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Siri, Cortana… Assistant? At their annual I/O meeting this past week, Google entered the fray of AI Assistant software, a feature long offered by Apple with Siri and more recently by Microsoft with Cortana. By simply calling its service Assistant, Google may be pointing to an unspoken fact that a lot of tech bloggers have already noticed: they aren’t re-inventing the wheel here. Much like its competitors, Google Assistant uses voice recognition technology to have a conversation with its user, making everyday tasks even simpler, and allowing the Assistant to be the point of contact for the user with the internet. And this is the key takeaway for online marketers, especially given the fact that the largest search giant is in the mix: for your business and its website to reach consumers, you’re now going to have to also appeal to their robot assistants.
This isn’t meant to sound as intimidating – in fact, there are some advantages to working with machines. “Robots, unlike people, are consistent” writes Eden Ames. Once you’ve cracked the code for appealing to a particular artificial intelligence program, you won’t have to worry about mood swings or a random change in preference from the AI. And in many ways marketers are already familiar with working with robots from having to make content that appeals to Google’s algorithms, which have the technical complexity and built-in intelligence to put Space Odyssey’s Hal 9000 to shame. All of this is good news, as it means that much of the content that already works with Google will of course work with Google Assistant as well.
If anything it seems that the current hype around artificial intelligence these days is coming from the very fact that it’s been labeled as artificial intelligence, with all its loaded connotations. Instead of man-hunting robots, though, we’re getting helpful and practical voice recognition technology, which naturally is coming as a letdown to the more whimsical members of the tech community. In addition to this seemingly incremental progress is the fact that once again consumers are turning to their phones to buy things and get tasks done. The trend in artificial intelligence further cements the worldwide shift towards mobile usage. This also means that even if Siri or Google Assistant links to your site from a request by the user, it still has to be appealing in the mobile setting for the person to want to stay there. Working with machines will only get you so far—the person still holds the wallet.
We here at Sun Sign Designs have lately focused on general topics and techniques to assist your company’s marketing. The reason for this is that it is essential that you have an understanding of how the fundamental concepts work together before delving into the more technical aspects of web presence. Today we’re focusing on one of those technical pieces: Latent Semantic Indexing, or LSI. This feature of Google’s search functionality ties directly in with one of our previous content topics, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and it is critical to understand how LSI affects SEO in order to fully maximize your company’s online offering.
One of the simplest ways to describe LSI is to point out what it’s not, or to be more specific, what it’s replacing. For many non-marketing professionals, SEO is synonymous with Keyword Density, the easily exploitable system where the number of times a certain word is mentioned on your website will affect the location of your webpage rank in search results. While this may have been effective back in the early days of Google’s world-conquering search algorithm, using keyword density is no longer a viable option, as Google has phased out its use due to its contribution to inaccuracy for results.
LSI is the system that takes Keyword Density’s place. It groups words together into semantic systems, letting Google know when the related words on a website speak to a specific search. It’s best to show in examples: say you’re searching for Rolling Stones. Google knows that “Rolling” and “Stones” combines together to form the band name, and will avoid giving you results of rocks rolling down hills, even if that happened to be randomly trending at the moment. If you’re searching for an Oracle Developer, Google will know that you are searching for someone developing an Oracle database and not landscapers for ancient Greek monuments.
LSI does the heavy lifting for a user’s searches, connecting the informational dots, allowing Google to give more pertinent results for its visitors. So how can you capitalize on this new system? Content, as usual, is king here. Having high value content in every corner of your website will allow you to stand out among the crowd so that Google can use its LSI to your advantage. You look at your website and see well-made content—Google will see it as the brightest Christmas tree on the block when all the semantically related content relates with each other, catapulting your site above the rest to the top of users’ searches.
That last description doesn’t have to be an exaggeration for you—it can be a reality! Google prides itself on finding high value content, so it’s a triple win for Google, its users and your company if you have that kind of content on display for its search to find. Reach out to Sun Sign Designs today so we can give you all the technical knowhow of how LSI can help your business come out on top!
Whether you are starting a website from scratch or revising previous design situations, the way code is implemented on your website can have a big impact on the performance of your site on mobile devices. The words “code implementation” may make some non-technical professionals want to turn in the other direction to find a cute puppy or kitten video on YouTube, but it’s still an important decision for your website regardless of your level of expertise in the IT field. The reason for this is the growing presence of people’s use of mobile devices to access the Internet. If you’re not reaching these people, you are losing out on a growing segment of the marketplace that could one day easily replace desktop users completely.
