
Crafting your Call to Action (CTA) wisely on Pinterest increases the chance that people will see your content and generate more traffic towards your brand! Note that a link to your website also appears under every Pin and shows up as a hover button at the foot of your image. So a CTA for your website URL can easily be integrated into your posts.The more you reference the results your readers will get after taking your call-to-pin, the more effective it will be. The best way to build a trusting and fulfilling relationship with your audience is to be as clear and user-friendly as possible when presenting your brand on Pinterest. Prioritize giving your followers what they are looking for by crafting a CTA that benefits their needs and allows you to promote yourself online by fulfilling them. It’s helpful to use ‘you’ in your pin descriptions in order to personalize your CTA and attract users’ attention.
Using Rich Pins can also facilitate your CTAs and increase accessibility for your Pinterest followers. Information in a Rich Pin is independent of the Pin description and ties in important details outside the traditional text box. Rich Pins also show metadata on the Pin itself, giving users a richer experience and increasing engagement. Rich Pins work by displaying (Open Graph) metadata from marked up pages on your website. Once you've applied for Rich Pins, any content on your site with metadata will turn into a Rich Pin when a user saves it. Adding Rich Pins to your account includes a button on your posts which is a CTA for readers to view more of your content and engage with your brand whether it’s articles, recipes, products, or apps! The CTA button depends on what type of content you’re posting, but Rich Pins give your viewers the option to send your content to other users and directs them to your website.
Related article: How to Craft an Effective CTA
Sharing Pins
If you’re using Pinterest as part of your social media marketing strategy, why not integrate other online social platforms into the mix? It’s the best way to share online content and make sure it spreads from one user to the other, and one platform to the other. This can be done by linking all your brand’s social media accounts. By making it easy for followers to view all your platforms and their respective content, you can boost user engagement, content sharing, brand presence, and more! One of the first things you need for generating traffic is facilitating user navigation between your social media platforms so that there is a higher chance of your audience engaging with your content.
Pinterest makes it easy to share Pins and boards to your other social networks. You can post to Facebook as you Save a Pin and share a board to your social networks as part of Pinterest’s internal sharing tools. Pinterest’s Save button - formerly known as the traditional Pin It! Button - is a key tool with valuable sharing capabilities. It makes it easy for people to Pin content from your website to their own Pinterest boards and directs your site visitors to check out your boards too. Every time a user clicks on the Save button, they add more of your content to their platform and spread it. Remember Rich Pins? Content with Open Graph metadata on your website is transformed into a Rich Pin when saved to Pinterest boards by your site visitors. So if you haven’t yet, add a Save button to your website by installing the plug-in or building the button yourself using a widget.
The Buffer App Chrome Extension is also a useful external tool that allows you to share your Pinterest images as Tweets. The Buffer extension does not transfer all your content to Twitter – you need to fill in the Tweet’s description yourself, but the image is copied straight from Pinterest. All you need to do is fill in the Tweet description with content optimized for your Twitter following and you’re good to go! There are various extensions you can install to help you share your content across various platforms and tailor it according to the platform’s function and aesthetics.
The more platforms you’re visible on, the more users can see your content, share it, and help you spread it across online platforms to prospective clienteles. Connect to as many people as possible!
Related Article: Are You Using Social Media to its Full Potential?
SEO for Pinterest
Optimizing your Pinterest content and profile for search engine purposes is an essential part of a marketing strategy for this social platform. Choose an SEO-friendly username and optimize your profile in the ‘about you’ section by adding relevant details about your brand and services. Think of what people are searching for and choose your keywords accordingly.There are several ways to be found on Pinterest including the Following Tab, Hashtag Feed, Home Feed, and General Search. Getting your content onto those feeds is going to take a bit of work, but optimizing content is the best way to make sure your target audience can find you and is continuously exposed to your brand. In order to understand search engine optimization for Pinterest, you must understand how the Pinterest Search Algorithm works in the first place.
What determines whether or not your Pins show up in searches and feeds?
The quality and optimization of your domain, pins, and simply your relevance.
Much like Google’s SEO, Pinterest SEO is all about specifying with long tail keywords due to high competition for general keywords. So, it’s all about picking keywords or really key phrases that show Pinterest your content is relevant and unique; the rest of the SEO requirements are accomplished based on that focus. In order to include the right keywords, it’s helpful to do Pinterest keyword research using Pinterest itself; type in a search query on Pinterest and just study the auto-suggests! This is an effective tactic that allows you to study what your audience uses for searches and craft your content accordingly. Other helpful steps include adding your key-word/key-phrases to your pin titles, pin descriptions, and pin image file names, and board names.
