Tag: Quick Digital

Safeguard Your “Digital Hygiene”

Safeguard Your “Digital Hygiene” by Rich Barlow.  Available from <https://www.bu.edu/today/2016/personal-information-security/>. [10.03.2016] Photo Courtesy of iStock

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month, which the University is observing, appropriately enough, by increasing your security.

BU’s Information Services & Technology has erected a so-called perimeter firewall, a monitor programmed to block unauthorized access to the campus data network. (Find more information here.) Your devices and data fall under this cyber-shield whenever you connect to the network, although it can’t protect you if unauthorized parties gain your password or access to your online accounts. That’s where personal “digital hygiene” comes in.

You—most of you, anyway—wouldn’t go through a day without showering, brushing you teeth, or washing your hands. Eric Jacobsen (CAS’93, MET’03), director of information security, predicts future generations will be as vigilant about digital hygiene, which he says is “understanding the things you need to make habits to take care of yourself and your identity. It includes protecting your online presence and your internet-connected devices through good security practices, and managing the information you share about yourself.”

BU can help, not just through techie measures like the firewall, but with retro strategies such as paper shredding and throwing away old computer equipment. This week, the University will run its sixth annual program of shredding personal documents and destroying unwanted hard drives. Students, faculty, and staff may bring their disposable documents and hard drives to three sessions: tomorrow, Tuesday, October 4, from 9 a.m. to noon, in the parking lot behind Agganis Arena; Wednesday, October 5, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., in front of the Talbot Building, 715 Albany St., on the Medical Campus; and Thursday, October 6, from 9 a.m. to noon, in the Granby Street parking lot on the Charles River Campus east.

Jacobsen offers these additional tips for keeping personal information safe:

  • Frequent updates of your system and applications are a good idea. Automatic updates on your devices can help with this. “Most security patches are released in response to publicly known vulnerabilities,” Jacobsen says, “and until you apply that patch, your devices are at risk.”
  • Never, never, never give out your password. “Passwords are the first and often the last line of defense for your personal information,” he says, and no one should be asking for them. If you get an email asking you to email back your password, think one thing: Scam.
  • Putting a PIN or password on mobile devices, like phones and tablets, ensures that their data will be protected if you lose them. “Even the federal government with all its resources has trouble accessing devices that are protected by a simple code,” Jacobsen says.
  • “Encrypt the data on your laptop,” he stresses. “Apple and Microsoft have provided ways to enable encryption from within the operating system. Make sure you follow their instructions on saving the configuration or key to a USB device and keep that somewhere safe, but separate from your laptop.”
  • Vary your passwords with different internet sites. Using the same password everywhere means that if it’s compromised on one site, all your sites and personal information are jeopardized. At the very least, Jacobsen says, “you should use a unique password for the University to protect your student data; a unique password for anything financial, like your bank; and a different password for your social media sites.”
  • “Remember that every piece of information you put in social media sites may be seen by anyone. Make sure the information you share in these forums is something you’re prepared to share with the world and for all time,” he says. People who have failed to heed this advice have, on occasion, lost their jobs.

Most of any individual’s information on the internet, whether it’s social media or banking, is protected by one thing: a password. People who would like access to your data are well aware of this and will attempt to trick you into giving them your password. The most common form of this attack is “phishing”: the person who wants your password will email you and ask you for it. This works a lot more often than most people realize, and some of the ways they ask for your password are clever. The easiest to spot is the email that simply asks you to email the password back. More creative attacks will try to convince you to go to a website and log in, except that site you are logging in to is not the one you are expecting. It’s advisable to be skeptical of links within email sent from sources you don’t know that take you to a page requiring you to log in.

Safeguard Your “Digital Hygiene” by Rich Barlow.  Available from <https://www.bu.edu/today/2016/personal-information-security/>. [10.03.2016] Photo Courtesy of iStock

7 Easy Tips For Great SEO Copy

7 Easy Tips For Great SEO Copy by Mark Simmons.  Available from <http://mixeddigital.com/blog/7-easy-tips-for-great-seo-copy/> [September 22, 2016]

SEO is far from predictable, but basing your content on the 7 essential components of great SEO copy listed here will help you meet and even exceed today’s high quality content and SEO standards.

