The post Google AMP – What is it? appeared first on Top Source Media.
]]>While AMP loads at impressive speeds and is possibly the future of mobile web browsing, it is not a replacement for a mobile version of a web page. AMP pages have a unique URL, separate from the mobile page. So why is AMP important to us?
Smart phones and tablets are getting faster, it is already easier to just pull your phone out of your pocket and browse the web instead of waiting for your computer to boot up. Because of this, more and more people are doing the majority (if not all) of their web browsing on mobile devices. This change in web browsing means the topic of SEO needs to be closely looked at and be aware of how these changes are affecting the world of ranking a page on Google. However, AMP is still relatively new and exactly how “AMP” will be ranked is constantly in debate by people in the community, as well as Google. We will be watching carefully to see how AMP effects the ranks.
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]]>The post 22 Crazy Social Media Marketing Stats appeared first on Top Source Media.
]]>With that kind of adoption, social media marketing is clearly an absolute necessity for businesses attempting to grow in today’s digital environment.
Today we’ll share some eye-opening statistics that could help inform your decision-making as you try to chart a path in the social space.
1. 40% of cell phone owners use a social network site on their phone, and 28% access one daily. [Source]
2. 80% of Pinterest users are female. [Source]
3. Every second, more than one hour of video is added to YouTube. [Source]
4. People share 700 YouTube videos on Twitter every minute. [Source]
5. Facebook’s population is more than twice that of the United States. [Source]
6. 500 million tweets are sent out daily. [Source]
7. 71% of consumers that receive a prompt response from a brand to an inquiry on social media say they would be likely to recommend that brand to others. [Source]
8. 93% of online research starts with a search engine, and 68% of users say they will check out a company’s social network pages before making a purchase. [Source]
9. Every second, 8,000 users “like” a photo on Instagram. [Source]
10. Almost 60% of all social-referred traffic comes from three platforms: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. [Source]
11. More than one-third of Fortune 500 companies have Google Plus accounts. However, 19% of those corporate accounts have not been activated. [Source]
12. Only 2% of marketers use SnapChat, and only 4% use Vine. [Source]
13. There are more than 10 million Facebook apps. [Source]
14. 23% of Facebook users check their account at least five times per day. [Source]
15. The +1 button on Google Plus is hit at least 5 billion times per day. [Source]
16. LinkedIn has more than 3 million company pages, with more than 1 billion endorsements. [Source]
17. 91% of mobile internet access is for social activities. [Source]
18. 5 million images are uploaded to Instagram daily. [Source]
19. More than half a billion Facebook users access the site only from mobile devices. [Source]
20. 50% of technology companies have acquired a customer through Twitter. [Source]
21. The fastest-growing demographic on Twitter is the 55-64 age bracket. [Source]
22. The average lifespan of a tweet is 24 minutes. The average lifespan of a Facebook post is 90 minutes. [Source]
Some of these crazy numbers should make it clearer than ever that social media marketing needs to be a priority for your business. If you’re lacking in that area, let us help. Contact Top Source Media today!
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]]>The post Twitter Keeps Growing as a Business Tool appeared first on Top Source Media.
]]>Earlier this summer, Google and Twitter announced a partnership that would entail tweets being displayed in search results on the leading engine. After experimenting for a few months, the new feature officially went live across desktop and mobile globally this week, so Google users will occasionally see some different things in their searches.
As a test, we performed a Google search for the query “google twitter tweets in search,” and fittingly, a pair of tweets were the first thing to display. The screenshot below gives you an idea of how these are being incorporated into results.
There are a few things worth noting here:
The addition of this functionality is a big development for both companies, especially Twitter, which has long grappled with questions about profitability in spite of its tremendous adoption. Getting this kind of prominent placement in Google searches will obviously lead to much more visibility for the 140-character social network. And of course, seeing this kind of partnership take place only fuels the speculation that Google will eventually acquire Twitter, especially now that they’ve essentially given up on Google Plus.
If your company has been hesitant to dive into Twitter, now is the time because the arrow is definitely pointing up. At Top Source, we offer a wide range of social media services and consider Twitter to among our strongest areas. If you’d like to learn more about how your company can leverage the growing platform, contact us today.
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]]>The post Digital Marketing Round-Up appeared first on Top Source Media.
]]>In order to help you stay on top of all the important and relevant stories in digital marketing, this will be the first in a semi-regular series in which we round up and recap all of our favorite recent articles from blogs, news outlets and online magazines.