Now, how does this affect your Google SEO?
Pinterest is more than just a social media website; it’s also a search engine in and of itself. So optimizing your content helps you rank higher in Pinterest search results, and it will also help your Google SEO and ranking if you disable the ‘secret’ option in your privacy settings for Pinterest boards, which allows your content to be searchable. By doing so, your content is optimized for Pinterest searches and your boards are optimized for Google searches.
Related Article: 4 Outdated SEO Tactics to Avoid
Pinterest Analytics
If you already have a business account with Pinterest, good job. If not, get on it. Here's why:Pinterest has a built-in analytics system that tracks traffic between the platform and your website. Pinterest Analytics tracks a range of metrics and displays important information about your pins and audience that you can use to tweak your marketing strategy.
The analysis itself is split into 3 main categories:
- Your pin activity
- Your audience activity
- Traffic pins or activity towards your website
Much like Google Analytics, Pinterest Analytics provides business owners with statistical information and data about how users are engaging with their brand. This feedback can help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your marketing strategy on Pinterest, and guide you in moving forward with future ad campaigns and posts. By understanding what your audience responds well to, or disregards, you can create and cater your content towards the interest of your followers and other potential users.
Pinterest Ads
Pinterest advertising is a pay-for-placement (P4P) system that enables brands to reach their consumer audience using a promoted pin. By crafting an ad that contains an image, caption, and link, your existing and prospective customers will be able to see it on their home feed and use the embedded link to get right to you!Many people use the Pinterest platform to save ideas and products for a later time. 93% of users plan purchases with Pinterest and 87% actually make a purchase because of something they saw on their feed. Users who save a Promoted Pin are showing it to followers on their newsfeed and this drives additional traffic towards your business. Paid Pinterest ad campaigns come to an end but the promoted pin itself is never deleted by the system; your ads will continue to circulate among users as regular posts after they have gained a significant amount of Re-pins and traffic.
Pinterest users receive a highly personalized advertising experience as the Promoted Pins they are exposed to on their home feeds are based on what they’ve saved, liked, or followed. Reaching your audience while they’re browsing the platform can be accomplished by choosing the right, relevant keywords with which to display your ad that promote visibility and interest diversity. Pinterest allows up to 150 keywords per Promoted Pin but they recommend using only 20-30 keywords. Short, sweet, and to the point!
We hope we’ve introduced you to many of the different ways Pintrest should be integrated into your overall marketing strategy. The platform continues to gain in influence and membership. While existing for a time as a majority female-member service, Pinterest’s fastest growing membership segment is men. There’s much more ahead as Pinterest matures and further monetizes its platform.
If you’re seeking advice for your online marketing strategy, contact us so we can strategize with you. Don’t forget to keep up with digital marketing trends by following our UpOnline blog for all the latest news and tips!
When to Use Stock Images vs Real Images
Stock photography is used because it is often cheap, 'good enough', and easily accessible. However, before you choose this option, you should consider using real photos first and reading up on using stock images. Photos are generally used to engage the viewer, but stock images can have the opposite effect. Website photos that have no meaningful purpose are usually overlooked as filler. Here are a few reasons why you should switch over to using custom photographs whenever possible.
Your website will appear more credible and genuine
Using real photos of employees, products, or services helps tremendously with growing trust or loyalty in a business and its website. There are times when a website's legitimacy is questioned because of an overuse of stock photos. Visitors often look for originality in websites, whether it is a staff photo or images of the location. An eyetracking study showed that visitors spent 10% more time looking at staff photos as opposed to staff biographies. It reinforces that real photos are crucial, especially if your business requires face-to-face interaction. The authenticity of photos plays a large role in building a trustworthy brand.
Digital Marketing Terms Decoded - June Edition
In this edition of Digital Marketing Terms Decoded, we will focus on the Google Analytics terms and metrics that are important for your digital marketing knowledge. The glossary of Google Analytics terms continues to expand but we're here to introduce you to the basic ones you need to know to start building your marketing strategy. You may have heard of these terms before, but their purpose and definition might not be completely clear to you just yet. Don't sweat it, here are 5 new digital marketing terms decoded.
A monthly series of explanations to lingo and fads in the digital marketing space.
