That slow website is hurting your sales! Studies show that a one-second delay in load time leads to a 7% drop in lead conversions, 11% decline in page views, and 16% reduction in customer satisfaction. People want a website to load quickly, especially on their phones. For an online store that makes $10,000 daily, a one-second delay could cost you well over $250,000 in sales yearly. That’s unacceptable whichever way you look at it.
But, it’s not just loss of sales that make it crucial to work on your site speed. Here are 4 additional reasons why a fast site is good for business.
Thanks to the smartphone, the human attention span has shrunk to just 8 seconds from 12 seconds in 2000. Simply put, if your site takes more than four seconds to load, that’s half your traffic gone!
Basic psychology tells us that humans are more at ease when they feel in control of a situation. Forcing people to wait for your site to load leads to a perceived loss of control. That loss can mean they click backward and go somewhere else!
Forrester Research found that 56% of bankers and brokers expect a web page to load within two seconds. Anything higher than that often leads to negative user experience and negative feedback. Did you know that a slow site can actually hurt your brand reputation?
32% of consumers abandon a site after waiting for two to three seconds for a page to load. Compared to sites that take one second or less to load, sites that take more than three seconds have 50-135% higher bounce rates.
With these statistics in mind, you need to improve your load times. Choosing the fastest web hosting provider is the first step you should take. If that is already done, check your current speeds to know how much room you have for improvement. Here are my top five tools you can use for a website speed test.
Perhaps the most popular website speed testing tool on earth, tools.Pingdom.com is best known for its ease of use and detailed tests. You can filter resources by load order, file size, and page size. Once the test is completed, your site will be rated out of a possible 100.
WebPageTest was also developed by a Google engineer and is an open source project. A major advantage of the tool is that it even allows you to perform multi-step transaction tests. At the end of the test, you get a detailed report with plenty of information on improvements that can be made on your site.
If you’re looking for a simple website speed testing tool, this is the one. GTmetrix provides easy-to-digest yet comprehensive site analysis and even gives tips from Google PageInsights and YSlow, making it a one-stop-shop for all your site speed optimization needs.
With KeyCDN, you can select from 14 different locations around the world to determine the download time of your site from that physical location. You’ll be glad to know that unlike other tools, KeyCDN also supports HTTP/2.
Developed by Google, PageSpeed Insights runs two separate tests; a speed test of the overall site and the load time of the above-the-fold content. You need 85 out of 100 points for each test for your site to be categorized as fast enough. At this time, this is the most unreliable speed test. It will probably become more reliable as Google improves this feature.
Don’t let slow load times slow your growth. Check your site speed today, make the necessary adjustments, and watch as your conversions skyrocket.
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Are you getting the most out of your blog content? How about I give you 5 ways to reuse blog content to the max?!?
You spend hours on each post, researching information, looking up keywords, finding photos, creating graphics and all the other details that go into writing a blog post. You publish, then you share on social media, and you move on.
What if there could be MORE life from that hard-earned work! Yes, there can be and should be!
Join me as we dive in to give you 5 ways to reuse blog content to the max...
Just a note...you are going to start seeing some shifts in my podcast episodes as I broaden my podcast focus. I'm going to focus on web, social, and business as I have, but I'm going to more intentionally focus on a few key areas that have grown in importance for me: Fitness and Mission. I'm all about having each of us living life to the fullest and that happens best when we are healthy and have a focus and mission. I'll be sharing stories from my journey and what I'm learning along the way!
Ready to dive in?
[powerpress]
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Are you getting the most out of your blog content?
Repurposing your blog content is one of the most efficient ways to use your resources.
Here are a few ideas to get you started on great ways to repurpose your blog content.
1. As a video
2. With a Infographic
3. Into a CTA Ebook
4. Blog Syndication
5. As a Podcast audio version
Tip Time: Do you have a "Teflon Coating"? I note that in life you NEED a Teflon coating! (from my book: Add Value. Be Uncommon."
Does your blog post have short, sweet snippets of information and data points? Leverage this formatting for infographics that add visual appeal to your content. Create shareable infographics that are well suited to embed on other websites and social media profiles.
Does your blog post have short, sweet snippets of information and data points? Leverage this formatting for infographics that add visual appeal to your content. Create shareable infographics that are well suited to embed on other websites and social media profiles.
Chances are, you publish a lot of blog posts on similar topics. With a little effort you can pull these posts together, write an introduction, and group them into full chapters. Now you've got a Ebook and it can be used to grow your email list as a Call-to-Action (CTA) on your website!
Your readers get a convenient way to consume a large amount of your content through one file, and you get a high-value asset to use as a lead magnet.
Syndicate your high-quality blog posts. LinkedIn Publisher and Medium for example are hosted blog platforms where you can re-use your post and reach audiences who spend time there.
Some blog post types work well for different formats, such as a transcript for a podcast post. Simply record yourself going through the blog post and sharing the information as it was written or presenting it in a different form or with variation.
Maximize your ROI by repurposing your blog post content. When you think outside the box, you can come up with dozens of repurposing ideas for your content marketing strategy.
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I’m an Indiana Hoosier native where basketball is the top sport. Every team heads to the locker room at halftime to evaluate the first half and create an updated plan for the second half. That plan includes adjustments based on reviewing what worked and what didn't. The “halftime” is a key review point where the game stops, the team pulls away to huddle in the locker room away from the fans, and they come out prepared and ready to succeed in the second half.