1. Well Thought Out Meta Content
If you’re not taking advantage of Meta content (titles and descriptions), you are missing out on a huge opportunity. Google recently changed the game on meta content. This year Google has even increased the characters you can use in meta title/description length allowances, increasing the length of the title to 70 characters (71 depending on the character size) and a new meta description per line length of 100 characters. One of the most important considerations when it comes to writing your meta content is to avoid blandly summarizing the post content. Instead, come up with a compelling statement, something you feel would make your target audience “pause, read and click” instead of skipping over it.

2. Engaging Embedded Links
Write relevant, engaging anchor text sentences, avoiding verbiage like “click here” or even the “read more” clickable text you see everywhere. Instead of using generic text, embed your links in relevant phrases, helping your visitors find exactly what they’re focused on. Putting some thought into creating relevant, engaging text for your embedded links will increase the value of your potential link juice and SEO results.

3. Don’t Obsess Over Keyword Density
There really isn’t a magic number when it comes to how often to use keywords. That said, brazenly overusing them is a big mistake that no one appreciates, especially Google. If you want Google to “show you the love”, always write with your readers in mind. One of the most important SEO copy tips is to write human friendly content that your target audience wants to read. The bottom line is that if you don’t adhere to this principle, you’ll never get the optimal ROI out of your content, regardless of how well it ranks. After all, if your content isn’t if readable, nobody is going to want to find out more about what you have to offer.

4. Headlines that Get Clicked
Headlines are the first impression readers get of your content so you need to make them unique and engaging. Taking the time to come up with a great headline can improve your click-through rate significantly. A great tool (also free) to use to come up with better headlines is the headline analyzer provided by the Advanced Marketing Institute (http://www.aminstitute.com/headline/).

5. Mobile-Friendly
Google’s mobile-friendly algorithm gives an added ranking boost for mobile-friendly/responsive sites in mobile search results. Recently, Google has even increased the strength of its mobile-friendly ranking signal. Keeping this in mind, be sure your website offers easy, mobile/human friendly navigation, optimized images and fast load times.

6. Don’t Forget Your Sitemap
When it comes to boosting your search engine rankings, a good XML sitemap can be a great partner. Sitemaps help Google and other main search engines easily understand the structure of a website while crawling it.

7. Considering Google’s AI System
RankBrain is Google’s AI system and was created to handle its millions of daily search queries. Google uses RankBrain to learn exactly what visitors click on and whether they were satisfied with the outcome once they click through. For this reason, it makes sense for marketers to write RankBrain centered content that helps visitors, flows naturally, features interactive videos and images, earning a high click through rate.

At the end of the day, keep in mind that there that there shouldn’t be a difference between well written traditional writing and SEO writing. If your content isn’t compelling, it doesn’t matter which keywords you use because it won’t get shared or linked to.

7 Easy Tips For Great SEO Copy by Mark Simmons.  Available from <http://mixeddigital.com/blog/7-easy-tips-for-great-seo-copy/> [September 22, 2016]

Believe It Or Not! You Can Get More Leads Without Generating Web Traffic

Believe It Or Not! You Can Get More Leads Without Generating Web Traffic  by Judy Caroll.  Available from <http://www.business2community.com/digital-marketing/believe-not-can-get-leads-without-generating-web-traffic-01662809#zQQH8SPYH3YhRdrF.97> [September 23, 2016]

In B2B marketing, perhaps no two words are as important as Traffic and Conversion. These two spell the difference between being in the black and being in the red. But you probably already know this by now: More web traffic does not always mean more leads. Traffic that does not convert is useless. That’s really unfortunate. Luckily, you can still increase your leads production without necessarily increasing your web traffic. Convenient, right?

Here are surefire ways to increase your conversion – meaning, turning traffic into leads – without actually increasing your web traffic.