For those who still feel that we’re speaking a foreign language when it comes to coding, the simplest solution is the best one for you in this instance. When Google released its new rules regarding coding implementation last year, they suggested what is known as “responsive design” to be the preferred choice for its browser. As ClickSeed explains, “Responsive design delivers the same code to the browser on a single URL for each page, regardless of device, and adjusts the display in a fluid manner to fit varying display size.” Easy enough—make responsive design the way your website implements coding, and both Desktop users and Mobile users will see the same content, just in a different manner given the screen size. So why would you choose something different? Two things: responsive design may create a slower experience for the mobile user if the webpage load is too big, which is a big no-no in the speedy world of mobile. In addition, responsive design discards the opportunity of designing a truly mobile experience for your visitors.
There are two other methods to try other than responsive design to give your visitors a more diverse field of options. For those not afraid of higher maintenance costs, separate URLs (website addresses) for Desktop and Mobile is an option. In this case, the mobile site is in a sub-domain of the main site (or some other kind of similar configuration), and this allows for more customization of the mobile platform. The drawbacks are obvious – the aforementioned higher cost along with the increased difficulty of monitoring for duplicate content on both sites. Those choosing this route are accepting higher upkeep for a richer overall experience for mobile users.
The final option is a hybrid choice between responsive design and separate URLs: dynamic serving. In this case, you are using the same URL for Desktop and Mobile, but the server knows to deliver different content depending on the device. At first this option seems like the best of both worlds: you’re able to customize the mobile experience while also keeping everything on one URL. However, the cost here comes in the dramatic increase of technical resources needed to operate dynamic serving. You will want someone who absolutely knows what they’re doing to implement this, and the upkeep is comparable to having separate URLs. In the future, dynamic serving may become an increasingly popular option as the cost and technical requirements for advanced computing continue to decline.
So which implementation is right for you? Do you have it all figured out, or are you still reaching for your YouTube bookmark to get a cute animal video fix? Regardless of your level of technical expertise, it’s still a very good idea to connect with web development experts in order to make the best decision for your business. Sun Sign Designs has been studying Mobile SEO before it became the phenomenon it is today, and we are ready to help you in this growing development in the online marketing field. Reach out to us now!
What if we asked you to grade your website? Would you give it an A out of beaming pride, a B as an acknowledgement of a future business project, or maybe a C with a shrug and a smirk, silently saying to yourself, “who cares?” Well, none other than our friends over at Google care. Google employs “Search Quality Evaluators” to monitor individual websites in order to rank them in their search engine algorithm, and if your website doesn’t meet their criteria, any previous attempts you have made to boost your ranking could be made pointless. Google recently updated their evaluator guidelines, and it is vital for the continued online growth of your business that you have an understanding of these new rules.
For some, it may come as a shock just to realize that there are actual real life people ranking individual websites for Google. What about those fancy keyword algorithms and automated web crawlers it uses to decide search rank? (Actually it will likely be more comforting for some to know that real people are taking over for the robot spiders.) Google is well aware of SEO marketers attempting to “game” their algorithm and automated features, finding loopholes in the system through cheap Black Hat SEO practices. And while you may really feel that you are helping the broader population by boosting your website’s rank with standard SEO – making sure to prioritize popular search terms in your articles, and providing answers to commonly asked questions – Google has its own opinion on what meets their criteria. And that opinion can be boiled down to two words to remember: expert content.
By employing human readers to judge for expert content, Google is able to bring a silent sense of certification and rigor that is often lacking in the darker corners of the Internet. Site evaluators are tasked with following a simple acronym E-A-T to determine expert content: E for expertise, A for authoritativeness, and T for trustworthiness. In a sense, these are all self-explanatory, but it is essential for you to know that Google is grading you on these items. It’s worth taking another look at your web page (see, we are asking you to grade it after all) and check if you measure up to these standards. Would you say that a sense of expertise and authoritativeness shines through the text and images? What other sites does your website link to that show it can be called a trusted source of information? And most importantly, how would a complete stranger rate you in these areas? It’s this last question that you have to be able to answer satisfactorily in order to rest assured that you’re making Google’s grade.
