Here are the video specs, tools and Reels core features that any creator can use as a reference or learning guide for creating Instagram Reels.
The Internet Every Minute (2022 Version)
September 28, 2022 By Leave a Comment
It’s amazing to consider the amount of connected activity these days, as we become increasingly reliant on the internet for social connection, entertainment, work, shopping, etc.
That’s become even more evident in recent years, with the pandemic sparking a new shift to working from home, which means that, increasingly, more and more people are reliant on the web for virtually everything they do.
How Often Should You Revisit Your SEO Strategy
September 26, 2022 By Leave a Comment
Another guest article from the incomparable Mary Aspen Richardson.
The rules of SEO change frequently. As a website owner, you have an obligation towards your business to update SEO regularly. However, doing an audit is not an easy task. And most of all, it is not a quick task. While you want to ensure everything is working as intended, you do not want to overburden yourself with unnecessary audits out of fear that something might be wrong. At the same moment, you don’t want to allow a considerable time gap between two audits. That is why we want to discuss how often you should revisit your SEO strategy.
Understanding the timing and knowing when a change is necessary is crucial. With that in mind, let us delve deeper into the subject and bring it closer to your understanding.
What drives the change in SEO?
A famous saying goes, “If it is not broken, do not try to fix it.” When it comes to doing an SEO audit, we first need to ask ourselves what is not working. The timing of an SEO audit depends on the changes to your website.
Once you understand when changes occur, you will know exactly when to perform an SEO audit. Here are the most common situations that require an SEO audit.
Google algorithm update
Every time Google changes its algorithm, you need to be aware of the changes and review your SEO strategy. They constantly strive to improve user experience, and SEO rules always change. A website’s search rating often goes down after an algorithm update because the game rules have changed. That is when you need to refine your SEO strategy to keep up with the changes.
Your website received a penalty
You might receive a Google penalty if your website does not operate within the SEO rules. That will negatively impact the search rating of the website. There are two types of penalties you can receive:
- An algorithmic penalty – this is an automated penalty that Google sends if your website does not abide by the algorithm rules;
- A manual penalty – is issued by a Google employee that manually inspected your website;
penalty may happen on the keyword level, URL level, hostname level, domain-wide, or your entire website might get delisted, which is the worst-case scenario.
You need to review your SEO strategy immediately and make changes when this happens. To make sure these things never happen, you should avoid:
- keyword stuffing;
- buying links;
- posting spam content or content of no value;
- linking to and from unsafe websites;
- cloaking or sneaky redirects;
- hidden text on pages;
There is a change in your marketing strategy
When you decide to build a website for your business, that happens with specific intent. The intent is aligned with your marketing strategy, and your website needs to reflect that. That means that the SEO strategy must fully comply with your marketing campaign’s needs. When the marketing strategy changes, so do SEO requirements. For example, you might want to pursue old sales leads with a different approach or focus on a different market.
At that moment, you need to do an SEO audit to make sure it is in sync with the needs of your business.
Rebranding a business
Businesses often decide to go through a rebranding process. When that happens, the old SEO strategy becomes obsolete. It is a similar case to changing your marketing strategy. The business now goes in a different direction, and it will perhaps target different audience groups.
Moving your website to a new domain
If you decide to move your website to a new domain, it is imperative to do an SEO audit. This type of change may easily result in losing website traffic, and it may hinder the productivity of your business. However, if you carefully approach this change by revisiting your SEO strategy, you have a high chance of making the transition without any consequences to the website’s rating.
Updating content on your website
If you have been running a website for a long time now, there is always a chance that some of the content has become outdated. People are interested in new things or simply want a different take on old content.
A common strategy that will generate more interest is if you decide to make your old content more engaging. However, if your audience changes, you must also optimize your content.