Amplify your Unique Selling Point

I said amplify. Not just state or declare or put it there for all to see. Maximize and optimize it by making sure it grabs the viewers’ or readers’ attention the moment they see it, or at least, creates a strong connection with them. A convincing declaration of your unique selling point can build trust and keep prospects on the page longer than they originally intended.

Pro tip: Use “action” words, not just passive words. And yes, sell the solution to their problem, not your product. Don’t be too salesy like a snake oil salesman.

Simplify your Home Page

Really, just KISS it, or “Keep It Short and Simple”. Or “Keep it Simple, St****.” The simpler your homepage is, the easier for the viewers to navigate through it and find what they need and want. Just make sure it answers these questions:

#1: What does your product or service offer?

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#2: How will your product or service solve my problem? Explain the benefits you provide, not the features.
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Don’t make the common mistake of talking about yourself at length. Harping about your accomplishments will bore, if not totally turn off your viewer.

Pro tip: Remember, the homepage is yours, but it’s about the customer or client or guest. If it’s about them, they’ll stay longer.

Make your Headlines & Contact Information Visible

It’s the goal of the webpage to at least generate inquiries. If your headlines can’t be seen, what do you think would make any visitor want to learn more from it? Make sure your headlines attract the visitors’ attention as soon as their eyes land on the page. And that “Contact Us” page? It’s not just for display. You really have to make an effort to make it as user-friendly as possible – make it visible and easy to read. No fancy fonts, please. If can make your contact number(s) so conspicuous the visitor doesn’t have to look for it, so much the better.

Pro tip: You have to make the visitors feel confident in you, in your product or service or whatever you’re selling.

Offer Incentives

What sounds better than freebies? Rewards! Incentives! Bonuses! Use the psychology of free stuff. I don’t know, but there’s something about those words that give them a really nice ring when spoken. Positive reinforcement almost always works, and it’s true especially in marketing. When you add something extra – like a reward or bonus – to your unique selling point, it’s easier to close the deal with the visitor. Offer a “money-back guarantee” or “free replacement” or “lifetime warranty” and chances are, you’ll clinch the sale.

While you have already effectively differentiated your product or service from the competition through your unique selling point, the incentive to bonus or reward adds value to the whole thing, and even builds a deeper client-business relationship.

Pro tip: Your message should be “You can’t get from others what I’m offering you.”

Focus on Outbound

The previous four tips focus on optimizing the webpage. This last one is a no-brainer in terms of increasing leads without increasing web traffic volume. Why not try some of the most effective outbound marketing strategies?

Event marketing is a simple and easy way to interact with prospects and turn them into leads. Experiential event marketing is even better, as it goes beyond the mere physical presence of people at an event. Here are some unconventional event marketing campaigns, find out why they totally worked.

And of course, there’s good old targeted telemarketing if you want fast results. Whatever medium you choose, the most important thing is choosing an efficient and effective third-party service provider.

Pro tip: Do not settle. When you’re outsourcing, you simply do not settle for mediocre results.

Conclusion

One key takeaway here is, when you implement something new, make sure it’s measurable so you’ll know what works for you and what doesn’t. More importantly, don’t stop trying testing new things. Observe what your competitors are doing successfully that you may apply to your own. If you don’t think imitation is the highest form of flattery, then just make it your inspiration.

This post originally appeared at The Savvy Marketer’s Blog

Believe It Or Not! You Can Get More Leads Without Generating Web Traffic  by Judy Caroll.  Available from <http://www.business2community.com/digital-marketing/believe-not-can-get-leads-without-generating-web-traffic-01662809#zQQH8SPYH3YhRdrF.97> [September 23, 2016]

The importance of multiple domain names and web addresses

The importance of multiple domain names and web addresses by Lucy Wayment.  Available from <http://startups.co.uk/the-importance-of-multiple-domain-names-and-web-addresses/>. [Updated: Sep 26, 2016 Published: Sep 23, 2016]
Are you doing all you can to drive traffic to your website? Chances are you won’t have tried some of these handy tips…

Creating a solid foundation is vitally important when building your business’s online presence

The first step is to choose and register the right domain name. A .com domain name is especially valuable if it’s time for your company to go global and sell to different markets. If you register a domain name for your business’s main website in an internationally recognised top level domain (“TLD”) such as .com, you won’t need to register a domain name in a TLD that’s suited only for a particular country.

