Facebook Changes Their Algorithm

In response to the “fake news” being circulated around social media, Facebook is changing up their algorithm. Of course, there’s a driving force behind the change: advertisers are pulling their ads. Unilever, for example, said in a press release that “the industry [should] work together to improve transparency and rebuild consumer trust in an era of fake news and toxic online content.” Unilever CMO Chris Weed continued, “Across the world, dramatic shifts are taking place in people’s trust, particularly in media. We are seeing a critical separation of how people trust social media and more ‘traditional’ media. In the US only less than a third of people now trust social media (30%), whilst almost two thirds trust traditional media (58%)....The wider impact of digital on our society and the swamp that is the digital supply chain has become a consumer issue.”  

Keep an eye on more changes to come to as Facebook continues updating their algorithm.

References:

Unilever will not invest in online platforms that create division. (2017). Unilever. Source: https://www.unilever.com/news/press-releases/2018/unilever-will-not-invest-in-online-platforms-that-create-division.html

What is Responsive Web Design?

It sounds fancy, but what does it mean? When websites were first being created, developers made them for desktops. Once smartphones and tablets were introduced, the websites made for desktops didn’t always work right: images were cut off, websites took too long to load, some websites didn’t work at all on mobile. As a response to the mobile market, developers started creating separate mobile-dedicated sites, which generally had a separate URL (usually m.website.com instead of www.website.com). Finally, after the majority of businesses and developers realized that mobile was the future, the idea was created for a website design that adapts or “responds” to the device being used, thereby introducing Responsive Web Design (RWD).

It can get pretty technical in how it works, but the idea is to create the same usability and satisfaction regardless of the device being used. Images and text render to accommodate any screen size (or “viewing environment”, if you prefer that term). This is especially useful since every new phone seems to have a different screen size.

Responsive web design became even more standard in 2015 when Google announced that their new search algorithm will give priority to mobile-friendly sites in their SERPs (search engine results pages).

These days, responsive web design is pretty standard, with all of the major website builders offering mostly responsive templates. Still, when designing your website, don’t just assume it will look good in mobile. Test out images and content to make sure you are creating the best user experience possible.

Some Quick Stats About Mobile and Marketing

Mobile usage continues to grow. If you haven’t made a plan to utilize mobile advertising, it’s way past time. Do you use email marketing? According to Return Path, a company who focuses on email marketing data, mobile accounts for 55% of the open rate, which is up from 29% in 2012.

What about when it comes to search? Google reports that since 2015, more searches take place on mobile over desktops. In the current day and age, mobile searches account for OVER HALF of all searches. Google also reports that 51% of smartphone users have found a new company/product when searching with their mobile device.

What about social media? According to Statista, as of January 2018, over 95% percent of active Facebook user accounts use their smartphone to access the social networking site, compared to only 32% using their desktop.

For all of these reasons, and many, many more, it’s time to make mobile a priority in your business. Do you already have a responsive website? How mobile friendly is your company? If you’ve got questions, we’ve got answers.

References:

Mobile is Now the Preferred Platform for Reading Email with More than Half of All Email Opens. (2017). Return Path. Source: https://returnpath.com/newsroom/mobile-now-preferred-platform-reading-email-half-email-opens/

What We Searched for in 2015, and What That Means for Marketers. (2015). Google. Source: https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/advertising-channels/search/what-we-searched-for-2015/

Being there in micro-moments, especially on mobile. (2015). Google. Source: https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-resources/micro-moments/being-there-micromoments-especially-mobile/

Device usage of Facebook users worldwide as of January 2018. (2018). Statista. Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/377808/distribution-of-facebook-users-by-device/

Viral vs. Valuable Marketing

Seth Godin, known to many as the “Marketing Guru,” defines viral marketing as, “an idea that spreads–and an idea that while it is spreading actually helps market your business or cause (Godin, 2008).”