3 Things To Think About When Designing Your Website
Designing a new website? Don't know where to start? Successful web design is based on various factors that may or may not directly appear on your screen. Naturally, aesthetics and visual appeal are essential for design, but it's also important to keep user experience, content management and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in mind when building your website. It's hard to balance designing for originality, clarity, and analytics without knowing what to prioritize first.
There are several ways to boost your new website's success – the possibilities are seemingly endless. For the purposes of this article, we have selected 3 main areas to focus on when designing your website.
- Navigation & Content
- Layout & Responsiveness
- Implement a flexible, responsive design structure that resizes content and shuffles everything around to fit the screen parameters of whichever device your visitor is choosing to use.
- Add alt text tags in html (alternative text tags) to images so mobile users can still understand what's on the page even if some visual media isn't responsive or loaded. Alt text is a text description that can be added to an image's HTML tag and appears instead of images that won't display. (This may be a sloppy solution that doesn't incorporate the complete web design, but it could still work as a temporary fix!)
- Invest in platform-specific designs that have different layouts for every device. Responsiveness doesn't necessarily mean that a website should look identical on all platforms, and accessibility can be accomplished with different layouts for each device. In fact, squeezing everything in on a small screen doesn't always work out well and having device-specific website platforms assures that both functionality and aesthetics are at full potential.
- SEO-consciousness
- Having each page of your website target a specific primary search keyword and multiple secondary keywords.
- Optimizing several pages for different keywords as opposed to dedicating one page for too many keywords.
- Using your keywords in relevant content and avoiding “stuffing” them into text for the sake of just including as many keywords as possible.
- Using H1, H2, H3, and H4 tags to specify which keywords are primary and which are secondary.
- Using long tail keyword variations you'd like to rank for.
These two key elements are what define user perspective and experience. The easier it is for users to navigate through your website and get the information they seek, the more encouraged they are to explore it further. Web layout acts as a playground for users to experience, and building a pleasurable playground involves a balance between simplicity and captivity.
Website design is so much more than what appears on a screen. For online visitors, what they see and how convenient their experience is determines whether they stay or go. That decision only takes a few seconds to make – almost as soon as they get on the site, so it's important to make that first impression great!
When it's time to navigate through a website, choosing from a ton of options and links can be overwhelming for many users. Navigation design is all about helping visitors get from one point to another. Keeping the navigation menu in a fixed place, usually at the top of every page, is a popular design trend that allows visitors to navigate your (entire) website from whichever page they happen to be on. 'Sticky' navigation bars improve usability and can reduce browsing time by up to 22%. It's a simple way to make sure visiting users can navigate at ease and have all options available at all times.
Navigating through pages means that users are absorbing a lot of content, so keeping that content clear and straightforward goes a long way. To incorporate concise and complete content, accompany text with photos and other media to make things easier on the eyes and avoid having your pages look like unappealing blocks of words. Ideally, you could even give each service, product, or call to action a subpage to divide the content and keep it at an adequate amount per page.
A visual strategy to grab customers' attention and provide them with direct information is to consider including a feature video (or infographics) on your website's homepage. Videos are processed 60,000 times faster by our brains compared to text and allow visitors to effortlessly understand key points without having to read heavy blocks of content upon arrival. It's easier to absorb visual media before moving on to text. Here are some free visual content tools!
Consistency throughout your website regarding format, background, color schemes, and typefaces has a positive impact on user experience. But fear not, this does not necessarily limit your design to a single layout theme. A good way to balance creativity and simplicity is to design different layouts for specific types of pages on your website. For example, your home page layout could differ from informational pages, photo galleries, inquiry form pages, and other types of content or calls to action. Depending on how similar content is thematically, you could change up the layout for different types of information to keep things fresh.
Designing a responsive web interface is another key part of building a successful website. Responsiveness means that the web pages and data should load quickly and the website layout should automatically adapt to the screen size of whatever device the user is accessing it on.
Who would want to switch from their phone to their laptop just because the website won't load? 64% of mobile web users abandon pages if they don't load within 10 seconds. In order to provide a great user experience, your site needs to be compatible with different devices and browsers that a visitor may be using. Remember, convenience is key, and you want to keep your website as accessible as possible to avoid losing users' interest.
95% of adults primarily use their smartphones to access information. Building a website that isn't mobile-friendly risks losing a large audience and would simply be incomplete. Since user experience is a top priority when designing a website, dedicating time and resources to your site's accessibility is very important. There are different ways you can do this:
For more on why your website should be mobile-friendly, read this.