So dig in, get caught up, and don’t forget to give us a shout at Top Source Media if you want to put the latest digital marketing tactics to use for your business!
* The biggest news in the digital marketing world is the official, full-on launch of a new functionality within Google that will display Twitter content in search results. The feature is the result of a partnership between the two companies, announced earlier this summer. Search Engine Land wrote up a good primer on the details of this new arrangement.
* Earlier this week, we weighed in on the Google/Twitter partnership, providing a visual breakdown of how tweets are presented in search results and what this development means for businesses that market online.
* Fortune Magazine had published an article in early August on the dismantling of Google Plus, and how it boosts the odds of Google acquiring Twitter. Such a move only seems more likely with the two sides teaming up.
* Memeburn points out that companies can reach more customers than ever before by blending content marketing and search engine optimization. That is a concept that we at TSM believe in wholeheartedly, which is why we always encourage our clients to ramp up their strategic content output if they want to make meaningful gains in search results.
“As shares and backlinks build your domain authority, and keyword optimization creates a consistent story about your business, your search rankings will start to rise. You’ll become better at digital marketing — while doing less work — by using content marketing to improve SEO and using SEO to get content to the right people.”
* Entrepreneur shares three tips for boosting SEO on YouTube. It can be difficult to get your video content picked up by search engines, because obviously there’s not a lot of text-based material to draw from, so these strategies are very helpful.
* With election season ramping up, this is interesting: Researchers say that Google search could have a major impact on the 2016 election, as noted by Search Engine Journal. The new study shows that a phenomenon called Search Engine Manipulation Effect (SEME) “has the ability to shift the opinions of undecided voters by 20% or more.”
If Google’s search algorithm started to surface more positive results than negative for a candidate, searchers could end up having a more positive opinion of that candidate.
This kind of influence could sway election results given that most presidential elections are won by small margins.
* Pratical Ecommerce serves up some SEO pointers on using metadata to drive traffic.
* For many people, an email signature is an afterthought — name, position, contact info. But as Teresa Becker at Tech.Co writes, you can strategically use your email signature to promote campaigns and drive actions.
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]]>The post Mobile Strategy and Connecting With Youth appeared first on Top Source Media.
]]>However, the fastest-growing facet of digital marketing is mobile. At Top Source, we place a very intense focus on mobile strategy, both on our blog and as a company. That is a reflection of the business world at large. The International Advertising Bureau recently reported that mobile advertising grew 65 percent last year, becoming a $31.9 billion global industry. The same data shows that spending on mobile display ads rose 88 percent from 2013 to 2014.
There is one single number that serves to illuminate the main reason behind this dramatic ascent: 97 percent. That’s the percentage of millenials that use their mobile devices daily, according to a new poll, for activities that range from text messaging to surfing the Net to streaming music and more. That is 97 out of 100 individuals, in the most important long-term customer demographic, plugging into their devices every day.
Needless to say, it is easy to see why mobile marketing budgets are exploding across the board. At the core, advertising and marketing are about finding new customers and connecting with them; this data makes it blatantly clear where the next generation of customers is going to be found, and fortunately, mobile devices provide a lot of opportunities to reach and engage users.
Unfortunately, many small businesses are lagging behind in this crucial area. A new study on state of the co-op (or collaborative) marketing industry, conducted by Netsertive and Borrell Associates, found that a huge percentage of small retailers are missing out on key opportunities due to misguided approaches.
About 40 percent of small retailers appear to be ignoring their chances of connecting with on-the-go consumers, according to a report today from digital marketing company Netsertive and local-business researcher Borrell Associates. And because merchandisers haven’t adjusted to the mobile age, they are leaving massive amounts of money on the table when it comes to cooperative advertising.
“We were stunned to discover that advertisers are leaving $14 billion in ‘free advertising’ on the table—about twice as much as three years ago,” Gordon Borrell, CEO of Borrell Associates, said in a statement. “This is because co-op programs are out of sync with local advertisers’ changing needs, particularly in the digital realm.”
Only 61 percent of respondents in the study said their websites were mobile-optimized. That’s just a crazy-low number in this day and age, where such a large fraction of the population is accessing the Web from smartphones and tablets almost exclusively.
Placing a major emphasis on mobile strategy is no longer a way for marketing departments to get ahead of the curve; it’s now needed simply to keep up with the times. Soon, those 40 percent of small businesses that aren’t taking mobile seriously will be rendered as obsolete as a payphone.