In television and movies, viral marketing is often portrayed as any advertising done on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube. However, this is not viral marketing, only online marketing. Dictionary.com defines viral as, “pertaining to or involving the spreading of information and opinions about a product or service from person to person, especially on the Internet or in e-mails” as well as “becoming very popular by circulating quickly from person to person, especially through the Internet (Dictionary.com, 2018).”

The main purpose of viral marketing is to push a message out so unique and clever that people want to spread it. Many times the way in which this is achieved is by doing a commercial where the brand is not highlighted as much as the story or message. An example can be found in one my all time favorite commercials, Kmart’s ship my pants. While some may consider the humor crude, the commercial was entertaining enough to receive oh-so-many retweets on Twitter, over 16 million YouTube views, and even media attention. USA Today reported, “Some social media users deemed the commercial, created by ad agency Draftfcb Chicago, ‘gross’ and ‘vulgar,’ while many gave kudos to Kmart for having an edgy sense of humor (Petrecca, 2013).”

The Kmart commercial went viral, but did it earn Kmart extra business? Those numbers are harder to track and as Seth Godin also points out, “Something being viral is not, in an of itself, viral marketing. Who cares that 32,000,000 people saw your stupid video? It didn’t market you or your business in a tangible, useful way (Godin, 2008).”

In the current year of 2018, there are so many social media sites it can be difficult to navigate through them, but businesses have found different ways to utilize and harness this power. People are talking on these social media sites, so why not have them talk about a brand? The trick is to find a way to convey a business message or brand through a creative way that makes it seem like it’s not a commercial. If done correctly, people will want to share what they have seen on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and more.

As Dave Kerpen, author of Likeable Social Media, once stated, “Videos that ‘go viral’ are more often than not accidental! Creating a video with the intent of it going viral is bound to fail. Rather than having a goal of ‘going viral’ you should have a goal of ‘being valuable.’ Create content that is valuable, entertaining, and informative (Kerpen, 2012).”

References:

Godin, S. (2008). What is viral marketing?. Seth’s Blog. Retrieved from http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/12/what-is-viral-m.html

Kerpen, D. (2012). How to: Make a viral video. Likeable Media. Retrieved from http://www.likeable.com/blog/2012/07/how-to-make-a-viral-video/

Petrecca, L. (2013). Kmart’s ‘ship my pants’ ad causes shockwaves and smiles. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/04/15/kmart-ship-my-pants-commercial-ad/2084131/

Viral. (2018). Dictionary.com. Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/viral?s=t

SEO: What Is a “Nofollow” Link?

Have you ever been reading the comment section of a website and noticed a random, totally unrelated comment with a link? There’s a reason someone posted that, and there’s also a solution to discourage spam like that.

Nofollow links do not allow the search engine bots to follow the link. Why would you want to let bots know to NOT follow the link? As mentioned above, possibly the best example to think about why “Nofollow” links are needed is when it comes to the comment section of a blog or article. Chances are, you’ve seen a random comment on a blog or news article that has a link to a totally unrelated website from the subject matter of the article. It used to be because those links helped websites rank higher. The more links there were pointing back to your site, the higher your placement on the SERP. Before long, blogs and other websites were overrun with people adding spammy comments with links in an effort to rank their site higher via Google’s Pagerank.

To combat the ridiculous amount of spam comments, members of Google’s Blogger team, Matt Cutts and Jason Shellen, introduced the “Nofollow” links. The end result is quite simple and has been adapted by many other sites like Wordpress: By automatically adding in the “nofollow” code for the comments section, people won’t add as many spam comments. After all, if Google or another search engine isn’t going to recognize a link, then why post it at all? Voila!

Dofollow links are exactly what they sound like. Search engine bots as well as people can click them, and the bots index them as well. Legitimate links are Dofollow.

To get a visual, here are Nofollow and Dofollow links compared:

Nofollow Link Example:

Dofollow Link Example:

Neat, huh?

SEO: 3 Marketing Stats to Keep In Mind When It Comes to Search

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be a daunting task. Data is always changing, as are people’s search patterns. Google, the number 1 search engine, processes over 3.5 billion searches per day, so what can your business do to stay competitive?

