Blogging

5 Growing Trends in SEO Technology You Need to Know of in 2021

Dec 23, 2020 | Seo

Over 5 billion Google searches are submitted every day. That massive number is telling of how integral Google is when it comes to how people interact with the world wide web.

To get into Google’s good graces and have your online content surface as a top result, you’ll want to get proficient at SEO.

SEO, for the uninitiated, stands for search engine optimization. It’s a collection of techniques content makers and webmasters leverage to earn Google’s attention.

In this post, our team touches on AI SEO, influencer SEO, and other trends we’re seeing pick up steam in the search engine market. With this information, you can better tailor your content and will see more return on your marketing investments.

Keep reading to understand what you have to look forward to in the world of SEO come 2021!

1. AI Will Better Service Needs

AI SEO is not a new concept. Search engines are essentially collections of artificial intelligence technologies that can scan content and predict what’s most relevant to searchers.

As 2021 dawns, we’ll continue to see Google and other search engines pour resources into helping AI better understand searcher’s intent. That way, more relevant results can be delivered, faster.

2. How We Speak Will Make Waves

From talking to digital home assistants (ex: Amazon Alexa) to using the assistants built into our phones (ex: Siri), people are searching the web more frequently with their voices.

What does that mean for SEO? Mainly that keywords and phrases you’re targeting that are based on how people type questions may start to drop in rank in favor of how people verbally state questions.

For example, the phrase “best restaurant in New York” may have been a valuable keyword to target in 2020. From 2021 onward though, “what’s the best restaurant in New York City” might be a more exact match for searches.

Voice search enables a more natural interaction that you’ll want to stay cognizant of as a marketer.

3. Influencers Will Influence SEO

Companies are spending unprecedented portions of their marketing dollars on influencers. A big reason why is because influencers influence SEO.

When you get an influencer to drive a high velocity of traffic to a new product you have on a website, that velocity is noted by search engines and will boost not only your product page’s search rank but your domain’s rank as a whole.

That benefit has a long tail and is worth investing in.

4. Video Will Pop Up First

Today’s web users prefer video to text. We’ll continue to see SEO honor that reality by putting videos higher up on results pages.

Your company can take advantage of this trend by doubling down on your video budget and scaling back other content marketing avenues.

5. Mobile-First Becomes “Less Than” Mobile-Only

Web traffic from mobile has grown by 222% in the last 7 years. It now accounts for the majority of online browsing domestically. Those staggering facts suggest that if people started building online products that worked solely for mobile devices, they’d still stand to do well online.

Search engines already know to lift mobile-friendly web content to the top of results. In 2021 though (or a little later), engines may start favoring mobile-only web experiences.

AI SEO, Voice, and Other Innovations Are Transforming Search

The SEO strategy you live by today may very well be ineffective a year from now. The best thing you can to do avoid being left in the dust is to keep educating yourself on innovations and continue to pivot where necessary.

For more information on AI SEO, SEO strategies, SEO trends, and more, check out the newest content on our blog.

3 Tools and Technology Pieces that Every Ghost Writer Should Use

Oct 9, 2020 | Blogging

A ghost writer’s tools are crucial to their success. Whether you’re a technical writer, a freelance writer, or even a shadow scholar, the right tools will make your job a lot easier.

Any ghost writer who’s been at it for a while will be settled into a workflow, using tools they’re comfortable with. You can always teach an old dog new tricks, however.

Let’s look at three pieces of technology that every ghost writer should be using, whether they’ve been at it for a day or a decade.

1. Never Miss a Deadline with a Good Project Management System

Most ghost writers have several projects on their plate at any given time. Once you start looking for writer jobs, you’ll realize how much opportunity there is for a good writer.

Ghost writers live and die by deadlines. Missing a deadline is one of the biggest sins you can commit. A project management system lets you track all the projects, their deadlines, any resources the client has sent – everything attached to a given project.

Your project management system can be completely software-based using tools like Todoist, Trello, or Evernote. Or you might prefer to go “old-school” and use a paper-based planner and file folders to store any background documents.

For example, take a look any of the of the top technology blogs and you will find that they have content coming in from all over the place. By using these project management tools, it will allow for the site owner, social media team and freelancer writers to all communicate with each other when it comes to scheduling and promoting new content that might go live on the site.

You can also use a combination of the two. The key is to use a system that works for you. If you’re comfortable using it and you track everything consistently, projects won’t fall through the cracks.

2. Stay Healthy with the Proper Equipment

While it’s not high tech, the office equipment you use makes a big difference in your results. A good desk and office chair that are set up for proper ergonomics make your job a lot more comfortable.

And over the long-term, it’s not only more comfortable but it can help you avoid repetitive stress injuries (RSI), neck and back pain, and various other health problems.

You can also use high-tech solutions to help with this, such as a fitness tracker or software that will remind you to get up and stretch on a regular basis. Once you get into the flow, it’s easy to let hours go by without realizing it. Sitting for that long isn’t good for your body.

3. Be A Ghost Writer With or Without a Computer

When most people think of technology for writers, they picture someone banging away on a keyboard, creating page after page of text. But writing can take many forms. It doesn’t have to be putting words to paper (or screen).

A voice recorder lets a ghost writer record their thoughts and dictate the written word anywhere, with or without a computer.

If an idea strikes while you’re sitting on the beach or watching your kid’s ball game, you can pull out your voice recorder and get the thoughts down while they’re fresh in your mind. No more getting back to your computer a few hours later and thinking, “What was it I wanted to say?”

You can use your smartphone for this. Every smartphone has the ability to record audio, so you can dictate into it and not have to carry anything extra. Some phones will transcribe the recording for you but if not, you can send the recording to a transcription service.

Once the transcription is ready, you’ll have a written document that’s no different than if you had typed it yourself.

Keep Your Technology Running Smoothly

If you ever get frustrated with the technology you use for ghost writing, you’re not alone. There are plenty of time saving and self-help writing tools on the internet today. Simply take the time to look around and see which work best for your budget and tech skills, while also improving your grammar in the process.

Computers and other high-tech equipment can be temperamental.

5 Ways to Implement Automation and Technology into Your Business

Oct 7, 2020 | Online Marketing, Seo

As entrepreneurs, bloggers and small businesses we are continually tasked with various day-to-day operations that many large organizations also have to deal with. No matter if you are large or small, such tasks still need to be taken care of. At the end of the day, the client doesn’t care if you have one employee or 5,000, as long as they get the quality work they are looking for.

To help with the management and completion of such projects, automation and software-based services are making this process a whole lot easier. At the same time, it’s also helping businesses better manage their outgoing costs and increase profit margins across the board. In this article, you will discover five different ways to improve productivity, management and simply getting more done.

Using Technology to Streamline Business Processes

We all know the world of retail and location-based businesses are dying. The internet isn’t just to blame for this, it’s also the ability to streamline a business from anywhere and eliminating the need for additional costs of staff, retail locations and holding physical products.

Here are some of the best ways to implement technology and automation into your business to see continue growth and productivity across the board.

eCommerce Site Solutions

Companies who sell products and/or services online rely heavily on their website for business. When sites are haphazardly thrown together, they do not provide the best consumer experience which can lead to less sales and a ruined reputation. Utilizing resourceful e-commerce solutions such as Magento allows business owners to improve their e-commerce site and provide a quality platform for consumers to use. This article gives information on how you can learn to leverage the Magento platform for an improved consumer experience.

Takeaway: This same concept holds true for retail location-based businesses that are still stuck in their old ways of selling to their local audience. Yes, you can still be loyal to where you were born and raised, but if you aren’t making it easy for your audience to buy on — you are basically putting yourself out of business. Have you ever wondered why sites like GoDaddy or Wix.com can sell their services so cheap? It’s because they’ve automated the process of e-commerce site creation and made it so easy for their customers to get up and running.

Accounting Software

Most small businesses do not have the funds to hire a full-time accountant. Many owners end up taking on the responsibility themselves to no avail. One of the major problems with taking on the responsibility of financial management is that it can be time-consuming. Managing the company budget, generating reports for taxes, monitoring and issuing payroll, invoicing clients, and even managing debts require a plethora of reports and calculations. Business owners can shave some time off of their day by investing in accounting software. The right software would allow businesses to easily keep track of all their financials and generate reports as needed.

It’s also important to note that there are better business accounting solutions for organizations of all sizes. Whether you have 100 employees or just a single entrepreneur, one of the last things you want to do is mess around with your financials just to save a few dollars on internal accounting costs. Organizations without an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) accounting software in place are leaving themselves vulnerable to their own human nature. This kind of software streamlines the entire procurement process, offers real-time income statements, bank reconciliation insights, and a bunch of other tools so human error never costs your operation money. Additionally, there are professional services automation software that can help identify new opportunities in the pipeline to accurately forecast future revenue.

For individual business owners and entrepreneurs, there are also many self-selve invoicing and accounting software solutions to consider as well.

Takeaway: Billing and cost management doesn’t need to be a paid department of your business anymore. Services like Paychex, Freshbooks and Due.com make it way too easy to setup your accounting and billing online, while also automating the process of sending out payments and managing where your costs are going each month.

Project Management Software

Managing projects requires several key players and tasks. Trying to keep everyone on the same page can often consume a lot of time. Project management software on the other hand makes executing and monitoring processes a lot easier for both the customer and the involved parties. The right project management software allows users to input project information, set projected completion dates, input a budget, and provide access to key players. Cloud-based platforms are even more advance allowing users to access the project plans remotely from anywhere with internet access as well as update information in real time.

Takeaway: Gone are the days of needing to bring all employees into one office room and holding board meetings. They are simply a waste of time and resources. Now through the use of the internet, mobile messaging/video and online services like Skype or GoToMeeting, it’s way too cost effective to keep thinking like an old-world company. Implement project management and networking software into your organization and simply get more done.

Marketing Software

Marketing is another big aspect of a successful business. Keeping your name in the minds of your target audience is important and also an ongoing responsibility. Again, most small businesses don’t have the budget for marketing teams and therefore use in-house staff skilled in other departments to pitch in. While this may work in the beginning, it is taking key staff away from other responsibilities and also wasting a great deal of time.

Takeaway: No matter what industry you are in or the demographic audience you are going after, marketing automation is key. With over 3 billion users on the internet, there is simply no way to effectively run a business one campaign at a time and manually looking over spreadsheet data. Through the use of self-serve advertising platforms like Facebook Ads and campaign management services like Wishpond.com, it’s never been easier to implement marketing automation into your business.

Brand Management Software

Whether’s project management, e-commerce sales or marketing software… every business needs to be aware of when, where and why their name is being mentioned online. This usually falls under the category of reputation management. It’s not so much about maintaining your reputation, but instead having a system in place to know when and where someone is writing about your brand online. Just one complaint from a random customer or even defamation from your competition can result in thousands (or even millions) of lost dollars in sales, customers and brand reputation.

Takeaway: Going to Google.com and searching for your personal or brand name is a great way to see what might rank for your name, however, this is also tedious and not something you can do on a daily basis. Instead, you can rely on tools like Google Alerts to set up a free email alerts system to notify you every time your target keyword or name appears in the search results. For more advanced tracking, you can also refer to reputation management services, which not only have more detailed tracking and management systems in place, but they can also help remove any negative attacks that might currently be ranking for your name as well.

Automation and Technology for Every Business Model

Depending on what your needs are there is plenty of marketing and automation solutions for you to choose from. Social media management software for instance, would allow you to schedule posts, measure marketing performance, and interact with followers. Content management tools would assist you in generating key content, finding relevant keywords and phrases to use, and even track which platforms are receiving the best feedback from your posts.

When you’re dealing with limited funds, finding the best way to streamline processes can seem impossible. The good news is that there is probably a perfect solution out there for you, and it’s probably more cost-effective than you think. With free and low costing options available to you, finding the resources without breaking the bank is simpler than ever. If you’re considering the possibility of investing in any of the above-mentioned software, be sure to compare products to determine which presents the best overall value for your business.