That’s what this podcast is all about, taking the time to pull away for a bit to evaluate, learn, and set some strategies for your business to succeed in the second half. Join me by subscribing and let me be your “business halftime” to help you find great success going forward!
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Any business hoping to improve their online presence needs to be active on social media. Social media has had a dramatic effect on how companies market themselves. However, it takes more than just having an account to have an effective social media presence. In tandem, social media works with your existing online web presence. A plugin called Social Welfare integrates social media with your WordPress website and adds some handy features to enable your web pages to be shared on social media.
Social Warfare adds share buttons for the most popular social media sites directly on your WordPress site. Pick which social media sites you want to display (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc) and modify the buttons in several ways. These buttons (floating or stationary) can have customized colors, shapes, and sizes to fit your site’s theme and a key benefit is that they work on any size screen, both desktop and smartphone.
Create a customized Twitter post for visitors to share an article complete with images with just a click. You can also create Tweetable quotes within articles, integrate Pinterest images, and automatically create customized Twitter Cards.
The Popular Post widget displays a list of the most popular blog articles based on the number of social media shares and posts that each has received in total. It's a nice way to highlight your best content.
Aside from each button listing the number of times an article has been shared on a platform (including Twitter) you can also customize the display. This keeps the share number hidden until the article has been shared a minimum amount of times. Share counts are also maintained if you move from HTTP to HTTPS.
Allows you to block any changes to your share link material. This keeps people from making changes to the brand voice and messaging you're presenting on social media.
Social Warfare is friendly to developers letting you add to it with 3rd party plugins.
Track how far your posts reach and how they perform on various social media platforms.
Social Warfare has two price tiers Free and Pro. The free version offers the most popular social media sites and basic features. However, it lacks the customization features, advanced data collection, and the complete list of social media sites the Pro version has. The Pro version is priced on a per year basis and its costs are based on the number of sites you use it on. Costs are as follows:
A single site is $29 per year.
Five sites are $135 per year.
Ten sites are $250 per year.
I’d say start with the free version and explore it first. Buy the Pro version to take advantage of its additional customization features.
Social Warfare passes the speed test by not slowing down your websites loading time. It offers many features in an easy to use format. You don’t have to be an expert developer to get the most out of it. The buttons are attractive to visitors while also adding a very useful feature to your WordPress website.
It also allows you access to valuable metadata to track how successful your social media posts are, see what works, and change what doesn't. With that in mind, before you go out and get it, especially if you’re going for the paid tier, you should hire a WordPress developer to make sure the installation goes smoothly and everything is set up right.
Overall, this is my #1 recommended website social media sharing plugin right now!
Facebook and Instagram continue to evolve and make changes....most being good for marketing purposes! Here's a few of the latest key changes for Facebook and Instagram.
Admin privileges within Facebook Messenger give you more control by allowing you to approve new members of a Message Group, remove members, and change any other person in the group chat as an admin. It’s very similar to what exists in Facebook Groups currently.
It means Messenger is growing up and becoming more of a broader mass chat tool. It is helpful for larger message groups, to be able to add team members who can approve members before they join your chat. This is a move by Facebook to make group chat more of a business tool, a way for a business to have a “quick access” communication method to their core clients/community. Think of it as a new tool more narrowly focused than an email marketing blast and definitely more geared towards interactive exchanges.
Joinable Links allows easy access for people to join your Messenger chat group by creating custom links to share with others.
Note the theme of new Messenger tools to make Messenger more mainstream for Page use and group chat? You can give share link to a person or group of people to join a conversation and they can be added to the group automatically or by admin approval with just one tap. Keep your eye on Messenger as it becomes a new means to communicate. Think of it first more for small groups, like your team, or a customer testing group for new products, etc. A way to offer personalization and fast communication.
Facebook is adding a feature to help people have more accurate information to decide what to read, trust and share in their news feed. Can we say “Fake News Reaction”??
Facebook knows they have lost trust and ground with missteps on the security of information and ease of fake news being published. This is a corrective measure. This helps people verify stories they read by providing more context about the article, publisher, the same topic, how many times it’s been shared, and ability to follow publisher’s page. Not really a business-specific tool at this point but an important move and one to watch.
Get ready for more of a “seamless store experience on Instagram.” From Instagram:
“In November, we began testing a new shopping experience that made it easier for people to find, evaluate and track relevant products on Instagram. Posts with tags have an icon that makes discovery simple. If a product catches your eye, there’s a space to explore, where you can easily tap to see more details from products featured in posts, and even click to a business’s website if you’re ready to buy.”
Now expanding to more businesses are product tags that provide more detailed information on the product when tapped and allow for a smooth way to see products and make purchases.
This is BIG! This was only available to a few select businesses, but with its success, it will be expanding to more businesses. You still must be approved in order to have this feature. Details here. This will begin a big move to enable e-commerce on Instagram. There is a setup curve that businesses will face but this is a big leap forward and change for Instagram as a whole. What would it be like for your business to have an easy way for Instagram followers to swipe, click, view, and buy right on Instagram!
This takes the businesses ad post and automatically provides a full-screen option of the content in Instagram Stories fashion. Via the Instagram Blog:
"When a business uploads a single photo or a video under 15 seconds within Instagram Feed aspect ratios, Instagram will automatically provide full-screen support for this content on Instagram Stories."