The competitor’s strategy changed
As you change your SEO strategy to engage more people, so do your competitors. It is crucial to monitor competitor websites and their marketing approach. You need to be aware of all the changes they are making. When a significant change occurs, it would be a good idea to analyze it and understand its reason. Furthermore, you should also revisit your SEO strategy to see if there is anything you should change.
Launching a new product
Whenever there is a situation where you are launching a new product or an offer, your SEO needs to be updated. This is important because you want your product to be available to the customers as soon as possible.
When to take a holistic approach to search engine optimization?
So far, all the changes we covered are mostly partial changes triggered by a specific situation. However, you can also take a holistic approach to SEO and do a full audit. This is a requirement because so many changes may happen, and you might not detect them on time.
As a rule of thumb, you should do a full SEO audit every 3 to 6 months, depending on the size of your website. This excellent strategy will allow you to catch some mistakes on time and correct them immediately.
Revisit your SEO strategy on time
Change is natural, and it is necessary for progress. Everything evolves through changes, so do not look at this process with a negative approach. This is your opportunity to improve your website and make sure it is ranked high. As long as you do regular maintenance and revisit your SEO strategy on time, you have nothing to worry about!
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Social Media Marketing Myths You Should Stop Believing
September 1, 2022 By Leave a Comment
Another great guest post from Mary Aspen Richardson.
Social media marketing is a crucial aspect of any business these days. If you ignore it, you risk losing a lot of profit and growth. However, there is a lot of misinformation about what social media can or cannot do for you. So, we will talk about social media marketing myths you should stop believing.
1. You Can’t Adequately Assess Social Media Marketing
It is usual for folks new to social media marketing to get lost in the data. This is because there is just too much data, and it is hard to go through it all. However, while it may be hard to find, it is there; you just need to know where to look. And if you don’t know where to look, or you’re just new to social media marketing, the best approach would be to hire professional digital marketers or a social media manager. They will know what to look for to measure your marketing accurately.
However, you must be careful who you hire to help you assess your social media marketing. Another reason this social media marketing myth exists is that inexperienced marketing companies often mislead their clients because they don’t know what they’re doing. Also, if you don’t want to work with professionals at all, there are several digital tools available to assist you in tracking your marketing.
2. The Audience Will Come To You
We’d all love to be able to go on any social media platform and gain new customers solely on the strength of our products or services. That, however, is impossible. You can’t simply target the platform with advertisements and hope for new customers. Social media marketing relies on a mix of organic and paid advertisements, and for that to work, you must follow your target audience. Instead of choosing a platform just because it has the most users, you should do some preliminary research. Determine which platform your customers use and where they spend the most time. Then, you can create an account and attempt to establish a social media presence.
Furthermore, different social networks will employ different methods to offer advertisements to consumers. For this reason, you need to examine your customers’ interest in the platform and how they engage with it. This is the only way you’ll be able to create a compelling social media marketing campaign and boost your following. Not only that, but knowing your core customer is essential if you want to work on your numbers and attract more followers.
3. You Must Be Present on All Social Media Networks
You may have heard that you must have a social media presence on all major platforms to succeed. That is, however, not the case. Trying to be on all major platforms at once can even hurt you. Managing your social media accounts can be time-consuming and frustrating, and it may end up costing you more than it’s worth. You can’t be everywhere at once, just as in real life. Consider concentrating on one or two platforms if you’re just starting a social media strategy. Make sure that you are giving those platforms all of your attention. Only once you believe you’ve saturated one platform should you move on to another. For most businesses, reaching all of their potential customers on a single platform takes years. Therefore, take your time with just a couple and see where it goes.
4. Only Certain Brands Can Benefit From Social Media Marketing
Many wrongly believe that only companies selling distinctive goods (like clothing, shoes, and jewelry) can benefit from social media marketing. But that is not true. Almost any company can gain from incorporating social media marketing strategies. All you need to do is devise an effective social media marketing strategy. Dental care, property, employment, and decorative items are all regularly promoted on people’s social media feeds. It’s important to stress that virtually any company can benefit from implementing a social media marketing strategy. It doesn’t matter what it is that they’re selling. The only necessary thing is to zero in on your target customer. Everything else will take care of itself.