As with most things involving the internet, this article doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the intricacies involved with meeting Google’s new content standards. That’s why reaching out to Sun Sign Designs will be a great help to your business. We’ll be able to provide you with all the information necessary to meet these new demands so your company can continue to grow. Contact us today!
As mobile devices increasingly become a part of our daily lives and routines, smart marketers know that the fastest growing way to reach consumers will be through their phones. Is your online strategy suited to connect with consumers in this fashion? The rules of website development change when your consumer’s viewing space is less than 3×5 inches and there are literally hundreds of possible distractions available on the same device, let alone the world around them, to keep your customers’ attention away from what you’re trying to say. By following the below best practices that are geared towards Mobile Marketing and Search Engine Optimization, your company will be well-positioned to take advantage of this market as it continues to grow.
Just as mobile operating systems caused application developers to rethink their approach to design, mobile web rules are forcing marketers into adapting to the new platform. First and foremost, your company’s web page loading speed is essential—mobile devices are built to give consumers’ access to all their favorite applications with a touch of a button, and if your website can’t compete at that same pace, it might as well not exist as far as the consumer is concerned. This also means that content in Flash and Pop-ups should be used very carefully in your mobile site, if at all. Not every phone is optimized to use Flash, and a failure to load content, or to have it blocked by a distracting pop-up ad will be a surefire way to lose a good portion of your consumers.
In fact, the way consumers interact with mobile devices may cause you to reconsider your entire internet marketing strategy altogether. It’s no coincidence the rise of social media’s ability to drive web traffic has correlated with the wider use of mobile internet devices. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are ideal for consumers to quickly view items, favorite them, and to leave a comment for others to see. A robust social media presence for your company will allow you to appeal to these users. And depending on your company’s bravery and how much money you have budgeted for it, you can take the plunge into mobile application development itself, much in the same way that Nike, Under Armour, and even food services such as Taco Bell have done. It’s true that these are all examples of large companies who have the massive budget available for this kind of expansion, but the rapid success and growth of a firm such as Uber demonstrates how the right mobile application can remake an entire industry into one company’s favor.
The mobile platform is here to stay for the foreseeable future. Given that, whether or not your company will be here for that long will depend on no small part on its ability to be appealing to consumers on mobile devices. This is advanced level stuff—your digital strategy, social media, regular SEO, email follow-up, website conversions, website analytics, namely everything needs to be on point before you can dream of dominating the mobile device field. And Sun Sign Designs is here for you. By handling the infrastructure and essential components of your marketing strategy, we’ll help you optimize your site so you can capitalize on this necessary platform. Don’t hesitate—reach out now!
One of the realities of managing an online web presence is that the factors that contribute to your overall strategy will always be changing. Seemingly minute adjustments to Google’s algorithm can send your once popular website to the depths of pages 13-14 in the results. For 2016, Google is establishing a new method of ranking content, making expert content a premium influence on your page’s relevance and ranking. Your company’s ability to leverage expert content will ensure its placement in the top of Google’s results this year and ones going forward.
So what defines expert content? It depends on your business and your audience. Google is going to look closely at your website to decide if the content matches your field. If you happen to be in the health care field, for instance, and you are giving medical opinions to patients online, your content must be written by a certified expert (in this case, a doctor or something similar) in order to be ranked high by Google. However, if your content is geared to where your advice is sought on a more casual basis, Google is applying a more informal definition of expert, and won’t penalize your page for not having a certification.
The benefits of having expertly written content extend beyond the compliance with Google’s rules. As Julia Spence-McCoy, the CEO of Express Writers explains, the versatility of expert writers can anticipate reader questions in advance, utilize unique sources of data, enlighten readers with new knowledge, focus on what’s most relevant in a sea of data, and provide a unique charm that their years of experience gives them.
In addition to the expert content stipulation, Google is cracking down on keyword density approaches to Search Engine Optimization. In general, loading your page with repetition of keywords is to be avoided. Besides appearing sleazy to website visitors, there is now a tangible reason for doing away with this practice. Google has employed what is known as a “Hummingbird Algorithm update” to its search methodology, which is causing the need for websites to be more sensitive to what are known as semantic searches. Semantic searches look beyond the mere repetition of keywords to the intent and relevance of the user query. This circles back to our advice about using expert content, as now, more than ever, having content geared to what users are actively searching for is paramount.