It’s never been easier for businesses to create Instagram stories from their posts. A nice innovation and it makes advertising on Instagram a more attractive destination for businesses. This is something we’ll be experimenting with.
That’s the bottom line on a few of the latest social media updates that I believe can impact your business and organization marketing! Check out the links for more information. My aim is to give you a quick “cheat-sheet” that adds value!
Not converting enough website visitors into buyers? Many factors influence whether your website visitors become a lead and, eventually, a customer. Here are ten tactics you can use to lift up a lagging website conversion rate and create the lead pipeline your company needs.
Social proof is an excellent way to boost credibility in the eyes of your audience, especially when experts endorse your products and services. Reach out to influencers in your industry and find someone to write a testimonial or review. Add these in prominent locations on your site.
Don't confuse people. Be clear what the next step you want your visitors to take. Use a prominent call to action that takes them to a sign-up page or form.
Their email inboxes are already filled with marketing messages. Why should they give out their information to yet another organization? Give them a compelling reason. Give them exclusive discount codes, valuable guides or other incentives.
A text-only page won't hold a visitor's attention as long as pictures and video. Make sure to create a multimedia experience to drive higher engagement numbers and increase your chances of a conversion.
Sometimes the barrier to converting is simple. Make sure your call to action is linked to the correct page. If your visitors can't click through to your forms, then they can't become leads.
Outside of incredibly niche specific products and services, you probably have a fair amount of competition that people can access with a few clicks. Tell your audience exactly what makes you different and why they should spend their money with you.
The customer experience is an essential part of winning over leads and converting them into customers. When you treat potential customers right at the beginning of your relationship, they're more likely to think of you when they're ready to convert from a lead to a customer.
Of course, you can't have a good lead conversion rate if you don't use a lead generation form. A common way of capturing attention is using an exit intent popup. When a visitor moves their cursor up to the search bar the form automatically pops up. It's the perfect way to get an email address before they leave your site.
Sometimes it's tempting to get creative with your landing page. However, the tried and true designs are tried and true for a reason - they work. You want to be as user-friendly as possible, with a straightforward design that naturally encourages visitors to convert into leads. Stay away from complex or overly intricate web pages. Keep it simple to make it clear the action they should take.
Get additional traffic with your social media accounts. Provide valuable content, and you can encourage click-throughs to your landing pages. This is done by sharing on social media and using features like Facebook Ads to target the exact type of customer you are seeking to reach.
With a focus on these 10 tips, your lead conversion rates from your website can significantly improve. The key is to implement and evaluate.
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Have you been to New York City? Have you toured Times Square and Central Park?
How about RUNNING 13.1 miles through New York City? Now that's a unique view!
I did run New York City, and I had a great time! This podcast episode is about my run, my training and the life lessons I learned along the way that you can draw from to inspire and sharpen your daily walk in work and life.
We started in Prospect Park in Brooklyn and ran Flatbush Avenue to the Manhattan Bridge. We had one side of the bridge to ourselves and it was spectacular crossing the East River and viewing the Manhattan Skyline (see video below). Once in Manhattan we ran north along the river and then turned west onto 42nd St. and headed into primetime with a glorious right turn north into Times Square! We continued north through Times Square and into Central Park where we did nearly a full loop to finish out the 13.1 mile race.
Just a note...this is a different podcast from my norm. You are going to start seeing some shifts in my podcast episodes as I broaden my podcast focus. I'm going to focus on web, social, and business as I have, but I'm going to more intentionally focus on a few key areas that have grown in importance for me: Fitness and Mission. I'm all about having each of us living life to the fullest and that happens best when we are healthy and have a focus and mission. I'll be sharing stories from my journey and what I'm learning along the way!
Ready to dive in?
Subscribe: Halftime Mike on iTunes | Android users via RSS | Listen on Stitcher.
Early in the run in downtown Brooklyn
Running through Times Square, New York City #UnitedNYCHalf
My Brother-in-Law and I celebrating the NYC Half finish!
NYC Half Finish with Skyline Backdrop
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I’m an Indiana Hoosier native where basketball is the top sport. Every team heads to the locker room at halftime to evaluate the first half and create an updated plan for the second half. That plan includes adjustments based on reviewing what worked and what didn't. The “halftime” is a key review point where the game stops, the team pulls away to huddle in the locker room away from the fans, and they come out prepared and ready to succeed in the second half.
That’s what this podcast is all about, taking the time to pull away for a bit to evaluate, learn, and set some strategies for your business to succeed in the second half. Join me by subscribing and let me be your “business halftime” to help you find great success going forward!
Subscribe: Halftime Mike on iTunes | Android users via RSS | Listen on Stitcher.
2017 saw an explosion in the prices of and consequently the public interest in cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin’s price skyrocketed over 1300% from January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2017. Bitcoin’s main serious contender, Ethereum, saw even more astounding gains of over 9300%. As the price grew, so did public interest, and businesses certainly took notice. Mainstream businesses have famously started to accept cryptocurrencies, and the free publicity for both the cryptocurrency world and the business has marketers wondering: will crypto affect my business? And if it does, how will it?
The first thing to define is the technology itself. Blockchain is basically a network of computers (called nodes) that collectively process an open ledger of bank accounts. People call these bank accounts addresses, and many people store their information in specialized software called wallets. The most important aspects of cryptocurrencies are immutability, distribution, and decentralization.