In addition, the familiarity and dependability of .com inspires trust in customers. After all, for more than 19 years, Verisign has maintained 100% operational accuracy and stability for .com and .net.

Once you’ve registered a .com domain name and established your business’s main website using the .com domain name, you’re ready to expand your business’ online presence. Registering multiple domain names will not only help you expand your business’ online presence but will provide you with a variety of other benefits as well.

Registering your company’s name as a domain name in other TLDs, like .net or .tv, can help protect your online space by preventing competitors from using the same domain name in the selected TLD and stop internet traffic otherwise intended for your website being sent to a competitor’s website, thereby helping you reduce customer confusion and challenges in finding your business online.

Capture misspellings and keep the competition at bay

Registering multiple variations of your company’s name as domain names in one TLD, such as .com, can help your customers reach your website even if they misspell your company’s name. Instead of visiting an error page, you can use URL redirection to redirect customers from the improperly spelled domain name to the properly spelled domain name with your business’s main website. As an added benefit, you will also prevent others from registering domain names that are similar to your company’s name.

More marketing opportunities

If your business intends to launch a marketing campaign, you can register domain names to align or support the campaign.

Take comparethemarket.com, for example. The company’s ‘comparethemeerkat’ campaign was a huge success. To complement the campaign, the insurance company registeredcomparethemeerkat.com, an additional domain name with a website that provides quotes and links to the main site.

Whether you direct customers to a promotional landing page or to your main website, additional domain names can help promote and drive results for an existing in-market campaign.

Highlight your company’s niche

Additional descriptive and memorable domain names in the .com TLD can highlight the unique aspects of your business, such as location or speciality.

If, for example, your main website is plumberjones.com but you’re eager to target customers in a specific area, you could register plumberinbrixton.com as an additional domain name and redirect customers from the additional domain name to the domain name with your main website.

Alternatively, you can use descriptive terms to help ensure that potential customers looking for plumbers can reach you – such as registering a domain name like stopleakypipes.com.

Registering multiple domain names in multiple TLDs, like .net or .tv, doesn’t mean you need multiple websites. For example, you can use URL redirecting to redirect internet traffic intended for one or more of your domain names to your preferred .com domain name with your business’s main website. With URL redirection, it will be easier for you to collect, measure and analyse all of the internet traffic destined for your online business since it’s all being redirected to one domain name. Setting up URL redirection with a registrar, such as GoDaddy, 123-reg,names.co.uk or 1and1, is typically an easy process.

Registering multiple domain names in multiple TLDs and/or in .com, with your main website on a .com domain name, is a smart, cost-effective way of increasing your company’s online presence while also creating a variety of other benefits for your business. Use our Find a Domain Name tool to register a domain name.

This article is a part of the ‘Getting Online’ series sponsored by Verisign. For more information from Verisign on how to get your business online, click here.

The importance of multiple domain names and web addresses by Lucy Wayment.  Available from <http://startups.co.uk/the-importance-of-multiple-domain-names-and-web-addresses/>. [Updated: Sep 26, 2016 Published: Sep 23, 2016]

Top content marketing tips: Writing for Mobile – Converting in 3 Words

Top content marketing tips: Writing for Mobile – Converting in 3 Words by Gareth Bull - Director at Bulldog Digital Media - Bulldog Digital Media.  Available from <http://www.netimperative.com/2016/09/top-content-marketing-tips-writing-mobile-converting-3-words/>. [September 21, 2016]

Mobile is the future but where does ‘responsive copy’ fit in? Writing for a tiny screen means getting to the point in an instant and converting people with succinct copy. Gareth Bull from Bulldog Digital Media, offers some essential considerations for copywriting for mobile websites.

Mobile is the future but where does ‘responsive copy’ fit in? People often talk about mobile as if the design was the only thing that mattered, but content is key too. How do you adapt your copy and content creation process to mobiles? Writing for mobile means getting to the point in an instant and converting people with succinct copy, but it also means giving them valuable content and a user-experience that’s comparable to desktop. Here are some essential considerations for copywriting for mobile.