SEO plays an important part in the ongoing improvement of your brand's online presence and could put you ahead of competitors when it comes to your website's visibility. Having your website pop up amongst the first few search results in Google Search and other search engines is one of the best ways to reach your target clients first and build an online audience.
Less than 10% of people advance to the second page of Google Search results when doing online searches. This percentage may seem very low, but ask yourself: why would anyone advance past the first page? In most cases, search engine results provide internet users with what they need in the first few results. Browsing is quick and effortless, so finding your website should be too!
Initiating your website with good SEO is all about search relevancy, content quality, linking, keyword use, descriptions, title tags, and other features you can explore here.
Some key points for a good SEO start are:
The main point, especially for initial SEO, is making sure each page has Google-friendly content. Data shows that pages with 2,000+ words of content typically rank higher in Google search than pages with short, light content. You should also make sure content engages and helps users get what they want out of their search and website visit. Think of content simply as the answer to what someone is looking for!
Your content and keywords reflect on how beneficial your website is to people searching for what they need, and everyone wants to get results as quickly and easily as possible. SEO not only puts you in the good graces of Google Search, but also helps you connect to more users and boost your website's success. How important can design and content be if they aren't attracting enough viewers?
Related article: Digital Marketing Terms Decoded
9 Digital Marketing Stats You Should Know
When using digital marketing, there are many components to consider, such as how quickly your business is found after a quick Google search or how to effectively engage with your clients in an ever-changing digital world. We've taken the liberty of gathering some useful statistics and suggestions that we hope you'll find interesting.
Why not make sure your digital marketing skills are top-notch?
- More Google searches take place on mobile devices than on computers. According to Google, we are now in the era of mobile-first indexing, where a business' mobile website is displayed first instead of the desktop website. Indexing is the organization of web pages which have been processed according to their location, tags and descriptions in order to make them discoverable paying attention to new and recently updated pages. Essentially, mobile-indexing, is easier and quicker for users to find what they're looking for in a less confusing and more direct manner.
- 48% of mobile consumers who visited a website that was not mobile-friendly, assumed that the company just didn't care about their business. This is a staggeringly-high statistic, which begs the question - is your business mobile-optimized? If not, consider taking some steps to address this, as this has an apparent reflection on your business. Read more on why your practice should be more mobile-friendly.
Digital Marketing Terms Decoded - April Edition
A monthly series of explanations to lingo and fads in the digital marketing space.
Mobile Marketing: What is it and why should you use it?
We're currently living in an era of 'mobile-everything' and in the marketing world, this has become increasingly important. Mobile marketing is a technique used to promote your business in a manner easily accessible by smartphones and other handheld devices. This technique employs methods such as email campaigns, SMS, MMS, website advertisements, social media marketing, blog marketing, and mobile-optimized websites. Did you know that 80% of adults who access the internet have smartphones? This provides a great opportunity to extend the outreach of your business! Mobile marketing allows you take advantage of the increasing number of mobile users - allowing for a large target audience to be reached, resulting in a higher likelihood of conversions and ultimately, more business.
Here are some tidbits on mobile marketing and why you should consider using it (if you're not already):
Mobile marketing is:
- Personable - Mobile marketing allows open rates and click-through rates for posts and newsletters to be easily tracked, providing an opportunity for you to understand your customers’ needs and a way to engage with them on a pertinent level.
- Accessible - 91% of adults have smartphones within arms-reach. Knowing this makes mobile marketing a good choice, as users can access information anywhere and at any time. Users are constantly checking for useful content from businesses, to promotions, to offers, articles, and so on. Why not create relevant content for them to enjoy?
- Up-to-date - With a constant influx of information and news reports at your fingertips, you, in turn are able to provide customers with up-to-date information, relevant to their interests and your business, accordingly.
- Cost-effective - While traditional marketing, such as billboards, TV commercials, and radio ads have a high success rate, mobile marketing provides a lower-cost option, allowing you to reach more people for less. In addition to cutting down on costs, 'going mobile' allows you to help the environment by going paperless.
Related article: Why Your Practice Should Be Mobile Friendly
Based on what we've already covered about mobile marketing, why not use these takeaway questions to see if your business is mobile optimized.
- Is your website mobile-optimized?
- Custom content - Custom Content personalizes your business and provides the opportunity for your clients to know more about you.
- Page speed - This is the amount of time it takes for the content on your website to load, once a customer clicks on it. Ideally, customers will find the information quickly (under 2 seconds if possible). There are web tools which allow you to check the speed of your website.