Immutability means past transactions cannot be changed without changing the whole blockchain, but the nodes rely on a consensus and none will accept an altered chain. The decentralization aspect of the blockchain means there is no entity that can control it. And finally, the network is distributed around the world on different nodes, so there is always a copy somewhere, even if some nodes are destroyed or shut down by authorities.
There are several potential problems with digital marketing today. The user base is fragmented, partially due to bubble worlds created by the advertising networks. Perhaps more importantly, users who have seen their privacy erode through invasive advertising techniques have started to fight back, installing adblockers in droves.
Websites dependent on revenue defend their advertisement networks by refusing to serve content to adblock users, which perpetuates a cycle of mistrust from the users already employing adblockers. Unfortunately, this only serves to exacerbate the problem.
In addition to the adblock issue and fragmentation, there is the issue of the middleman. One of the most touted goals of blockchain is to remove the middlemen, thereby increasing privacy and lowering transaction costs. For content creators, these transaction costs manifest in the form of being permitted to use platforms like Google and Facebook. But Google and Facebook take huge chunks of the revenue, flooding their coffers with cash while the content creators and their advertising teams are starved for income.
Even worse, these behemoth platforms operate for their own benefit under opaque or even hidden frameworks, leaving content developers in the dark about how a change may affect them until it already has. The recent brouhaha regarding YouTube monetization changes shows how much impact platforms have on entire communities, directly aimed at benefiting the platform itself and those at the top already. Blockchain can change this paradigm.
Improving blockchain advertising requires a strategic approach and expert advice to navigate the unique challenges and opportunities presented by this emerging technology. Additionally, experts recommend exploring decentralized ad networks and platforms that leverage blockchain to eliminate intermediaries, reduce costs, and offer more direct connections between advertisers and audiences. Blokpoint has a wide range of understanding to improve your strategy.
Cutting out the middleman will certainly increase revenues for the content creators and the advertisers who receive their income from said creators. Perhaps more interestingly, though, is the reduction of invasive advertising software. If consumers feel safe in visiting a site that won’t track them, they are more likely to allow advertisements onto their web pages. Most people understand that free-to-consume content is paid for by advertisements. Further, most people do not wish to deprive the creators they love of the revenue they deserve. However, self-preservation takes precedent, and for that reason, many users install adblockers.
One blockchain solution to the invasion and opacity of the platforms and advertising networks is to monetize interaction. When a user views or otherwise interacts with an advertisement, they can be paid for that interaction (in a cryptocurrency). Then, as the user gathers coins, they can pay their favorite creators directly with that currency. Since blockchains are public and transparent by nature, everyone knows which advertisements are recording information. Nontransparent ads will be shunned, but blockchain-connected ads will be allowed by users. Subsequently, the creators will receive payments for their efforts directly from viewers.
That is a good question. Technology moves fast, but social trends may lag behind. One of the most prominent projects to implement the monetization of ad interaction is the Brave Browser. However, with Google’s strong grip on browsers worldwide (under Chrome), it may take some time for this paradigm shift to occur. Not least because Google, an advertising company, will likely push back against the developments.
A business cannot function at an optimum level in the modern business marketplace without some form of social media presence as part of their marketing mix.
Social media management software allows your company to organize and manage your social media strategy and networks in a more efficient manner. There are lots of options for social media management apps. Each has its unique features, and there’s something for everyone.
Three of the most popular social media management solutions are Social Aider, SmarterQueue, and HootSuite.
Unfortunately, there's no single solution that offers everything one may need to manage a social media marketing strategy as everyone has different tastes and needs.
Each app platform offers its own pros and cons. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. The app that will work best for your business depends on your wants, needs, and budget.
Many companies overspend on software and pay for features they never use. So it's essential to keep your business needs in mind when choosing a management tool.
Check out the main features of these three social media management tools:
Social Aider's one-year free trial gives you plenty of time to see if it works for you. A bit of a drawback to the free trial is that you're limited to 150 social media posts a month.
The free version is robust and it's features include:
However, it does not yet have some more advanced features you may want such as in-depth analytics, and more advanced tools.
The paid version of Social Aider (affiliate link) is very affordable with packages starting at $4.99 per month for 300 posts after its one year trial. More expensive packages come with a higher post count.
Depending on your needs it can be a versatile and affordable solution to manage and schedule social media posts.
SmarterQueue is a powerful tool with a robust feature set.
Some of its more notable features include:
It has a variety of price packages and a 14-day free trial.
SmarterQueue is well liked by users, but it can take time to curate your content library and set up to your liking.
HootSuite is a widely used social media management platform that has a large user base with small and large businesses alike.
It has the features you’d expect and some others that come in really handy:
The best thing, it's easy to use. It has a month free trial and several different pricing packages.
Users have noted that it has a somewhat outdated user interface.
While HootSuite has a free option, the more feature rich plans can get very expensive quickly. If you need a versatile platform with few limitations the more expensive packages can be worth it.
Statusbrew is a another powerful social media management tool with a robust feature set. Statusbrew helps you power your Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google Plus accounts with a user friendly, but also extended interface. Pricing starts at $300/year.
Some of its more notable features include:
So that is a quick guide to multiple different social media management platforms. These tools allow you post to your social accounts from one location. As well as monitor and respond to comments. There are more out there but that’s three of them you can look into!