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]]>The post The Latest on SEO Ranking Factors appeared first on Top Source Media.
]]>Whereas anyone who is interested and willing to take the time to learn can get a pretty good grasp of what generally goes into search ranking algorithms by perusing blogs and whitepapers, these landmark studies are among the most comprehensive SEO resources out there, accounting for not only a wide variety of expert opinions but also hard data derived from in-depth correlation studies.
Last week, Moz released the results of its 2015 Search Engine Rankings Factors examination, featuring input from more than 150 leading search marketers and data culled from extensive correlation studies performed on high-ranking websites. The information is all geared toward Google’s algorithm, but the concepts generally apply to any engine and of course Google is the search industry standard.
You can dig into the SEO study results here , but today we’ll take a look at some of the key takeaways.
This refers, in a basic sense, to the dot-com (or dot-net, dot-org, etc.) domain where you host your company’s website. Is your site name short and unique? Does it match up to the keywords that you’ve built your content around? Do other authoritative sources link to it? Does it have a strong PageRank? These are all important questions when it comes to root-level link features, and while many of them need to be primary considerations in the initial planning stage of your website, there are ongoing tweaks and adjustments that can be made to optimize.
These dig deeper into the meat of your site, applying the same concepts mentioned above on a more granular level. Again, PageRank is vital here, as are trust metrics, inbound/outbound link source quality, anchor text distribution and more. As you can see from the almost non-existent gap in Moz’s influence ratings (8.22 out of 10 vs. 8.19 out of 10), page-level features are almost equally weighted with domain-level. These factors are more easily adjusted and optimized through a strategic SEO campaign.
And that is one big reason that content marketing has become such a fixture for digital marketers — the SEO benefits are significant and growing all the time as algorithms become more intelligent and complex. Ensuring that your website has dynamic, relevant content in terms of on-page copy, blogs and keyword usage is critical. The weight of page-level keyword and content features relative to the last study two years ago has grown, and that trend only figures to continue.
No matter which factor we’re talking about — domain names, page URLs, on-page content — relevance almost always ranks among the most important aspects. If you want your website to rank well, it is absolutely imperative that you have defined focus keywords and tailor your links, content and anchor text around them.
Social Metrics were the lowest-ranking factor listed on Moz’s report, checking in beneath Domain-Level Keyword-Agnostic Features. However, the authors did note that “the number of social shares a page accumulates tends to a show a positive correlation with rankings,” and made this acknowledgment: “Although there is strong reason to believe Google doesn’t use social share counts directly in its algorithm, there are many secondary SEO benefits to be gained through successful social sharing.” In other words, while heightened social media activity might not play directly into Google’s algorithm, there is substantial evidence that it does lead to higher traffic, through search and otherwise.
How does your site rate across the emphasized category within the Moz report, such as domain-level and page-level link features, content and keyword relevance, and social and brand features? For a free SEO report, simply take a few seconds to fill out this form.
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]]>The post Marketing on a Budget: Tips for Small Business appeared first on Top Source Media.
]]>There are, however, a number of strategies that can be used by a small business to level the playing field, especially in the digital landscape. A little bit of money can go a long way if you know the best ways to utilize it.
Here are some marketing methods we recommend for small businesses that want to get the most out of their budgets.
When it comes to targeting mainstream, high-competition keywords in your search engine optimization strategy, you’re likely to get muscled out by larger companies that can afford to bid far more for clicks. The better strategy is to form your own niche and aim for long-tail keywords (in other words, multi-word phrases that describe your product or service — or some aspect of it — more specifically). A few months ago we wrote a lengthy article on why long-tail keywords are an SEO staple, and it’s definitely worth reading if you’re looking to maximize the impact of your SEO bucks.
There are inherent up-front costs involved with many forms of marketing and advertising, but content marketing is a bit of a different animal and that’s one thing that makes it so popular. Starting a blog requires only committing the time of a capable employee with writing skills, or hiring a content specialist, which tends to be relatively cheap. Suddenly you’re updating your site’s content regularly (great for SEO), while also giving current and potential clients a destination to read up on your subject matter knowledge and expertise. The statistics are striking: companies that blog receive 97 percent more inbound links and 67 percent more leads than those that do not.