5. Social Media Advertising Is Expensive
Some people would let you believe that social media marketing is only effective if you spend a lot of money. However, social media can be incredibly affordable if you do it the right way. With some planning, your business can thrive on social media without putting a massive dent in your budget. The amount of money you will need to spend on social media marketing is going to depend on three factors:
- How large is the target area of your ad? Are you looking for local customers or international ones?
- How much money do you want to spend on one day of advertising?
- How many days do you wish your ad to run for?
Caption: Social media ads can be inexpensive if you know what you’re doing. So stop believing such social media marketing myths.
6. Quantity Over Quality
You’ve undoubtedly heard that you must post regularly to operate an effective social media marketing strategy. While this isn’t precisely a social media marketing myth, since quantity is vital, taking that phrase as an absolute may force you to concentrate on the wrong things. Striving for more posts is counterproductive if you ignore the quality of your posts. We’ve seen far too many businesses read a social media marketing guide and then approach it as if it were a quota to fulfill.
Companies will begin spamming empty and hollow posts that do not connect with their audience to meet the required quantity of posts. Many businesses get caught up in the rat race and lose sight of what makes them unique. The best approach to standing out on social media is to be loyal to yourself and concentrate on quality. And with that said, hopefully, now you how what social media marketing myths you should stop believing.
Meta description: If you want to improve your marketing on social media, here are a few social media marketing myths you should stop believing in.
Keyword: social media marketing myths.
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11 Tips to Improve and Refine Your SEO Strategy
August 15, 2022 By Leave a Comment
How are your webpages ranking in Google search results? Seen any fluctuations or impacts in recent months?
Most websites have had to deal with some fairly significant declines in their search referral traffic of late, as Google continues to refine and improve its SERP rankings based on whatever it believes will provide the best results, and therefore keep people coming back to Google for their search needs.
Paid vs. organic social media – how to create a hybrid strategy
August 4, 2022 By Leave a Comment
Another great article from Mary Aspen Richardson
There is a massive debate on whether paid advertising is better than organic. Organic traffic is always the best because it proves that SEO optimization and your content make a difference. However, there are also many benefits of paid ads that you cannot get with organic advertising. Like any other advertising strategy, social media advertising splits into two groups – paid vs. organic social media. Instead of determining which is better for your business, we want to talk about combining the two approaches and teaching you how to create a hybrid strategy. Let’s start!
The difference between paid social and organic social advertising
Just like with search advertising, paid social includes all options where you pay to get an ad displayed. Pay-Per-Click is the most popular option, showing promising results on social media.
Organic social is still very popular. All it takes is hard work, dedication, and time. But, it is a super effective way to build your online audience, considering it’s free.
Caption: Paid advertising on social media has the power to get your best offers in front of the right people.
Why you should use paid social advertising
A lot of people don’t like paid advertising because it costs money. And, if you don’t do it the right way, you will not get positive results. With that in mind, paid advertising on social media can be more beneficial than any other paid option you tried before.
It is no secret that people use social media to find inspiration. They often browse creative channels to find ideas that could make their lives better. And, once they find something they like, people will buy it. That is why shoppers on social media are more susceptible to paid advertising, which is a huge benefit.
Another thing to remember is that paid advertising can boost those conversion numbers. If you find out that a specific offer is driving conversions like crazy, you must use paid advertising on social media. This way, you will get that offer in front of the right audience and reach more people than you have followers.
Furthermore, if you struggle with free social advertising for SEO or other reasons, paid advertising is an excellent way to break that algorithm and still get some views. Remember, this is a good way to connect with people if you don’t have many followers.
With paid social, you can also support your free social campaign. And, as a bonus, you get to target the right group of shoppers for that specific product. Try to thinks outside the box when using PPC. There are many creative tactics you can try, so give it your best shot!