Mobile content consumption

Nowadays, people are actually reading (shock horror) on their mobiles. Technology habits are changing, and the latest smartphones are increasingly powerful and optimised for web browsing. Good mobile content should be a continuation of web content, not a second-class platform that frustrates with its lack of information. A bad mobile experience is bad for a brand.

Despite the need for clarity and succinct copy, it’s wrong to assume a ‘dumbed down’ attitude to writing mobile content. See your mobile readers as savvy content consumers. Give them the good stuff, but give them the option to have it as a takeaway snack if they want to.

Shift to adaptive strategy

There are so many content platforms, with smartphones differing wildly in their capabilities. You need a strategy for how your content will be consumed across ALL different platforms, not micro strategies for every device. This is known as adaptive content: content that will adapt to a customer, situation, and device. Content that is smart and freed from design constraints. Content that doesn’t care so much about where it is, but about where it is best deployed.

Writing adaptive content is about breaking content down into blocks that can then be used by different platforms. Think smart, structured, and adaptable. Write in blocks, ideas, and nuggets, rather than paragraphs and pages. Use structure and metadata to mark up your content for devices. Adaptable content success boils down to proper content auditing, user-testing, refining core messaging, and shifting content strategies away from older desktop-based models.

Content audits

Survey all the content you have- what is being used by people? What is turning them off? What can be re-purposed? Approach your content audits analytically, breaking down content into key ideas, audience, engagement metrics, and possible future value. It’s a good idea to get a few different people involved in the evaluation process to avoid copy blindness. Don’t be afraid to cull useless content. You want to be left with only the essential content that matters to your audience.
Create a connection fast, but don’t be afraid of the scroll

You have three words to impress, seconds to sell- or do you? The mobile copy experience is more about giving people information fast and engaging them…then inviting them in for more if they want to. It’s not about stripping everything way.

  • You have to make sure that the first words above the fold are compelling and that they put the user first.
  • Don’t use a phrase “because you like it”, think about how a user will use it to get to the next step.
  • If you want users to make a choice quickly, lay out all the different pathways for them. Use simple phrases or visuals.
  • Include long-form content on mobile too- people will read it if it’s relevant.

Appeal to mobile user priorities

Information architecture is absolutely key for a mobile website. It’s important to give people key information quickly to make their journey easier, avoiding too much tapping and scrolling. Rejig information architecture to fit around user priorities. Prioritise this over fancy visuals or animations, as it will have a big impact on user-experience and your site’s engagement metrics.

Copy challenges & work flow

Writing for mobile is an opportunity to better your writing across the board. The focus on user priorities, succinctness and functionality should help refocus all your content. Writing for mobile should also help you redefine your copy workflow, seeing copy as adaptable and multifunctional, rather than treating pieces as discrete entities. Embrace spreadsheets and metrics to help you break down your copy into different formats.

Break it down

Often brands and businesses get bogged down with complex brand messaging, positively smothering the user with USPs and selling points. Sometimes breaking an idea down into its simplest form is the most effective way to create a genuine connection. To make an idea stick better, use the tried-and-tested SUCCESS principles. Making ideas sticky and simple is a great mobile copy strategy that will have positive effects across the board.

No easy answers

After all, ‘mobile experience’ means many things- it could mean a small screen and a dodgy WIFI connection on a train, or it could mean a huge screen in a company boardroom. Mobile is just the latest in a long line of digital transformations, and it’s one that businesses and brands need to embrace to compete in the current digital market. Karen McGrane’s e-book on mobile contentstrategy has a lot of fascinating insights into mobile content and writing for mobile if you wanted to explore the topic further.

Top content marketing tips: Writing for Mobile – Converting in 3 Words by Gareth Bull - Director at Bulldog Digital Media - Bulldog Digital Media.  Available from <http://www.netimperative.com/2016/09/top-content-marketing-tips-writing-mobile-converting-3-words/>. [September 21, 2016]