Continually updating your social media accounts is a fairly easy way to maintain an active digital presence while also keeping another pipeline open for traffic to your website. In order to make sure you do it right, and have a legitimate strategy built around it, you may want to bring on a third-party social media consultant, but this tends to be more affordable than many other marketing services. Additionally, creating even a small budget for paid social promotion will capture a lot of eyeballs. We went over some crazy social media marketing numbers last week.
Large-scale digital marketing agencies can do great work — there is a reason they’ve gotten to where they’re at — but they often aren’t a great choice for small or medium sized businesses. For one thing, they are expensive, sometimes prohibitively so. And secondly, they aren’t necessarily in touch with the priorities and needs of a newer company that is still finding its footing. By working with a smaller agency, you’ll be enlisting a partner that has faced similar challenges of its own, and can offer applied techniques for breaking through with limited resources.
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]]>The post Does Your Business Need a Mobile App? appeared first on Top Source Media.
]]>Rovio’s highly entertaining bird-slinging diversion is a shining example of what success can look like in the mobile app space. The original Angry Birds went viral thanks to its colorful design, easy-to-grasp controls and rewarding gameplay. But even outside of the gaming category, plenty of other companies have launched mobile apps with excellent results. The barriers to entry are lower than ever, as almost anyone can get their mobile app to appear in the Apple Store and Google Play by following the proper steps, so creating one is a strategy that all businesses ought to consider.
Before taking the plunge, here are five questions that you should ask yourself:
In many cases, an app is transactional, allowing customers to make purchases or access services directly. But that’s not always the case. If you can build a useful tool that fits your industry — say, a financial calculator or a training resource — and specify it to your brand, you’ll have a likely winner on your hands. Before you even begin the process of planning and developing an app, make sure you have a solidified plan in place as far as who your audience is and why they will want it (or better yet, need it).
The last question is a prerequisite for this one, but even if you feel you have built a quality app that people will desire, are you going to be able to promote it and get downloads? The downside to the aforementioned lowered barriers of entry is that there’s stiff competition in the mobile app space, regardless of what category you’re aiming for. Google Play, the marketplace for Android, was estimated recently to have 1.4 million apps available. If you’re going to set aside the time, effort and resources required to build and launch an app, make sure you’re ready to follow up with paid promotions and a strong SEO strategy to increase visibility once it’s in the app stores.
There’s always a bottom line. While there is certainly value in the exposure and 24/7 connectivity involved with simply getting people to download your app, at the end of the day you have to justify the expense of developing and promoting it. You can charge money to download the app, but you’d have to give people a real good reason to pay for it or your user totals will suffer. Another popular option is adding in-app purchases and upgrades. Not all apps are designed to be revenue generators (for instance, you may want to establish your brand as an expert in a particular niche, or simply provide customer support) but at the end of the day there needs to be a defined benefit.
Most companies do not have a mobile app developer on staff, meaning that enlisting a third-party individual or agency will be necessary. Are you prepared to choose the right one? Do you know what to look for? Do you have a specific vision in mind for your app, that you can clearly communicate? When it comes to finding a mobile app development company, Entrepreneur listed 10 questions to ask yourself during the selection process.
Mobile apps are trendy and offer numerous perks, but in many cases, simply optimizing your website for mobile devices can work just as well if not better. Ask yourself this: Is an app really going to accomplish anything that my website doesn’t already? Could you invest the funds that would otherwise go toward app development instead toward adding mobile-specific functionality to your site?
From strategy to consulting to execution, the team at Top Source Media knows how to navigate the crucially important world of mobile. Chat with us today about where your mobile presence is at, and where you’d like it to be.
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]]>The post How Can I Convert More Online Customers? appeared first on Top Source Media.
]]>Yet, it happens very frequently. Studies show that almost 70 percent of online carts are abandoned, meaning the visitor selected items but dropped out somewhere in the checkout process. The reasons for this can vary considerably, and aren’t always attributable to anything being wrong with the website. But there are a few steps you can take to combat cart abandonment and reduce attrition. Even if you don’t run an ecommerce website, we believe you’ll find these tips helpful when it comes to turning visitors to customers:
Clean and functional checkout page
People don’t tend to have a lot of patience with websites that are slow to load or glitchy. If technical problems are occurring when an individual is trying to check out, there’s a good chance you’ll lose them. Ensure that your checkout page is easy to navigate and free of snags.
Customer trust features
We talked about the qualities of a secure website in-depth a couple weeks ago. Adding touches such as security badges, third-party payment vendors and easily identifiable contact information will make users feel more comfortable completing a transaction through your site.