- Locations and descriptions in HTML title, meta and alt tags should be reviewed as well as keywords linked with the services you offer; making your business more easily discoverable.
- Is your information current?
- Who are you marketing to?
Mobile optimization gives visitors to your website the best possible viewing experience, whether using a smartphone or other handheld device, without taking away from the desktop version of the website. A few things to think about, although not limited to, are:
Google searches for websites which have new and updated content and also ranks these higher - making them faster to find. With constant access to information, it is vital that information is kept up-to-date, especially social media posts. Read our article on more tips for increasing social media engagement here.
Consider the demographic of the clients. Is there a particular method suited to a particular demographic? Why not let UpOnline help you out with researching your mobile marketing needs? Read more about how to reach your target audience through social media here.
All in all, mobile marketing is on the increase and proves to be more effective in reaching a large number of individuals. Contact us to discuss in detail what you can do to improve your mobile marketing strategy.
How to Run a Successful UGC Marketing Campaign
By: Beles Lezina
As even more businesses look to the internet and social media to promote their services, it is becoming more important for them to engage with their audience in order to build a better relationship with potential and existing customers. The most cost effective and, arguably, the most efficient way to do so is through user-generated content.
User-generated content, or UGC for short, refers to content that is created by social media users, such as comments, videos, or pictures. This content is typically created by customers or users of a product, which helps promote a business’ products or services online to potential consumers and is cheaper to implement.
Related Article: How to Capitalize on User-Generated Content
UGC helps create a sense of trust between companies and their audience as people are more likely to take recommendations from their friends and family, or genuine customers of the product or service online rather than an advertisement. According to Adweek, 85 percent of users surveyed find visual UGC more influential than brand photos or videos.
UGC has also been proven to improve SEO results, with 25% of search results for the World's Top 20 largest brands being linked to user-generated content. As UGC-centred marketing grows, it is easy for businesses that don’t partake to be left behind. Here are some tips and tricks to capitalize on this entertaining marketing technique.
First off, it is important to decide whether UGC is a good idea for your business. For the most part, a UGC campaign is really only useful if the company has a social media following. Websites that analyze and track social media presence, like Hootsuite, can provide data on whether or not the services you provide are actually being discussed online, which can help make the decision easier for you. It is also essential to take your target audience into consideration. Are they mostly young adults? If so, a UGC campaign may be ideal for your business. However, a campaign that targets older adults may not be as successful.
Six Tips to Ask For a Testimonial
How effective are your testimonial-asking techniques? Consider these tips...
By: Johanna Bannis
Testimonials provide a brief glimpse into how well your business provides service and influences current and potential customers alike. Considered an important part of any review, testimonials attempt to qualify review ratings through description. Asking for a testimonial can often be tricky, however, effective testimonials can greatly promote your business. The magnitude of this is seen in the staggering statistic that 92% of individuals trust a recommendation from a peer! With such a large population relying on the 'hear-say' of others, there's no doubt that you'll want to be easily recognized as a business that has great credibility, offers a high quality service and looks for ways to boost customer experience. If you've previously had difficulty asking for testimonials, have received negative reviews, or are considering new ways to ask, then look no further - here are some tips that might prove useful.
Testimonials provide a brief glimpse into how well your business provides service and influences current and potential customers alike. Considered an important part of any review, testimonials attempt to qualify review ratings through description. Asking for a testimonial can often be tricky, however, effective testimonials can greatly promote your business. The magnitude of this is seen in the staggering statistic that 92% of individuals trust a recommendation from a peer! With such a large population relying on the 'hear-say' of others, there's no doubt that you'll want to be easily recognized as a business that has great credibility, offers a high quality service and looks for ways to boost customer experience. If you've previously had difficulty asking for testimonials, have received negative reviews, or are considering new ways to ask, then look no further - here are some tips that might prove useful.
Digital Marketing Terms Decoded
Whether new or an old hat in the world of digital marketing, you may need a new guide to avoid getting lost in common phrases and terms that are often used by those in the industry. Although the glossary of digital marketing terms is extensive, we'll start with a handful of phrases you should know to get you started in the business:
A monthly series of explanations to lingo and fads in the digital marketing space.
Keyword
In the digital marketing world, "Keyword" refers to the word (or phrase) that people type into a search engine. Digital marketers try to make sure their business is associated with a keyword or a series of keywords in order to boost their SEO and result high in related search engine queries. It is important that keywords are highly relative to a business or brand and its website in order to be effective.
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