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People will not simply give out their email address without a good reason. Give them something of value in exchange for their contact details, this is what a free opt-in offer can do. This offer of value is typically rich in information that subscribers need to solve their problems. It can be an e-book, whitepaper, case study, workbook, etc., or it could be a coupon or video.
It may sound strange to give away something for free to generate more business, but it works. A free opt-in offer is a reliable way to build trust and to build your email list.
First-time visitors to your website often are not ready to make a purchase. They’re looking around and comparing their options. They want to do research and understand your company and offerings, so they won’t give you money at this stage. But they may give you their email address if they receive something they’re interested in. From visitors, they turn into potential leads, which you can nurture via email marketing and ultimately turn a portion into sales.
Determine what challenges and problems your target audience wants to solve. It’s better if you pick a topic that hasn’t been addressed much. Next, think of solutions your products and services provide. Voila! You’ve got your topic.
Create the content for your free offer. Decide on the format. Is it a step-by-step guide? An infographic? A checklist? Something else? Be ready to do research, repurpose and expand old content, etc. You want to be as informative and authoritative as possible, so visitors see you as an expert and trust you.
An offer can be valuable and still get ignored if the design isn’t compelling. Good design makes things look professional. Fortunately, you don’t need to spend a lot of money. Canva is a free graphic design web tool that creates professional looking graphics quickly and easily.
Using a website software tool like Waftio.com or Optin-Monster you can create a widget or pop-up box to add to your website to draw attention to your offer.
Set up your free email opt-in offer on a landing page on your website. Design a landing page with engaging copy and attention-grabbing graphics. Add a link to your landing page to your social media accounts to draw more eyes, and keep the form simple, name and email address to get more submissions.
This simple four-step plan should help you easily create a free opt-in offer for your website. A free-opt in offer is one of the fastest ways to generate a list of leads and future customers.
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Becoming a successful businessperson is not only about having a savvy mind for making those tough decisions, there is a whole host of characteristics and traits that people can work towards to succeed in business and life. You can also leverage your knowledge and skills on handling business matters, with an mba in executive leadership online, for example, as you'll be able to assert a sense of credibility and authority among your peers. Just a few simple things can help transform your thinking and take you in the right direction towards critical and constructive thinking. Starting and running a successful business can be tough but using your strengths can help you learn to control many contrasting thoughts and decisions that need to be made on a daily basis. A great way to learn the ropes is by listening to the trials and tribulations of people that have experienced first hand the hardships and successes of business. This will give you an invaluable insight into how you can make it as an entrepreneur for future growth. According to Tony Robbins from theknowledgebusinessblueprint.net being around people who are successful and listening to their advice is one of the best ways to get yourself to the same level too.
Take a look at some the main characteristics you may need to forge a successful path in business.
This is one of the most important aspects for future business owners. You could have the best business idea in the world, but without the right attitude and respect for others, this could be a non-starter from the outset. An important part of developing a business is creating the values that surround your brand message. You don’t want this message to be shrouded in negative energy, as it will soon start filtering down to customer level. Also, for successful business people, it is also important to help pave the way for future entrepreneurs, as being defensive and protective over simple things will make you isolated and unable to partner effectively for future growth.
It is vital to harmonize your life. Rather than be all work and no play or vice versa, you need to find a happy medium. For instance, many employees and employers make the mistake of not taking their full lunch break. By not doing so, you put yourself at risk. Whether you go for a walk, sit down and keep tabs on your football team at https://www.unibet.co.uk/blog/football or you read a magazine, make sure it’s something that you enjoy and can thoroughly unwind with.
Another way to reap the rewards is having the right people by your side; this could be in the form of choosing employees that support your goals or finding partners that are willing to help you bring your brand to market. Such a support network is developed by trusting and respecting other people and the job they do. As the saying goes, ‘no man is an island,’ and the same can be said if you are looking to grow and develop as a person and a business. Knowing when to trust people and when to put your guard up is an interesting trait, however, it can save you from making mistakes with the wrong people, which can knock your confidence in determining other characteristics and strengths.
A key to success is using the right tools and software can be a difference maker. Succeeding in a business is every business owners aspiration. Asset Bank can help you do just this. This wonderful digital asset management software can really improve your business.
There are many traits to help you become more successful in business so looking a little deeper into your own strengths can help you pave the way for future wealth.
Google Analytics is such a powerful tool for web marketers. Why? Well, for starters, think about the amount of data you can extract from this free tool for your website, from top pages to the web page a user was on before they came to your site, the information is massive!
Before you dive into Google Analytics, you have to know what you're looking. If you have any experience with Google Analytics, you have likely noticed it holds a load of information. Not all of it is easy to understand, let alone use in your marketing plans. So what can you do?
Here a few helpful hacks to take your campaigns to the next level!
These will allow you to dig deeper and gain insights that will inform your future marketing campaigns. Here's how you can add a boost to your marketing with Google Analytics:
There's data you can't readily access with Google Analytics. Unfortunately, it can be quite difficult to get an understanding of what you are doing right or wrong in your campaigns. One way to get around this is to use Google's Queries tool to collect important information on keyword groups. By creating profile filters, you can find out where traffic has been going and find additional keywords.
Nothing can put a damper on your marketing progress like a sudden change in Google's algorithms. To avoid being penalized and losing organic traffic (and profits!), marketers must stay up to date on what Google decides to do next. Here's where Google Analytics swoops in to save the day.
