Google will be adding a Page Experience metric to its ranking factors, which will measure a site’s overall responsiveness and reward pages that offer a better user experience. 

While quality of content remains the most essential aspect from an SEO* perspective, this metric will affect ranking results, so it’s important to be well informed.  Following is how to prepare, with steps we continue to provide at Growth Spark Media to ensure the most optimal results in Google search.

1) Get an excellent web hosting service

• Ensure your site is fast and responsive – performance is already a key ranking factor.

• Analyze your site’s responsiveness with a website performance monitoring tool.

• Check out sites that gather and share performance data on web hosting providers.

2) Keep your page’s size light

• Avoid overstuffing web pages with visual content that slows down your site.

• Optimize images and make them weigh less by using image compressor tools.

• If your page is content-heavy, spread the largest items to multiple pages within your site.

3) Optimize your site for mobile

• Google only wants to display mobile-friendly sites: there are an estimated 3.5 billion smartphone users, growing to 3.8 billion**.

• Ensure that your site adjusts to small screens – it’s what users expect when accessing info on smartphones.

• Test if your site is mobile-responsive.

4) Install security measures

• Weed out any deceptive content, such as spyware, social engineering scams, false information, etc.

• Scan your website to see if any issues pop up.

• Add a firewall (network security device) to protect your site from malware and other hacking attempts.

5) HTTPS

• Google prefers sites with a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate in the website’s URL — http://https://— the latter is SSL secured.

• The SSL certificate encrypts any data that travels between users and servers.

• A “not secure warning” is mainly due to the site missing an SSL certificate.

6) Tone down or remove large pop-up banners

• Google aims to penalize sites that aggressively keep users from quickly accessing content.

• Avoid giant banners and pop-ups that cover the screen, are difficult to dismiss or keep popping up.

• Disclaimers, cookie info, age policies, login dialogs and reasonably sized banners are exceptions.

It’s important to plan ahead and implement best practices to prepare for Google Page Experiences’ metrics. Through testing your site’s performance, security, and mobile friendliness, Growth Spark Media continues to be on top of these strategies and will tweak or add to your site based on the results.

*SEO (Search Engine Optimization):  the practice of improving your online visibility in organic search results to increase the quantity and quality of your website traffic (webfx.com)
Source:  Searchenginewatch.com, Gert Svaiko; **Research from Statista

To earn consumer trust, it’s important that businesses review and evaluate their brand design, perception and values.  Following are three steps to help stay creatively connected with consumers:

1) Re-evaluate your foundation:

• Identify the brand story, images and logos associated with your business.

• Ensure your message is positive, sensitive and meaningful.

• Pinpoint areas of growth to create an identity that promotes authenticity, transparency and a personal connection with consumers.

2) Anticipate the meaning of symbols:

• Symbol design helps foster relationships and perception with your audience, conveying different meanings and emotional responses.

• It’s critical to anticipate what a symbol might mean to others — establish a logo that aligns with your audience and its values.

• Aligning symbols with cultural context will help your logo and brand remain timeless and impactful.

3) Leverage the power of color:

• Colors are quick and powerful tools that communicate what your product/service is and how it is perceived.

• The way colors mix, match and contrast influences consumers’ emotional responses, perception and trust.

• Color makes up to 90% of a consumer’s initial assessment and ultimate judgment for a brand* — choose colors that align with your identity, values, industry and what you want your audience to feel.

Businesses should consistently evaluate how they are perceived and take steps for any improvements.  Brands can create positive changes by focusing on core values, colors and logo design.

 

Source:  MediaPost-The Marketing Insider, reported by Beth Doane;
*Studies by CCICOLOR – Institute for Color Research.

As the year ends, it’s time for businesses to plan their marketing initiatives. Following is a checklist to help ensure your business is ready for the new year.

1) Look Back to Get Ahead

Review your progress during the past year for insight into which tactics to repeat or eliminate.  Ask yourself:

• What steps did you take to adjust to any obstacles?

• Where did you do well or miss the mark?

• What are the short and long-term effects of any challenges for your industry?

• Is there anything that needs to be done differently or adjusted moving forward?

2) Center Your Plan on Key Areas of Growth

Focus on areas with the most potential for growth, starting with these questions:

• Which parts of your business or campaigns generated the highest revenue?

• Do your customers have needs that haven’t been met?

• Are there changes in the marketplace that you need to adapt to?

• Have you conducted Search Engine Optimization (SEO)¹, social media and content audits to know where you stand?

3) Set S.M.A.R.T Goals

Set clear, reachable goals to measure your success using the S.M.A.R.T. method, which represents these five attributes:

• Specific: Help narrow your goals with the five “W” questions:

• • What do I want to accomplish?

  • Why is this goal important?

  • Who is involved?

  • Where is it located?

  • Which resources are needed?

• Measurable: Have something to measure against to monitor your progress toward achieving your objectives.