If your business involves sending physical products, this is a huge conversion booster. Research consistently points to shipping costs as the top reason for cart abandonment. In many cases, offering free shipping is simply not a tenable strategy, but if you can offer a discount or a first-time buyer special, you’re sure to see good results. At the very least, be very transparent with shipping costs during the checkout process and don’t drop surprising fees on the shopper at the end of the line.
Product images and reviews
People tend to be more skittish about making purchases online as opposed to in person for a very obvious reason: we feel more comfortable buying something that we can actually see and touch. You can mitigate this issue by including many pictures (or even videos) of your products, as well as real-life testimonials from people who have enjoyed them.
Quality traffic
One frequent culprit for low conversion percentages is a lack of targeted, relevant visitors. Users that are coming to your site for the wrong reasons aren’t necessarily likely to take the desired actions. Through your traffic acquisition tactics (SEO, paid search, etc.) make sure that you’re focusing on the right keywords and bringing in the right leads.
Mobile compatibility
We mention this all the time, and with good reason. It is quickly becoming the single most important consideration with any website. Mobile users outnumber desktop PC users on the Web and the percentage is only trending higher. If your site, and particularly your checkout process, is not mobile-friendly, you’re losing out.
Guest checkout
Getting a user to register before making a purchase is great. It allows you to capture their contact info and strongly increases the chances for repeat business. However, forcing users to register in order to make a purchase is a mistake, and one that will cause you to lose sales. Provide the option to check out as a guest but give them incentive to register (e.g., discounted shipping or a free ebook).
Expert help
All of the above initiatives may require the help of a partner that knows how to build websites and drive traffic. Here at Top Source, we specialize in both. Contact us and let’s chat about converting more customers your business!
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]]>The post 5 Highly Effective Forms of Email Marketing appeared first on Top Source Media.
]]>There are, however, a few inherent challenges involved with launching a successful email marketing campaign. The first is building a list of people that want to receive your messages. We served up some tips for collecting opt-in email addresses last month. The second is determining what kind of content you want to send out.
If you’re filling inboxes with nothing but promotions and self-serving communications, you’re probably going to end up with a lot of unsubscribes and spam complaints. The absolute No. 1 imperative for your email marketing strategy is that you must provide content that is valuable to the reader. If they’re giving you their contact information and their attention, don’t take it for granted. If you can reach a point where list members actually looking forward to opening your emails, you’ve built a meaningful and valuable relationship.
Here are five forms of email marketing communications that can delight your recipients.
The most common and well known form of email marketing, newsletters offer a wide array of possibilities. Create content that is stylistically entertaining and engaging, and that is relevant to your audience. Try to strike an 80/20 or even 90/10 balance between informational and promotional material. Don’t be afraid to take a minimalist approach, with sparse design elements and small chunks of copy for easy scanning. Above all, make sure to have an overarching direction and angle that unifies the entire package.
Keeping up with all the news, especially in niche industries, can be difficult for professionals who are busy throughout the day. Make it easier on them by rounding up all the key stories and developments, and compiling them into a condensed, summarized digest. If you get it right, your email will be one that your subscribers can’t miss. That’s gold.
The standard practice with email marketing is to create a single version of a message and send it out a large list. Sure, you might add personalization tokens and “smart content,” so that the recipient’s name appears in the copy or certain sections appear only to certain segments of your audience, but by and large the cookie-cutter approach reigns supreme. What if you actually took the time to create customized messaging, with advice and business recommendations acutely aimed at specific individuals or companies? Obviously, this involves a lot more time and thought, but the pay-off could be big, with great opportunities for promotion and upsells that don’t come off as impersonal plugs.
Everybody loves a good deal! Including exclusive coupons in your emails is a great way to make subscribers feel special, and also an effective method of getting them to click “Open.” The same goes for contests with desirable prizes. You certainly don’t want to overdo it with these kinds of promos, as they can start to feel very gimmicky, but it’s a proven tactic for capturing attention.
Why go it alone? Co-marketing refers to a partnership between two or more companies where both sides jointly market one another’s products or services. This allows you to potentially tap into new audiences while also collaborating with another business that may add its own experiences and insights to the mix. Find clever and fun ways to tie your offerings together and bring value to your customers.
Get your email marketing kicked into gear! We can help you plan and execute a campaign that connects with readers. Tell us about your company and we’ll help pinpoint an approach that makes sense for you.
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