Instead of first hearing about an algorithm update in the news, set up custom alerts in Analytics. It informs you of the change when it happens and allows you to see where traffic has dipped. Alerts give you a chance to monitor and manage the situation and take action quickly!
By using Google Analytics, marketers can take old content and make it new again. Why is this important? Chances are some of your old content is still drawing traffic or quality leads. For some companies, years-old content can still be driving much of their current traffic or be a big conversion driver.
How can you capitalize on that? Take a look and update particularly valuable content assets. Pay attention to things that might be outdated (like Calls-To-Action) and optimize them.
You might be wondering how you single out those pages. For a blog that has thousands of posts, who would want to sit and sift through all the data to grab a few high-performing oldies?
Try these two methods:
Google Analytics' Landing Page report can show you which pages are actually converting.
Use the Search Console and Queries to check out page rankings and impressions.
If you are trying to gain an edge, Google Analytics is an excellent tool. Packed with dozens of features, Analytics offers marketers the chance to extract valuable insights and optimize their strategies for maximum performance. With these hacks, you can craft a strategy that gets results!
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The topics covered in this week's podcast are recent social media updates. Social media platforms change all the time, as well as test new features, and marketers need to keep up!
What worked last month may not be what works best this month!
Join me as we dive in and keep you up-to-date.
Just a note...you are going to start seeing some shifts in my podcast episodes as I broaden my podcast focus. I'm going to focus on web, social, and business as I have, but I'm going to more intentionally focus on a few key areas that have grown in importance for me: Fitness and Mission. I'm all about having each of us living life to the fullest and that happens best when we are healthy and have a focus and mission. I'll be sharing stories from my journey and what I'm learning along the way!
Ready to dive in?
[powerpress]
Subscribe: Halftime Mike on iTunes | Android users via RSS | Listen on Stitcher.
Now in the mobile app, click on the “share” icon and bookmark a tweet to go back to later. Finally! I did not like using the favorite button to save a tweet to refer to later. Also, it will save politicians and brands that, if they favorited an opposing tweet would look like they’re favoriting the opposition’s position, not just saving the tweet for later.
Tested at the NBA ALL-STAR game weekend with consumers and a Nike Air Jordan purchase, the key is whether frictionless purchases could take off within Snapchat.
Watch for Instagram to match it if it does!
Shopify is being tested as a integrated partner.
This is an interesting update to try audio clips for status updates …. Facebook is testing this in India right now. Will it come to all of us? Time will tell. This could mean that Facebook is trying to become a podcasting platform like SoundCloud, PodBean or Lybsyn. Perhaps they are simply trying to see if this stops the decline in time using Facebook per month that started in February
This would duplicate the Snapchat feature. It is not live but was seen in API documentation. Would you want to make a direct call instead of a Direct Message? How about a video call like Facetime within Instagram? We'll see if it rolls out!
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If you enjoyed this episode of the Social Media Marketing podcast, please “go over to iTunes, leave a rating, write a review and subscribe!
Thank you so much for your support!
I’m an Indiana Hoosier native where basketball is the top sport. Every team heads to the locker room at halftime to evaluate the first half and create an updated plan for the second half. That plan includes adjustments based on reviewing what worked and what didn't. The “halftime” is a key review point where the game stops, the team pulls away to huddle in the locker room away from the fans, and they come out prepared and ready to succeed in the second half.
That’s what this podcast is all about, taking the time to pull away for a bit to evaluate, learn, and set some strategies for your business to succeed in the second half. Join me by subscribing and let me be your “business halftime” to help you find great success going forward!
Subscribe: Halftime Mike on iTunes | Android users via RSS | Listen on Stitcher.
You can have a wealth of well written and researched blog postings, however, getting people to stop and read them can be a challenge. Lumen5 can convert blogs and web pages into videos making them engaging and helping your work stand out. It’s almost important to consider since right now video content is performing better on social media than text and links.
Lumen5 converts your blog post into video frames each with a different portion of text and pictures. Images can be selected automatically by the software or edit it by hand and move around the text as needed. Lumen5 is helpful for several reasons. First, reuse existing content without starting completely over. Second, Lumen5 is easier to use than many other video editing platforms. The majority of them have a steep learning curve.
Lumen5 offers three different pricing tiers basic, pro, and business. The basic pricing tier is free but does offer a lot of useful features, video creation of 480p videos, automatic media matching, a large library of free media, and the ability to upload your own logo, videos, and photos.
The pro tier ($49 per month) adds square videos, 720p video quality, more fonts, and the ability to add your own outro and watermark. It also removes the credit screen and Lumen5 branding.
The business tier (starting at $99 per month for one user) adds the ability to upload your own music and fonts, use letterboxing, premium media content, brand presets, multiple users, and create 1080p quality videos.
If you’re looking for an affordable way to create video content and engage more people, Lumen5 offers you an easy way to make your information stand out and reach more people. With the free pricing tier, just sign up to try the software. If it fits your video needs, a paid account offers access to more features.
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Spring and warmer weather are almost here! Social media is changing faster than our weather. Here’s what spring is bringing in for social.
Because Facebook’s algorithm is so bad at showing breaking news they are giving publishers a red, breaking news label to draw readers attention.
Twitter is so good at breaking news I don’t think Facebook will ever keep up.