The benefits of organic social
The most significant benefit of organic social media is that you don’t have to pay for it. As long as you have time and are dedicated and creative, there is nothing you cannot do. Social media allows you to build a successful and efficient marketing plan for your business, free of charge. Also, it relies on hashtags, so you can use them to target the right group of people for your campaigns.
Furthermore, it brings you organic traffic, which is the best thing that can happen. You can use social media to interact with your clients, be a part of honest conversations, and connect on a personal level. You can get their feedback and make improvements. This is an excellent way to say, “We are here and listening to what you have to say!”
One of the things that social media takes great pride in is building a community of like-minded people. It is a gathering place for individuals to share their thoughts and opinions and connect with others. As a result, you will create an honest and transparent connection with the people most important for your business’s success.
Another great benefit of organic social advertising is that it allows you to use user-generated content. People share things on social media all the time. You can organize a contest, giveaway, or a special discount and ask people to create videos that advertise your business. Share the videos on social media, and reward the best entries at the end.
This way, you get to engage your users to become active members of the community. You also get social proof that many people follow your business. Furthermore, your marketing team gets a huge help because the users are creating content.
The more you use social media, you will quickly discover that this is a perfect channel for sharing your brand story.
Create a hybrid strategy by combining paid and organic social
As you can see, both of these approaches have tremendous benefits. Instead of determining which is better for your business, you should combine them and create a winning hybrid model.
Use organic social media to build a connection with your clients. Acquire data, analyze it, and start creating unique content. Once you build a community and get organic traffic, you should include paid social media elements.
That will be a great booster that will push the most successful offers into the spotlight. Only by combining the two strategies will you be able to grow your business and keep up with the competition. You are getting the best of both worlds.
Paid vs. organic social media – create a hybrid strategy and win the market
Your business needs all the help it can get. But, it also requires innovative thinking. When discussing paid vs. organic social media, you must be aware of the downsides. Paid social requires smart investments, or you will quickly lose money. Also, keep in mind that social media was not built for business. It is only becoming a part of it now. On social media, you can quickly go from hero to zero because the power of people is too strong. Be mindful of what you say online and how you create your marketing strategy. Have those words of caution in your mind while you try to create a hybrid strategy. Remember, all businesses are doing it. You just need to find a way to integrate this strategy into your business plan. Best of luck!
META DESCRIPTION: Today’s talk is about paid vs. organic social media and how you should use them to create a hybrid strategy. Here is everything you need to know!
The Best Social Media Platform for Your Brand’s Video Marketing
July 11, 2022 By Leave a Comment
Any marketer worth their salt knows that creating video content is an important part of a brand’s marketing strategy, but knowing where to spend your effort and budget can be daunting. If you’re wondering where you should concentrate your video marketing efforts, look no further. In this infographic, we’ll be drilling down on some of the most important stats for the three main video-centric social media platforms – TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube – so you know the best way to move forward with your video content creation.
7 Tips to Grow Your Audience on Every Social Media Platform
June 30, 2022 By Leave a Comment
Are you looking for ways to get more social media followers? Want to grow your audience by sharing the right social media content?
The team from Giraffe Social Media shares their tips to get more followers in this infographic.
Digital Marketing ROI Statistics & Guide for 2022
June 28, 2022 By Leave a Comment
Check out the post from WebsiteBuilderExpert
Social media tactics that can boost your online business
June 14, 2022 By Leave a Comment
Another fine post from Mary Aspen Richardson
We live in the age of social media. Marketers worldwide are trying to find better ways to utilize social media and improve marketing, sales, and brand awareness. There are many social media strategies at your disposal, and it is crucial to understand what each does. That’s why we want to discuss social media tactics that can boost your online business. Here is everything you need to know!