Obviously, the goal is always to be on the first page of the SERP (search engine results page). In fact, almost 92% of people do not even click on the second page, according to to Chitika statistics.

Despite the astronomical odds, there are still some positive things to consider. For one, search results are generally location based, so people searching for your services in your area usually won’t see results from another area first. In addition, not everyone uses search to find products or services - word of mouth and social media can go a long way! When creating content for your website, you should also remember that the blog you’re writing, the recommendation you posted or the product photos are pieces of information that can be shared elsewhere such as social media and email marketing.

Still, we want to create the best and most searchable website we can, right? With all that in mind, let’s look at 3 (of many!) statistics to take into consideration when updating your site.

Statistic #1: The average content length of a Google first page result is 1,890 words. (Backlinko)

What You Can Do: If you’re writing a blog, be thorough on the subject. Give examples, images, infographics, etc. BONUS: You can use the infographics for your social media pages. Research shows that infographics are “liked” and shared an average of 3 times more on social media than other any other type of content.

Statistic #2: HTTPS, rather than HTTP, generally ranks higher. Of the one million most visited websites, 51.2% of use HTTPS. (via WeLiveSecurity)

What You Can Do: Make your site secure! HTTPS stands for “HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure” and is the secure version of HTTP. This all has to do with how data is sent between a browser and a website. Basically, a 'secure' website means all of the exchanges of information between the browser and the site are encrypted. Google basically announced that all sites which are not HTTPS will not only rank poorer, but the user visiting the unsecured site will get a warning saying it isn’t safe. Read Google’s statement here. Wordpress, Squarespace, Weebly and more offer HTTPS sites, so you can look into one of those if your website needs a refresh.

Statistic #3: In the last year, 60% of people have started using voice search (via MindMeld)

What You Can Do: Try incorporating long tail keywords which can better match people’s natural way of talking. While a keyword is usually 1 word, a “long tail keyword” is a search phrase that contains 3 or more specific words.

• Keyword example (head term): Superhero

• Long tail keyword example: Superhero action figure, Superhero kid costumes, Superhero movies this summer

There are so many ways you can improve your online presence and search ranking. Be sure to stay in touch for future tips!

4 Reasons Why Blogging Can Help Your SEO

A large majority of bloggers publish content to help with their Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which can be a tricky thing. For starters, search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask.com, AOL, DuckDuckGo and more are constantly changing their algorithms - and those algorithms are what match people's queries to your content. 

In addition, it seems like everyone is blogging and yours will just get lost in the mix. It can be overwhelming - in fact, some blogs tell you not to even try. Visit sites like Worldometers and you can see that over 4.5 millions blogs are published daily worldwide. Here's the catch, though, how many of those blogs are geared toward your target audience? How many of those articles have to do with what you are selling? Are they even in the same location as your business?

The answer: a fraction.

Blogging and creating content can serve different purposes. Here are 4 short reasons why:

1) It is a way to answer questions and concerns your past, current and prospective customers have. In addition to your FAQ page, try expanding on the question to answer in detail and address the sub-questions. Not only will this help a prospective customer, it will also help with SEO if you are using the right keywords.

2) It is unique and original content for you. Even if someone else has already written about the subject, this will be YOUR content associated with YOUR brand on YOUR website - a key to successful SEO. 

3) It provides branded shareable content. Many companies share major news stories and information on their social media sites like Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter. However, sharing content - original content tailored to your business - that drives people to your website (instead of another news-site or blog) is absolutely more effective, especially if you close your blog post with a call-to-action (example: To learn more or to ask us any other questions about this subject, send us a message here).

4) You become a thought leader. A thought leader is the go-to person of the industry for people seeking advice. Having multiple, good articles about a particular industry means you become the expert on the matter and build your social currency. Research shows that people feel more comfortable buying from companies who show their experience and knowledge because it builds trust with the brand.

There are many, many more factors when it comes to successful SEO, but that's where Griffin & Co. Marketing comes in. If you have some questions, give us a shout. For now, though, think of starting that blog as your new year's resolution.