Facebook now has the option to post your job opening directly to their Job Page and your own page at the same time. Right now these posting look like blue collar and entry-level jobs. But who knows this page has just started.
I think this is a fast, easy, inexpensive way to get a job post. But I will still post on LinkedIn for positions that need more of a technical background.
This is an interesting update …. Facebook is testing in India letting users add voice clips/messages on their profiles.
This could mean that Facebook is trying to become a podcasting platform like SoundCloud, PodBean or Lybsyn. Is this another monetization avenue for Facebook? It could be valuable to "hear" a update, but will it become annoying?
Now in the mobile app, click on the “share” icon and bookmark a tweet to go back to later.
Finally! I hate using the favorite button to save a tweet to refer to latter. Also, it will save politicians and brands that, if they favorited an opposing tweet would look like they’re favoriting the opposition's position, not just saving the tweet for later.
This week’s changes will make social media a better place for brands and businesses.
Are we connected on social? Find me on Facebook at https://fb.com/mikegdigital, Instagram at @mikegingerich and on Twitter at @Mike_Gingerich.
Check out past posts on changes to all the major social media networks.
Sync.com, a cloud storage company, has rave reviews for its strong security and unmatched user privacy. But, is it the best cloud storage service as people claim? Here, we look at an overview of the platform, its key features, and pricing.
Based in Toronto, Sync.com was founded in 2011. The service was created to help small businesses store, share, and access files and folders effortlessly from anywhere around the world.
Sync.com also serves as a collaboration platform, allowing users and clients to work together on projects, similar to how Dropbox and Google Drive function.
While not the biggest name out there, Sync.com boasts several useful and unique features. In some cases even providing better services than the more established platforms. Here are a few of the platform's standout features;
Being a cloud storage service, Sync.com allows users to store large files and later retrieve the files via a web browser, mobile app or desktop software. Cloud storage platforms are also supposed to provide users with additional storage beyond the limits of their hard drive. Sync.com provides users with up to 2TB of storage.
To facilitate collaboration, Sync.com allows users to sync content across multiple devices for easier and faster sharing. Put simply; it doesn’t matter the device your client or co-worker uses. Once a file is uploaded, they can instantly access it on any device, in real-time. You can also invite specific clients/co-workers to check out and make edits to a document.
Sync.com uses 2048-bit RSA as well as 256-bit AES, SSL, and TLS encryption to secure your files and data. For maximum security, encryption is done both on the client and server side, when the data is at rest as well as when files are in transit. Furthermore, the platform uses what is known as zero-knowledge encryption to prevent anyone, even Sync.com employees, from accessing your files.
The majority of small businesses are concerned about losing documents in case of data breaches or natural disasters. If this were to happen, Sync.com allows you to roll back changes made to your files by up to 30 days. And, that is just the basic version. With Sync.com Pro, deleted files remain available forever.
Aside from these features, Sync.com provides; excellent user support (online and offline), a vault service for cloud only storage, selective syncing, and Android and iOS mobile apps.
When you sign up for a Sync.com account, you’ll get a Starter Plan with 5GB of Free storage. After that, you can choose to purchase either the Pro Personal or Pro Business plan.
Costs $8/mo, billed annually and is designed for individual users.
Costs $5/mo per user, also billed annually and is designed for multiple users. Both plans carry a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Everything considered Sync.com is worth the costs. It’s secure, easy to use, and comes packed with incredible features that make businesses a lot easier. If you’re in the market for a reliable file sharing cloud service, Sync.com should be considered for sure.
The first quarter of 2018 is almost over. There have been some major changes for Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and we’re just peeking into March. Here are the newest changes.
Facebook will now clearly say when an ad metric is an estimate, in development or both. Some metrics will be cut as they were not helpful to advertisers. A new initiative called, Measure What Matters, will combine in-person events, online events and content to help businesses learn about measuring and improving campaigns.
This is really good news for advertisers. They will be able to tighten up their campaigns, understand their results and use them to improve the ROI of their ad campaigns.
Instagram is letting businesses schedule posts. Scheduling is only available through 3 party scheduling apps like Hootsuite, AgoraPulse and Later. Instagram does not allow scheduling directly in the app.
Ads still can’t be scheduled in the app as well.
This is awesome! Now businesses can schedule a whole visual campaign at one time. This will allow businesses to be more consistent with their Instagram campaigns for better results.
Twitter is putting an end to services that allow people with lots of accounts batch tweets, follow users, retweet or like tweets. So bot services are being limited. This latest crackdown is in reaction to our latest Presidential elections and the Russian backed election meddling. Some Twitter accounts have lost thousands of followers as the result of this crackdown.
Hopefully, this will end the election interference by other countries.
Good changes this last week that makes social media a better place for everyone.
Let's connect on social! Find me on Facebook at https:fb.com/mikegdigital, Instagram @mikegingerich and on Twitter at @Mike_Gingerich.
For many people, mobile technology is the only way they get on the internet. Because of this your site must be easily accessible on mobile devices. Many businesses have released mobile apps so users can access their site with a single click. It is now possible to turn your WordPress site into a mobile app (Apple and Android) with some easy to use WordPress plugins. These plugins come in a variety of limited free and paid options. The 4 best choices we’ve found are listed below.
There are many different options for mobile app creation. The best choices all involve subscriptions and associated costs. However, much like a good website an app costs money and is worth the expense.