Sun Sign Designs can help you further understand the importance of expertly created content, and how to leverage the resources you currently have available along with those we will provide in order to create powerful material that appeals to your audience and ranks high with Google. Reach out to us today!
Online video is set to remain a powerful media phenomenon going into 2016, and many companies are contributing to the trend. According to AOL research, advertising budgets are shifting away from TV toward digital platforms. This trend is in line with the viewing habits of Americans, as they are watching less as many television channels than ever despite the increase of viewing options, and there are an increasing number of viewers “cutting the cord” of cable and moving to online only viewing, watching Netflix and Hulu while saving money on the overall package. As mobile technology becomes increasingly prevalent, businesses are making sure that any media they create is able to be accessed online to reach potential customers. By utilizing online video, your company can also maximize its value with its marketing and advertising, allowing you to stay ahead of the trend.
How prominent is video on your company website? Cisco has projected that over 80% of consumer web traffic will be video by 2019. Now, this doesn’t mean that websites will be 80% video—video streaming alone uses a lot more data than just text on a screen—but it does show just how dominant video will continue to be for the remainder of this decade. If your website does not feature some form of embedded video, customers may form a judgement on your services as not being able to either afford or care enough to go the extra step to connect with them. Another advantage is that on mobile technology, video takes up the whole screen, allowing consumers to focus exactly on the content that you have to offer.
Many small businesses shy away from video marketing, thinking it would be too costly an expense for their marketing efforts. But the impact of video more than outweighs the cost, as your company is 53% more likely end up on the front page of Google search results just by having it featured. As long as your website landing pages and Call to Action buttons on your website are organized correctly (Don’t know what we mean? Click here!), a higher Google ranking should immediately cause more profits to head your direction. While video does create a positive impact, you want to make sure it creates the most bang for your buck as well. Remember to keep your videos short (less than 2 minutes is ideal to maintain customers’ attention) and to create a link back to your website so consumers know where to find you.
Still not sure what’s the next best step? You can reach out to Sun Sign Designs today, and we will explain all the benefits and opportunities that video marketing can bring. Don’t get left behind on this important trend, as it is here for the long haul!
Search Engine Optimization is good. More accurately, SEO is an essential part of the online marketing strategy for your company’s website. We’ve covered this topic before, but the affirmation of SEO’s utility is necessary given the pervasive bias against it due to the shadier practices used in this field, with just concern. Known as “Black Hat SEO” methods, they can best be described as transactional tactics, and at worst, all the negative connotations applied to overly aggressive sales and marketing practices. Your company’s success in SEO will hinge on its ability to avoid this dark side of the spectrum, coinciding with the mastery of techniques from the ethical side of the practice.
Black hat is a term originating from the world of computer hacking, as black hat hackers are whom the modern media portrays as the bad boys of the internet, busting through security measures by big name companies and the government, along with causing the digital arms race between hackers and online security companies today. Black hat SEO is the sleazy cousin to its Hell’s Angel-like hacker counterpart, foregoing the dangerous appeal while retaining its deplorable effect on business. Black hat SEO relies on simple-minded deceitfulness as opposed to earned programming or marketing skills—you may be familiar with the technique of “keyword stuffing,” which requires you to copy and paste the same popular search words repeatedly in order to artificially boost your Google ranking (no, your company is not having a special on Kardashian NFL Iowa Caucus pizza rats). This is an obvious example of the silliness that passes for SEO in the black hat world, but there are subtler methods at play as well. “Link schemes” are where a company will ask an online publisher to provide ad space along with having a link directly inserted into the content text to increase web traffic. Any blatant manipulation of content text along these lines, where it is creating traffic without adding actual value, could be considered black hat.
How do you stay out of this zone? Part of the issue with drawing arbitrary ethical boundaries is that the circumstances of your company’s business could impact how you approach your overall web marketing strategy. However, it is fair to say that there are consistent best practices in the SEO field that should be used whenever possible. To start, as mentioned in the previous article, Google has put together a convenient guide to SEO for all its new employees that covers the basics of the topic. But to really take your SEO game to the next level, you need the dedicated expertise that Sun Sign Designs can provide to your company, geared exactly towards the intricacies of your web marketing strategy. Go ahead and reach out to us today, and we’ll make sure that you hit the top of Google’s results the right way!