• Attainable: Keep your goals realistic, with the resources and budget necessary to reach your desired results.

• Relevant: Assure your plan supports accomplishing other business objectives.

• Timely: Keep to a schedule that is realistic and flexible, adjusting along the way as needed.

4) Strategize a Game Plan

Strategize a game plan for obtaining your goals with the following tactics:

• Search Engine Marketing (SEM)² and Optimization (SEO)

• Online Directories (ex. Google My Business, Yelp, etc.)

• Social Media

• Content Marketing

• Email Marketing

5) Analyze and Track Progress

Set up a way to quantify and track your progress, either by using a third-party or by implementing each of your channel’s reporting features.  Having good data keeps you accountable and provides a way to check your progress along the way.

By marking off each section on this list, you will be well on your way to implementing a robust digital marketing strategy.

SEO¹:  Optimizing your website for the purpose of getting free traffic from search engines.

²SEM:  Increasing visibility in search engines either by getting paid traffic through PPC (pay-per-click) advertising, when advertisers pay a cost per click, or through SEO.  — reliablesoft.net

Source:  Vivial.net

PwC’s Entertainment & Media Outlook Report contains projections for U.S. advertising growth through 2024.  Following are highlights for major media:

	Digital Out-of-Home Advertising Digital Out-of-Home (ex. billboard, DMV, elevator, gas station) remains strong with a +7.7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR)¹ through 2024. Out-of-home has the strongest forecast of traditional media with a +2.8% CAGR, buoyed almost entirely by digital out-of-home’s growth.
	Online Advertising Online is expected to have a +4.1% CAGR, below forecasts of past years. Mobile online will grow faster at a +6.2% CAGR, with wired forecast to decline at -1.5%.
	Radio Advertising Radio is expected to remain flat with a CAGR of +0.6%. Online radio will be the fastest-growing segment with a +7.1% CAGR.
	Television Advertising TV continues to grow slowly at a +0.4% CAGR, despite a rise in TV viewing. Online TV is also growing slowly at a +3.9% CAGR, below forecasts of past years.
	Cinema Advertising Cinema advertising revenue will decline with a CAGR of -2.2%. Cinema box office takings will not fare any better.
	Magazine Advertising Consumer magazines remain pessimistic with a -4.2% CAGR; digital’s +2.9% is not enough to offset print’s -11.1%. Trade magazines -0.7% CAGR expects digital’s +4.4% to make up for print’s -7.0%.
	Newspaper Advertising Newspapers continue to decline with a -6.3% CAGR. Digital’s CAGR of +1.9% is not growing quickly enough to offset print’s -12.4%.

¹The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is the proportional growth rate from year to year for a business, used to calculate growth over a time period.

Source:  PwC’s Entertainment & Media Outlook, reported by Marketingcharts.com

“Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two… basic functions: marketing and innovation.  It is the whole business seen from the point of view of its final result… from the customer’s point of view.” — Peter Drucker, leading expert on management theory 

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Successful businesses never stop marketing.  Marketing is the regular, sustained nourishment that gets your business where you want it and keeps it there. Following are four reasons why thriving businesses engage in vigorous, ongoing marketing efforts:

ONGOING MARKETING:

1. Protects your reputation:

• Your business is always improving, yet people’s perceptions tend to remain fixed and may be out of sync.
• It takes time to define/shape your reputation and you need to be doing it continuously, keeping customers up to date.

2. Shapes your customer base:

• As your business evolves, target different audiences: your focus may change only slightly or it may expand to a new customer base.
• Constantly evaluate your target and adjust your messaging, visuals, and strategy accordingly.

3. Gives you many options:

• Having “just enough” business isn’t enough; with active marketing, there should be more demand than you can meet.
• This allows you to properly select your customers, focusing on the most profitable ones, and have a waiting list ready for slower times.

4. Secures your business’s future:

• Marketing creates and strengthens business.
• Don’t leave your future up to chance — plant seeds now that will harvest next season.

Viability – lots of work, happy customers, a busy staff – is a key milestone in the life of a business.  This is the beginning, not the end, of your journey and marketing will be your constant companion every step of the way.

Source:  Posted by James Archer, crowdfavorite.com

 

 

A website is your online business card. It’s what customers see first when they look for your services. Trends are constantly shifting based on what customers want to see.

How do you know if your website in on-trend? Take a look at some of the most popular design elements for small business sites:

From Flat to 3-D (Again)

• Gradients, drop shadows, video, motion graphics, scrolling effects, etc., bring new life to a website.
• Add realism and depth to graphics, bridging the gap between the digital and the real world.

 Video Home Page Headers

• Videos replace standard sliding images to convey a message and grab visitors’ attention quickly.
• Videos can run on auto-play, or be prompted to play, and text could be added over the video for further description.

Large, Attention-Getting Text

• Large, eye-catching text has become front and center, with much smaller subtext as needed to direct users to additional information/actions.
• Pair a video background with bold or large text to get the attention of visitors instantly.