Set reachable and measurable goals
The first step in every plan is to understand what you are trying to achieve. When it comes to social media engagement, there is a whole list of goals you could focus on:
- increase brand awareness;
- get more followers;
- drive more website traffic;
- generate leads;
- increase conversions;
- grow revenue;
- provide customer service;
- build a community.
All of these are reasonable goals. However, it would be best if you did not focus on completing them all simultaneously. If you have a team of only a few people, you should set your priorities and go from there. You can always add a goal or two to the list, but make sure your starting goals are close to complete.
The idea is that you don’t want to create a situation where you cannot keep up with tracking all your goals. That may seriously backfire. The evolution of social media managers clearly shows much progress in the field, as they can take on more responsibilities. But, if you are new to this game, pace yourself and start slow.
Caption: Setting SMART goals is the best way to move your business forward.
Furthermore, all of your goals should be measurable. For example, don’t just say, “I want to increase the conversion rate.” What’s your measure of success there? If you had one conversion more than the last month, does that mean your campaign was a success?
It is better to say, “I want to increase the conversion rate by 15%.” Now you have something to work with. When setting goals, be sure to set SMART goals: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely.
Know your audience
To be successful on social media, you need to target the right audience. There is too much content and too many people browsing social media. From a customer perspective, they see a pool of random things. Everyone is trying to pitch their products and services, and there is a lot of spammy content. You don’t want to communicate with people that don’t have an interest in what you offer.
Customer research plays a crucial role here. You can do various social media polls to collect customer data. It is an excellent way to get to know your customers and, more importantly, find out where they are.
Follow your audience
As a social media manager, your goal is to manage various social media profiles, post content, communicate with customers, and so on. The more accounts you have to operate, the more work you have.
Caption: Choose one or two social media platforms for starters, and add more as you become more experienced.
As a business owner, you want to pace yourself when choosing social media platforms. Do not try to take multiple platforms if you cannot maintain the same quality and dedication. Try to master one platform before switching to the next one.
Be consistent with posting content
One thing that social media followers want is consistency. If you start publishing one post daily, you want to maintain that consistency. If you add another platform, you should follow the same schedule there.
The best way to connect with your audience is to produce quality content constantly. If you don’t think you can create many posts and maintain quality, start with a smaller number.
To clarify, it is okay if you miss a post or two; that will not create any significant problems. However, it would be best if you avoided that practice and always try to stay on schedule your followers are used to.
Use scheduling apps
Since we are talking about consistency, the best way to achieve this is to use a scheduling app. You can write your posts, schedule a date and time of posting, and significantly reduce your work this way. Automated posting is one of the best strategies at your disposal.
Your content should tell a story
When we talk about releasing quality, consistent content, there is more to this strategy than meets the eye. It would be best not to look at your business as a tool to sell products. Your business should become an institution – a brand that conveys specific values. Every piece of content you post on social media should tell a story about your brand.
You want to connect with your customers on a more personal level. You can use social media to let them get to know the staff, learn company history, and become a part of a society you are trying to build.
Caption: Social media will help your business to connect with customers all around the world.
Social media is very visual
Using stunning visuals is the best way to create unique and shareable content. Even though social media posts have words, the picture may speak volumes. And everyone will focus on the image first and then read the post.
Invest time and effort into creating unique photos, and you will achieve much better results.
Use social media to boost other marketing strategies
A well-placed post can help your business in many ways. For example, let’s say you want to organize a giveaway. You create a visual that engages clients and asks them to send an email explaining in three sentences why they should win the prize. This one simple strategy is now growing your email database at the same time. If you use social media for this, you have your contact list for a newsletter.
Social media tactics that can boost your online business – explained!
These social media tactics have a high percentage of success. As a key takeaway, try mixing them to create a solid strategy to boost your online business. Remember, pace yourself, and always maintain the quality. It is always easier to increase social media engagement than to decrease it.
META DESCRIPTION: Many social media tactics are at your disposal if you wish to boost your online business. Here is everything you need to know!