Mobile computing is growing in terms of its use and overall exposure. Add to this the increased availability of cheap tablets, smartphones, and stronger tablets replacing lower-end laptops, and the value of mobile apps is only going to increase.
An effective website is one your users can reach and using an app makes your site far more accessible to your desired audience. An important part of a good app is that it eliminates steps from the user side. Currently to reach a frequently visited website on a mobile device you have to open a web browser, type in an address, or click a bookmark. With an app, you simply click the app after it's been installed. An app makes things easier for your visitors and increases the odds that they will continue to visit your site, including giving the ability for push notifications to the mobile user which is huge! These plugins make app creation easier and allow your site’s visitors easier access.
Have you used any of these WordPress-to-App tools or do you have another that you recommend?
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Digital Marketing in 2018, what matters now? It's an important question!
Social Media marketing and digital marketing always evolve and shift. What's new for 2018 and what matters now is different than what mattered last year...in some cases...and in some cases it hasn't changed.
The key is knowing the difference!
Mike Gingerich dives in on "Live with Mike"! Covering Facebook's changes, the growth of Instagram, website lead capture and nurture, and more!
Ready to dive in?
[powerpress]
Subscribe: Halftime Mike on iTunes | Android users via RSS | Listen on Stitcher.
Please let your Twitter followers know about this podcast.
Simply click here now to post a tweet >>.
If you enjoyed this episode of the Social Media Marketing podcast, please “go over to iTunes, leave a rating, write a review and subscribe!
Thank you so much for your support!
I’m an Indiana Hoosier native where basketball is the top sport. Every team heads to the locker room at halftime to evaluate the first half and create an updated plan for the second half. That plan includes adjustments based on reviewing what worked and what didn't. The “halftime” is a key review point where the game stops, the team pulls away to huddle in the locker room away from the fans, and they come out prepared and ready to succeed in the second half.
That’s what this podcast is all about, taking the time to pull away for a bit to evaluate, learn, and set some strategies for your business to succeed in the second half. Join me by subscribing and let me be your “business halftime” to help you find great success going forward!
Subscribe: Halftime Mike on iTunes | Android users via RSS | Listen on Stitcher.
We’ve seen some major social media updates this year and it’s only February! Here are a few key ones to keep you up-to-date and on track with your social media marketing...
Facebook already has an extremely helpful feature that lets people friends and family know their safe during a crisis in their immediate area.
But now Facebook is taking it one step further and allowing businesses and organizations to post in the Community Help section too. Now critical info on items and services needed in the community that’s been hit by the crisis can be added by the businesses and organizations on the ground to help.
Finally a dislike button! Well, not exactly, more of a “downvote” to let Facebook know what you want to see in your newsfeed. It will be an easy way for people to signal to Facebook when something is inappropriate or they don’t desire to see it.
Facebook is making it easy for consumers to mark a post as offensive, misleading or off-topic. I think it will be a step in the right direction to eliminate some of the scamier posts.
Now you can create a “to-do” list right on Facebook.
Create a list of anything, places to go, things to see, and add a colored background for it. The idea is that friends share and comment on each others list and hopefully join together to create and accomplish the list.
If business pages and groups are allowed to create lists this could be a new way to market to your followers. A tour company could create a list of everything one needs to get and take on their next trip and send a link to their tour participants. The participants then could like the page or join the group and “meet” their fellow tourists before the tour even starts.
Right now it is is “Profiles” only, so time will tell if it catches on and expands or not.
If you’re an avid Twitter user that also uses a Mac you may have an issue. Mac users now have to go to Twitter directly rather than use the Mac app.
Does this mean that Twitter may not support TweetDeck any longer? We’ll just have to wait and see.
If you’re a Twitter user and a Mac user like most of the web designers and digital marketers are you will have an issue and have to create a workaround and new systems and processes for your Twitter marketing.
Lot’s of changes coming down the line for all the social networks. Hopefully, they are good changes that will make our lives easier.
Are we connected on social? Find me on Facebook at https:fb.com/mikegdigital, Instagram at @mikegingerich and on Twitter at @Mike_Gingerich.
Lead capture web forms on websites are fairly commonplace, and they generally work like this:
We're all used to the process. But, for so long now…. it's been so boring! Are you motivated to enter your information on that form? Perhaps. Or perhaps not. It all comes down to the offer and the methods.
People abandon website forms for the following reasons:
It's time to wave goodbye to the standard lead capture form. Say "hello!" to a new interactive method with quizzes from Typeform.
Now, let's not get it confused. Typeform forms are web forms. But they can also be more than the average form by using their engaging and interactive quiz tool. A quiz can transform the way you use forms for your business, removing the “boring” nature of a standard form and creating buzz and engagement that keeps the user interested.
Quizzes present an intriguing method for marketers to interact with audiences. Maybe it’s time for your business to create a quiz!
Users are not simply completing fields of input. The audience gets to express their opinions and truly engage. People love to help, and quizzes are a great way to get insights and guidance.
Giving your audience a quiz can do the following for your business website:
Easy to set up and with templates that make creation a snap, Type form quizzes are an engaging and dynamic way to generate new life to the old art of forms online!
With quizzes, information gather is so much more than inputting a name and email address via a web form. It’s a journey and an online experience that is memorable.
Are you looking for a new way to boost your brand and generate leads? Consider a quiz that makes the process much less mundane and much more engaging for the visitor.