Large “Hero” Images

• Hero images are the main banners placed on a website*, on the home page and inner pages.
• High quality, relevant images are key for this design.

 Responsive Design

• Responsive websites are sites that are functional on any screen—no pinching and pulling required.
• Non-responsive sites turn off users, and get penalized by search engines for not being user-friendly.

Micro-Interactions

• Micro-interactions are touches which surprise and/or encourage users in an area of the website.
• Notifications, text pop-ups or a button turning another color, etc., can help foster engagement.

Great Written Content

• Quality content should focus on storytelling and communicating effectively with your audience.
• Promote knowledge, products and services while implementing SEO** keyword research into your text.

Website pages should be accurate, easy to read, and full of calls-to-action to draw readers into the next step of your marketing/sales funnel.

 

**SEO (Search Engine Optimization):  methods used to increase traffic to a website by increasing its search engine page rank (techopedia.com).

Source:  OpenVine.com, reported by Kelly Thomas Mango; *omniconvert.com

Customer engagement – attracting and influencing customers — is earned through trust and over time.  There are three layers to effectively nurture prospects into customers: 

Emotion:  Customers need to feel something for your brand and trust your proposition.
Rationale:  Lock in commitment and ensure that what you’re offering makes logical sense.
Ethics:  Communicate your brand virtues.

Following are the best tactics to conquer all three layers:

1. EMOTION:  Trust-building — Inspire emotions to engage customers:

Tell, don’t sell.

• Use storytelling to activate desires.

Put your social proof to use.

• Shout about your endorsements:  ratings, reviews and testimonials.

Personalize your message.

• Seventy-four percent of marketers say personalization increases engagement.

2. RATIONALE:  Commitment-building — Align your proposition as a solution to an existing want, need, or problem:

Position your product to meet a need or desire.

• Content should paint a picture of where customers will be after their purchase.

Use data to segment your audiences.

• Use preferences and behaviors to customize content:  91% of consumers are more likely to purchase brands that provide recommendations and 83% are willing to share their data.

Leverage different channels.

• Use multiple media channels to ensure consistent communication throughout the buying cycle.

3. ETHICS: Promotion-building — Putting ethics before profit inspires:  66% of consumers spend more money with ethical businesses: 

Make a commitment – and stick to it.

• Showing that you’re making a difference earns consumer trust and confirms your reputation.

Make customers feel your dedication after they’ve purchased.

• Inform customers of your local commitment.

Make it about more than the transaction.

• Convey your community involvement; customers are appreciative if their purchase helps others. 

Customer engagement is achieving the right balance of compassionate and rational marketing.  Authentic narrative inspires prospects to become customers.

Source:  dotdigital.com, reported by Chris Cano; jasmconsulting.com

Marketing remains essential for businesses in order to successfully compete, sell products/services and become profitable and grow.  Following are effective marketing best practices.

 Set Attainable Goals

• Determine your position in the market and decide what you want to achieve.
• Keep your goals realistic, making them something you will be able to accomplish.

Establish Brand Identity and Target Market

• Brand Identity: Communicate what your business does with the right name, logo, colors, imagery.
• Target Market: Consider the age, gender, interests, location, etc. of your target customer.

Maintain a Website

• Nearly two-thirds of small businesses rely on websites to connect with customers.
• In this digital era, websites are the window to virtually any type of business.

Combine Online and Offline Strategies

• Combine online channels such as blogs, social media, etc., with offline marketing practices.
• Be mindful of SEO (Search Engine Optimization¹): incorporate relevant keywords into websites/online portals to rank higher on search engines.

Use Google Tools                                                                                                                

• List your product/service on Google My Business² to gain search visibility, customer insights and display useful information to help customers find you.
• Prepare for a Google Ad Words³ campaign by setting a budget, finding the right keywords and creating landing pages that bear significance.

Don’t Discount Email Marketing

• Every new subscriber to your email list is a potential paying customer.
• Sixty-six percent of emails are opened on mobile devices; use mobile responsive templates that automatically adapt emails to mobile formats.

Prioritize Content Marketing

• Eighteen percent of marketers said content marketing had the greatest impact on their business.
• Create and share quality, unique content through webinars, blogs, social media posts, etc.

Join Local Business Groups / Solicit Customer Reviews

• Network and showcase your business and meet like-minded people to share stories/goals by joining local groups.
• Ask your customers for a review: feedback is a powerful tool for small business owners;

“The key to setting achievable marketing goals is to spend time evaluating your current position.” — Shanelle Mullin, Director of Marketing-Onboardly

¹SEO:  methods used to increase traffic to a website by increasing its search engine page rank (techopedia.com).
²Google My Business: a tool to manage your online presence across Google.
³Google Ads: an online advertising program (support.google.com).
Source:  smallbiztrends.com, reported by Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead