Apex Gifts And Prints LLP: October 2021

Sunday 31 October 2021

Artificial Intelligence now Plays a Dynamic Role in the Trucking Industry

Artificial intelligence now plays a dynamic role in the trucking industry. AI and IoT-driven telematics produced more data and automation, but it was still difficult to see what was actually happening on the road. A truck accident results in $16,500 in damage and $57,500 for injury-related costs totaling $74,000, according to Yoav Banin. Banin is the chief product officer of Nauto. Nauto provides fleet performance and driver solutions.

Truckers are the backbone of the American supply chain.

Truckers and telematics; a winning team

Considering other challenges facing the trucking industry, it is essential to emphasize truck driving safety.

The first priority in this matter is a nationwide shortage of truck drivers. This could lead fleet operators to hire less-experienced truck drivers and require less safety training. Truck parking is second in priority. Finally, a third priority is driver compensation.

This shortage is dependent on safe driving records.

Fleet operators managed safety risks in the past through training programs, manual coaching sessions, and driver ride-alongs.

Continuing Importance of Training Programs

Most training programs are commercial ventures by truck driving schools throughout the United States. Truck driving schools have been a popular option in the past several decades. However, the number of truck driving schools has remained static.

In some cases, it has dropped quite a bit. These two factors make it difficult for many potential students to gain access to the required driving programs. This limits the number of new truck drivers available for hire today. Artificial intelligence now plays a dynamic role in training programs as well.

Manual coaching sessions are becoming less common. Professional truck drivers are growing more and more reluctant to use their time in low-paying manual coaching. Truckers make more money driving solo. And veteran drivers who seem most willing to do manual coaching often have the worst driving records.

Due to the increasing state and federal restrictions on professional truck drivers, and the interest in self-driving trucks, ride-alongs are becoming rarer. Additional insurance is part of the restrictions on professional truck drivers for ride-alongs. The company or the veteran truck driver carries the insurance.

The above three challenges are merely the tip of the iceberg. Many more challenges face truck drivers and their employers. The bottom line is truckers must maintain an unblemished driving record.

What Trucking Experts Say

Banin stated that all of these manual approaches didn’t scale well. Banin views manual data collection as very hit-or-miss. Data collection on risky driving behaviors did not always mirror driving results. On-camera sensors, GPS, and deep learning neural networks are now crucial elements in data collecting.

In the early 2000s, fleet managers began to look for even better methods. They introduced telematics using Internet of Things sensing devices and recording devices. As a result, these IoT devices measured driving characteristics based on vehicle motion. Acceleration, speed, and braking are crucial to accurate telematics. The devices reported the data to central databases and applications at the corporate office.

IoT-driven telematics produced more data and automation, but it was still difficult to see what was actually happening on the road.

Banin used the example of hard-braking, which is usually a negative in any telematics system. However, the system views it as part of defensive driving.

Banin states that defensive driving is key to avoiding accidents. Telematics and IoT are excellent at understanding vehicle condition, fuel consumption, and identifying potential maintenance issues that could pose a risk. But, they can’t tell us the top causes of accidents, because preventing accidents is where the focus needs to be.

Safety Measures Should be Predictive – Artificial Intelligence May Help

Analytics may be missing an ingredient. Fleet managers realized this and began to add AI and computer vision to telematics, and IoT. As a result, fleet managers now have the complete picture they were looking for in terms of driver safety and road conditions thanks to AI and other big data technologies like computer vision.

Banin states that predictive safety systems can now understand driver behavior and state, including distractions, drowsiness, and cell phone use. As a result, predictive safety systems provide useful insights, as well as warnings about potential collisions. All based upon vehicle dynamics. Because of this, it is possible to give drivers extra warning time to help them ramp up their attention and take preventative action to avoid collisions.

The Value of AI for Truckers

Artificial intelligence technology is widely used in trucking to enable real-time road-and-driver assessments. Banin claims that AI technology can alert the driver to dangerous conditions. And as stated above, this can help reduce collisions by between 50 and 80%.

Fleet managers can improve safety and reduce risk by using more sophisticated scoring models for drivers.

Banin stated, “At the end of the day, it’s all about saving money and, most importantly, saving lives.” “Predictive safety technology and analytics technologies have already helped fleets lower collision losses, lower their insurance premiums, and prevent injuries and fatalities on the road.” This is how Artificial intelligence now plays a dynamic role in the trucking industry.

Image Credit: Pexels; Thank you!

The post Artificial Intelligence now Plays a Dynamic Role in the Trucking Industry appeared first on ReadWrite.

source https://readwrite.com/2021/10/31/artificial-intelligence-plays-role-trucking-industry/

In this blog you will find out about SEO news, tools and tips from different SEO companies and experts, which will helps you to grow your business.

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source https://www.facebook.com/108818354838599/posts/130370966016671/

Big Data Technology Success Cases and Trends 2021-25

Data management through Big Data technology and tools is a relevant topic at the enterprise and state levels. Today, mainly large enterprises use Big Data technology today (about 60% of the market). However, the number of medium and small businesses infusing this tech is growing each year.

By 2025, Big Data analysis and management will no longer be the prerogative of large companies only. In the coming years, Big Data technology will continue to help work more effectively and optimize internal processes.

What can you learn from those already implementing the technology in workflows? First, let’s see some of the bright Big Data success stories.

Big Data as a New Business Development Driver

The amount of information generated in the era of digital technologies and social networks is growing exponentially. If a company has a website and an app, it already has data that can be analyzed. But how can it help the business?

Large companies started to ask this question 7 years ago. However, only about 17% of companies worldwide employed Big Data in their operations in 2015. IT firms, banks, and telecommunications companies have turned out to be the early adopters of Big Data. However, it’s no surprise. These sectors accumulate the most significant amount of data. Banks accumulate data through transactions; telecoms get data through geodata, search engines use query histories.

In the United States, a wide range of industries is using Big Data. Meanwhile, in Europe and Asia, the demand for this technology is slightly lower.

Businesses have started using Big Data three times more in the last five years. Moreover, the application is going to grow. Statista predicts that the global Big Data market will reach $103 billion by 2027, doubling what it was in 2020.

Big Data Trends, Tendencies, and Impact Across Industries

Companies that ignore Big Data technology risk losing profits. Therefore, this fact explains the growing interest in this tech. For example, Caterpillar, a leading specialized equipment manufacturer, admitted that its distributors lost about $15 billion simply because they didn’t implement Big Data technologies. To illustrate, Caterpillar has over 3.5 million vehicles equipped with sensors that collect data on operating conditions. This data assists owners in optimizing the use of their equipment and managing maintenance costs.

Lost profits often manifest in the form of lost customers or missed optimization. Today businesses are focusing on the development of internal Big Data expertise. Hence, a good understanding of Big Data’s impact on processes goes by default.

Investments in Big Data analysis are increasing. Indeed, companies that already employ Big Data analytics will not stop growing the number of their Big Data projects over the following years.

Spendings on Big Data analytics depend on the industry domain. For example, the use of this technology costs millions of dollars to telecom companies. This is because telecoms use more and more servers to store and process data. Additionally, it helps to ensure data protection and confidentiality.

Big Data solutions for businesses differ based on the type of collected data and the challenges addressed. Let’s have a look at some great examples.

1. Big Data in eCommerce

Before the advent of personalization, marketers relied on surveys and sales analysis to determine customer needs. However, this method produces results that are hardly comparable to reality.

H&M suffered ten consecutive quarters of falling profit in 2018, threatening the company’s survival. Big Data algorithms were utilized to stabilize the situation, allowing for removing 40% of the store’s inventory without lowering sales.

Retailers get a massive amount of data that can be used for customer communication and the optimization of internal processes. For example, the Walmart network also uses Big Data technologies to process 2.5 petabytes of data every hour.

Modern retail is shifting away from CRM marketing and toward predictive analytics.

2. Big Data in Healthcare

Medical data analysis has enormous potential. With the use of Big Data technology in healthcare, it’s possible to:

Lower treatment costs;

Forecast epidemic breakouts;

Provide early screening for diseases;

Improve the overall quality of life;

Introduce modern treatment methods into practice.

The largest independent manager of pharmacy benefits and one of the largest pharmacies in the United States, Express Scripts processes millions of prescriptions for home-delivered and retail pharmacies every year. Their information about individual patients has become so rich that they will soon be able to notify medical personnel of drug side effects long before it is even prescribed to a patient.

This will result in significant beneficial changes in the health system of the nation:

Health care providers will determine if a patient is at risk of addiction before prescribing pain relievers. In such cases, it will be possible to choose a different treatment plan or more closely monitor drug consumption;

Analysis of prescriptions, physiology, and other medical information will aid in identifying the development of a chronic illness or illness that has not yet been adequately diagnosed;

Analyzing patient compliance with doctor’s orders after discharge will assist in predicting the likelihood of readmission over the next 90 days and take appropriate action to prevent it.

3. Big Data in Telecommunication

Telecommunication companies create solutions that attract many users every day, which makes a vast field for fraud. Illegal access, authorization, fake profiles, cloning, behavioral fraud, are the most prevalent types of fraud. In addition, fraud has a direct impact on relationships with the user. As a result, systems, tools, and methods for detecting fraud are widely employed in the telecom field.

The world’s largest mobile operator in terms of subscribers, China Mobile, has developed the Sky Shield system based on Big Data analysis and machine learning technology. It’s capable of detecting phrases typical of fraudsters, intercepting spam mailings and calls. Developers used the extensive database of fraud cases provided by the police departments to train the algorithm.

The system can also identify user groups who are particularly prone to spam and alert them. Moreover, according to China Mobile, as the Sky Shield is put into practice, the system’s accuracy improves.

4. Big Data Potential for Web Application Development

Big Data can be used to optimize the internal processes in a company through its implementation and infusion into existing corporate mobile and web applications. For example, the UPS logistics firm and the most significant supply chain management company in the US delivers more than 16.9 million goods per day to over 220 countries. It can’t do without Big Data solutions.

To optimize routes and cut costs, the company has implemented the Orion application. It stands for On-road Integrated Optimization and Navigation. The app is the firm’s fleet management web application. The system uses massive cartographic data, data on points of departure and arrival, sizes, and required delivery times of goods to generate optimal routes in real-time.

As a result, UPS saves around 6 million liters of fuel per year, cuts carbon emissions into the atmosphere by 13,000 tons per year, and speeds up deliveries.

5. Big Data Benefits for Education

An American leader in corporate, educational programs, Skillsoft, in collaboration with IBM, leveraged internal data on user interactions to tailor their experience, increase engagement, and improve learning outcomes, directly through the program and email newsletters.

The data on user activity was utilized to monitor engagement and determine the best time and channel of communication to capture the users’ attention. In addition, based on the preferences of the users, a recommendation system of educational content was built (84% of users rated the recommendations as relevant). Moreover, the company infused data-based visualization tools that tailor to each individual user in the system.

6. Advantages of Big Data for Marketing

To track and predict shopping behavior, an ecommerce store of bicycles and motorcycles, BikeBerry has implemented sophisticated machine learning algorithms and statistical models. The collected data on purchase history, demographic and behavioral information combined with the technologies the company used allowed for identifying and utilizing behavioral patterns on the BikeBerry website.

As a result, the store was able to recommend the most relevant products to customers and began making targeted discount offers exclusively to those customers who indeed required them, which helped to:

Increase sales by 133%;

Improve user activity by 200%;

Double the number of returning customers;

Increase the average check of such customers by 30%.

7. Big Data in Transport

The largest railway corporation in the US, Union Pacific Railroad, has employed Big Data to strengthen its risk management system, resulting in a 75% reduction in train derailments. The company collected data from thermometers, acoustic and visual sensors of each locomotive, information about weather conditions, the state of brake systems, and GPS location of trains.

Based on the data, Union Pacific was able to develop predictive models that allow for the monitoring of the condition of the wheels and the railway and the prediction of train derailments several days or even weeks before an incident.

Big Data technology made it possible to handle such problems swiftly, avoiding damage to trains and delays.

8. Big Data Trends in Public Administration

Governments employ Big Data analysis to make decisions in sectors such as healthcare, employment, economic regulation, crime and security, and emergency response.

Using a Big Data solution, the Los Angeles Police Department could obtain the most likely terms and areas (with great precision, about 50 square meters) of various types of crimes and dispatch additional police forces to prevent them. The LAPD’s system uses historical data on the time, type, and area of crime, and processes them using clustering algorithms in space and time.

No personal data of people in the city and data about their location is used in this case, which allows compliance with privacy regulations. In addition, the decline in crime has resulted in financial savings for the police, the judiciary, and the correctional system.

9. Impact of Big Data on Agriculture

Data analysts believe that Big Data has the most significant prospects in conservative industry sectors such as agriculture. This is because big data will help save both labor and resources in this industry.

Global food demand is anticipated to nearly double by 2050, putting farmers under pressure to raise output. In this case, Big Data refers to the information received from soil sensors, tractors with GPS trackers, and local meteorological channels. Comprehensive analysis of this data allows farmers to manage seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides. More, it helps increase productivity.

10. Big Data Benefits for the Mining Industry

In the mining sector, companies face increased competition due to increased requirements for the environmental component of production. As a result, the trend makes it critical for companies to use resources as sparingly as possible.

A mining giant Severstal has implemented a system based on the Internet of Things and Big Data analytics to monitor electricity consumption. According to the company, the solution can significantly improve the quality of energy consumption forecast (by 20-25% monthly) and save $10 million annually by reducing fines, optimizing procurement, and countering electricity theft.

Conclusion

Businesses have been using Big Data for quite a while. However, the flow of data has never been as intensive as it is now. Social networks, online services, and applications today can all be interlinked. At the same time, businesses can get the complete picture of potential customers.

Many would call Big Data the “new gold.” Data analysts predict that Big Data will soon become the primary decision-making tool for every business. Small start-ups and big international organizations will benefit greatly from using this technology.

Image Credit: neklo-llc; thank you!

The post Big Data Technology Success Cases and Trends 2021-25 appeared first on ReadWrite.

source https://readwrite.com/2021/10/30/big-data-technology-success-cases-and-trends-2021-25/

Saturday 30 October 2021

How to Create Engaging Company Culture Videos

Company culture videos. They’re that wacky video with the cows in the airport. That holiday video about the animated cat. That swift video journey through a company’s storied history.

Now, more than ever, people care about the values behind the brands they interact with, buy from, and work for. That’s where video comes in—and more specifically company culture videos.

What is a Culture Video?

Culture videos are all about highlighting your brand’s culture and personality for prospects, customers, and potential employees. In addition, they also help tell your brand story, so people get excited about doing business with you—as a customer, partner, or employee.

Benefits of Culture Videos

The exact benefits of your particular culture video will depend on the goal you’re creating your video to serve. For instance, a recruiting video has different goals and associated benefits than a holiday video. Some of the more common benefits of culture videos are:

Increasing team morale

Improving recruitment results and fit

Expanding your audience

Building brand loyalty

Basically, it all comes down to increasing brand affinity. You want to show people who you are as a brand, and what you stand for, so they want to do business with you because they know and like you. Video offers a more direct way of communicating your culture than any other medium.

Watch and Learn

Vidyard’s own video experts explain how to create an awesome company culture video and break down one of their favorite examples to highlight what goes into a successful one.

Where to Use Company Culture Videos

Where can you share your company culture videos for maximum effect?

Website and Blog

Your website is a key place to post culture videos. However, you need to make sure you choose the right section of your site based on the goals of the culture video you create.

For example, if you offer a service-based business and your culture video helps people understand exactly why they want to partner with you, it might make sense on your homepage. But if it’s a recruitment video, the homepage would not be a good fit.

The “About Us” section of your website is an excellent spot for culture videos, as are your “Careers” page, and your blog.

Social Media and Paid Social

The targeting options available on social media can make social channels and social ads additional places to post culture videos. No matter what the goal of your video, you can target an appropriate audience, either on your owned channels or using paid ads.

If your culture video is part of a recruiting campaign, make sure to share the video to LinkedIn, as well as your other channels.

Company Culture Videos for Sales and Marketing Emails

Your email list also gives you opportunities for segmentation, so you can share company culture videos with the people most likely to be interested in them. And a company culture video is a perfect conversation started for an outbound sales email.

A culture video can be an impactful addition to an early email in your customer acquisition nurtures. For instance, a new subscriber doesn’t know you all that well yet, and a culture video can be just the thing to keep them on the path to becoming a customer.

The Boost Your Emails NeedStart embedding videos in your emails today.

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Types of Company Culture Videos

Holiday Culture Videos

Holidays provide the opportunity to get creative with your team. Holiday-focused culture videos are a great fit for social channels and can inspire loads of engagement and exposure. Winter holidays and Halloween tend to be popular options, though some companies find a fit with videos for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and even Groundhog’s Day.

About Page Company Culture Videos

An about page video aims to serve the same general purpose as your about page text, but in a friendlier and easier-to-consume way. It’s a place to share your brand origin story or to highlight any unique accomplishments, awards, or impressive statistics about your company. Depending on your industry, you may also want to put a human face on your organization by introducing some of your employees.

Workplace Culture Videos

While these videos aim, obviously, to show off your workplace culture, don’t think of them as being exclusively targeted at potential employees. Prospective customers and partners may also want to know about your workplace culture before deciding whether to work with you.

Concepts for workplace culture videos include “a day in the life” videos, where you showcase one day at your office, or talking head videos featuring interviews with employees.

HR and Recruiting Videos

HR and recruiting videos speak directly to employees, potential employees, or new recruits.

A talent team might use culture videos for onboarding, internal announcements, or workplace celebrations and milestones. Recruiting videos, on the other hand, provide a picture of what it’s like to work at your company, to encourage the right people to apply.

Remember that a recruiting video is not just about showing how wonderful you are. It’s about providing an accurate picture of your company culture so you can encourage applications from people who will fit well with your team.

Behind-the-Scenes Videos

Going behind the scenes in your office or workplace is an impactful way to show people what you’re really all about. This type of culture video should be relatively unscripted, with a raw tone that lets viewers feel like they’re tagging along for an exclusive tour.

Get the Culture Videos ChecklistReady to make a company culture video? This list covers all the things you need to know to get it right.Get the List

How to Make a Culture Video

Here’s a simple production process for how to make your own company culture video:

Determine the goal and intended audience for your video. You need to know who you’re trying to reach and what message you want to convey before you can create an effective script.

Choose your format. Which kind of video makes sense based on your goal and audience?

Write your script. We’ll get into some best practices for your script in the next section. Keep in mind that for interviews or behind-the-scenes videos, your script will be more of a loose outline than actual lines for people to say. Use a script timer tool to estimate how long your video will be.

Get the team together to review the script and practice the video. This is a chance to uncover anything that doesn’t flow smoothly, and for the team to help give the video more personality.

Record your video. Don’t panic if you need a few takes to get it right.

Edit your best takes into a polished video. Share on the appropriate channels based on your goal.

Company Culture Video Best Practices

Show Personality

After all, this is what culture videos are all about. It’s your chance to provide a look behind the corporate veneer to showcase what your company stands for. What are your brand values? What makes your company unique? A culture video is your chance to answer these important questions.

A culture video shouldn’t look overly polished. It should feel like real insider communication between viewers and your brand. Don’t be afraid to include some bloopers.

Be Funny

Humor can go a long way to breaking down barriers and creating connections. And the type of humor you choose to use can say a lot about your brand personality. Are you subtly self-deprecating? Do you revel in your love of cheesy industry jokes? Embrace what feels right.

Be Real

Above all, a culture video must be honest. Don’t pressure employees into doing or saying things about your company that they don’t agree with 100%. It’s okay to write a line-by-line script for a sketch-type video, but if you’re asking employees to speak about their own experiences, your script should be limited to what questions you’ll ask.

Make sure your video sets the right tone for your particular business. If you’re going to ask employees to work loads of overtime, don’t say that you focus on work-life balance. Highlight the factors that truly make you appealing and unique.

Tell a Story

One way to clarify your brand story is to ask and answer questions that start with “Why?”

Why do you do what you do?

Why do people want to work with you?

Why do your loyal customers love you?

Why should anyone else care?

Try asking your employees, “Why do you work here?”

Once you have the answers to these questions, you can put together a video story that really highlights who you are as a brand, showcasing your purpose. After that, you can use your script to build a narrative that brings people closer to your company in an interesting and engaging way.

Don’t Try to Sell

This is about your people and your culture, not your product. Your product or services might appear in your video, however, this is not the place to tell people why they should buy. Instead, you want to intrigue people. A culture video should leave people wanting to know more about your brand.

Get the Culture Videos ChecklistReady to make a company culture video? This list covers all the things you need to know to get it right.Get the List

Best Company Culture Videos

Here are some top examples of the culture video format in action.

Holiday Video: Vidyard

Holiday culture videos are a fan-favorite around Vidyard. In this example, Santa is attempting to figure out this whole digital-first thing we’ve all been faced with.

This quirky approach allowed us to let our customers and our community know how much we appreciate them while consequently also showcasing our fun-loving brand personality.

Behind-the-Scenes Video: Plasticity

Plasticity Labs, a B2B company building a platform that connects employees, increases engagement and develops the traits of the happiest, highest performing workplaces created a series of meet-the-team videos.

They created these behind-the-scenes videos for every member of their team as part of a strategy to showcase their own company culture and attract potential employees who would be a good fit for the team. Since Plasticity is all about elevating company culture, the videos also hint at how the company could help potential clients develop a strong culture, without a direct pitch.

Notice how they include some bloopers. This was an intentional strategy to show the human side of the brand and appeal to like-minded people who don’t take themselves too seriously.

Recruiting Video: Loyola University Maryland

In a different take on recruiting, Loyola University Maryland used personalized videos to notify prospective students that they’d been accepted to the university.

This unexpected use of video convinced more students to accept Loyola’s offer of admission, resulting in the largest first-year class size in recent history.

Find more examples of culture videos in our Inspiration Hub.

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This post was originally published on Nov 5, 2019. It was updated on October 28, 2021.

The post How to Create Engaging Company Culture Videos appeared first on Vidyard.

source https://www.vidyard.com/blog/company-culture-videos/

SEO Clinic Episode II: Hands-on Landing Page Optimization Tips

Landing Page Optimization Tips: this is what the second episode of our “SEO Clinic” series is dedicated to. We invited 5 SEO and CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) experts to offer their recommendations on how a selected site can work on its landing pages’ performance to boost both rankings and conversions

from Semrush blog https://www.semrush.com/blog/hands-on-landing-page-optimization-tips

35 Insights that Google Analytics Can Give You About Your Website

Review these 35 useful Google Analytics insights to better understand your website‘s traffic.

from Semrush blog https://www.semrush.com/blog/google-website-analytics

Friday 29 October 2021

Are You Terrorizing Your Audience? (Plus More Seasonal Hot Takes)

A scary-smart horror parody from Umault skewers companies that stalk people who dare to pass through their content gates. Party City treats its audience to original research on a content sweet spot. And the Food52 community shows it’s better to give and to receive. Continue reading →

The post Are You Terrorizing Your Audience? (Plus More Seasonal Hot Takes) appeared first on Content Marketing Institute.

source https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2021/10/umault-party-city-food52-content-examples/

SEO Glossary: 180+ Terms and Definitions You Should Know

Click to find a particular term you’re interested in, or keep reading for all definitions. # | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X |…

Read more ›

source https://ahrefs.com/blog/seo-glossary/

The Top 10 New Instagram Features of 2021 (+One to Look Out For!)

Instagram helps you to grow your business, but you still have to run it at the same time! If you've been busy doing the bajillion things you do to keep your business in shape, you may have missed out on new Instagram features that can help you grow your business even more.

When you log into Instagram and there's a barrage of new features.

So we're covering the top 10 Instagram features released in 2021 that you can use in your Instagram marketing strategy. They include:

Professional Dashboard

Live Rooms

Remix Reels

Stories caption stickers

Updates to Insights

Algorithm shift

Algorithm explained

Black-owned category

Location Stories

Maps search

We'll be sharing tips and tricks on how to use each new feature to its fullest, plus an exciting soon-to-be new feature! Let's dig in.

Feature #1: Professional Dashboard

Launched in January 2021, Instagram's Professional Dashboard feature allows you to track your performance, access professional resources, and grow your business You can get insights on how your business is interacting with your followers as well as what time you may want to gear your posts based on when your audience is online. There are also branded content tools you can take advantage of along with tips and tricks to keep your business thriving on Instagram.

Follow these Professional Dashboard tips to get the most out of this feature:

Stay Informed: No Seriously! That's the name of the section in the Professional Dashboard where you will find other content creators' tips on making the best and most engaging content for your audience.

Sell your products: There is a section where you can easily set up your products on your page, where potenial and current customers can purhase right from your social profile. After you set up your store, you can actually tag shoppable products in your posts and stories, making it that much easier to sell to your followers. (More on social shopping here!)

Post about 15 minutes before your peak: The "Most Active Times" section under "See All Insights" will help you capture your audience at an optimal time. For the best engagement, post about fifteen minutes before the optimal time for that day.

Image source

You may also be interested in our Complete Guide to Instagram Analytics.

Feature #2: Live Rooms

Launched in March 2021, Live Rooms allows more than one account to participate in the same Instagram Live session. Go live with your teammates or colleagues, influencers, other businesses, vendors, or even your customers.

Image source

Here are some helpful tips for Live Rooms:

Add three or more users to the live. You can invite up to three other users to join your live video. You could run a panel, get a discussion going, or even have different participants cycle through. As long as you and that account are following one another, they can join your session.

Make a bite-sized podcast. A full podcast for yor business could be a major undertaking. Live Rooms could be your “bite-sized” podcast episodes where you provide tutorials, offer a Q&A session or even turn it into a talk show of sorts. Skies the limit!

Join others' live videos. If it’s too much pressure to host a live yourself, you can always jump into another person’s Live Room and contribute that way. It’s actually a great way to gain more followers from their account as well as engage with a new potential audience.

You may also be interested in these 8 Tips to Create Incredible Instagram Live Videos.

Feature #3: Remix Reels

Have you ever been perusing on Reels and thought, “Hmmm, I could do this better?” Or wished you could share your thoughts on what’s going on in a particular reel? Launched in April 2021, you now can with Remix Reels!

Image source

Remix Reels tips and tricks:

Incorporate others' Reels into your own. Whether it’s expanding upon the already created reel, turning it into a duet, or adding funny comments to it, you can get super creative here based on what your audience wants to see. You also have the option to create the reel inside the app itself or upload an existing video, an option not offered by TikTok).

Expand your audience. That person gets notified if you use their content, so if they share it on their feed, you can increase your exposure to their audience. Note: if you select the three dots at the bottom and the option doesn’t show up to remix, then that person has turned that feature off.

Don’t forget to adjust the audio. There are three lines at the top that you need to select before you hit next to make sure your audio will come through.

Don't miss our 20 Instagram Reels Ideas to Build Your Brand!

Feature #4: Stories caption stickers

Also in April 2021, caption stickers for Stories were introduced, which automatically turns what you say into text. Just tap on Stickers and search for captions!

Image source

Capture more viewers. Did you know 40% of people aren’t watching video with the sound on? This is a great opportunity to capture that audience. Using the captions sticker, you can auto-populate what you are saying in a video so that more people will watch it.

Keep it short. This feature only works for videos that are 15 seconds or less, so take care on all the information you need to share in a short snippet.

Double-check for accuracy. It may not get the wording 100% right, so just tap on the words to edit any of them that aren’t accurate.

Want to be more Stories-savvy? We've got posts for that!

Shopping for Instagram Stories is Here

6 Epic Instagram Story Hacks You'll Wish You Knew Sooner

Everything You Need to Know About Instagram Story Ads

Feature #5: Updates to Insights

Instagram also made some general updates to their platform that have turned into great features for content creators. Many of these recent updates are targeted for Reels and IG Live, which will help creators engage more with their audience.

Check Reels and Live insights. These will come in handy after you have made your Reel or gone Live with another user. It will show you what your audience liked and what they didn’t like. Along with if Instagram pushed your reel out or not based on potential engagement and algorithm compliance. You can use these to adjust what you do next.

Expand your tracking period! With the new updates, you can now expand your tracking period from 30 to 60 days. You now don’t need a third-party tool to analyze more of your data.

Focus on Accounts Reached. When you are in Insights Overview, check out the Accounts Reached section. This will break down your followers and non-followers which can be helpful, but also which type of content is getting the most attention. This way you can do more of what’s working or get out of your comfort zone and try to update the type of content you may need to improve upon.

Image source

Feature #6: Instagram algorithm shift

Not actually a feature, but just as important! Instagram's latest algorithm is said to favor fun and engaging video content. In June 2021, Instagram announced that it will not optimize for recycled content from other apps, such as TikTok. Before this recent update, users were missing about 70% of their posts along with 50% of their friends’ posts.

Write a longer caption with the video. This has actually shown to increase engagement and interaction on the platform where your audience will want to see the full video and not just keep scrolling.

Branded intro and branded outro. This will keep consistency and make your videos on the professional video creation level. It needs to stay on-brand with your business so the user doesn’t get confused on what they are watching.

Incroporate music. Also make sure these songs are copyright-free and you are using the right type of music for your video. Think about how you are trying to engage with your audience. If you are trying to give them an exciting update, then use upbeat music. If you are showing your audience something on the more serious side, then perhaps keep the music calm.

For more great social media content ideas (and much more), head to our Social Media Marketing Lab!

Feature #7: Instagram explains how its algorithm works

Also not a feature, but big news. In the same month, Instagram decided to shed more light on exactly how their algorithm works. You can learn more here in these 9 Ways to Show Up in the Instagram Feed [New Info!], but some quick pointers:

Regularly publish Reels: Reels regularly will help boost your page outside your network and all organically! It doesn’t have to be that time-consuming either if you keep everything in a shortened format. Studies are showing that Reels are getting two times the reach than a normal post (as well as has longevity on the platform), so it only makes sense that you take advantage of how Instagram’s algorithm works.

Cut down on the hashtags. Hashtags are losing their luster. The algorithm is getting more advanced in terms of categorizing for keywords (more on Instagram SEO here) and relying less on the use of hashtags in your posts. So maybe save some time and cut the normal 30 hashtags to about half or even less.

Focus on video and shopping. Yes, the CEO of Instagram is telling you, straight from the source, that Instagram is no longer a photo-sharing app. It is now more focused on shopping and video content. He’s not saying photos are going away, but they will definitely be focusing their algorithm to give more videos and products a boost over photos. It’s time to get more creative on how you are utilizing Instagram than just pushing out a photo a day.

That said, be sure to check out:

13 Tips for Creating More Effective Instagram Video Ads

How to Create Captivating Instagram Videos

Feature #8: Black-owned business label

From Instagram: “Last summer through fall, there were over 1.3 million Instagram posts in support of “Black-owned” or “Black-led” businesses. And the number of businesses located in the US with “Black-owned” or “Black-led” in their profile increased over 50%”.

Support, support, support! With this new feature you can discover and support more black-owned businesses by engaging with their accounts and buying directly from them.

Designate your business (if applicable). Set your profile to display under Black-Owned Shopping. You can make these updates on your profile and check the Instagram Help Center for more info.

Find partnership opportunities. Maybe you aren’t a black-owned business but you want to be a part of the 15% Pledge. This is a great resource to use when trying to find businesses to partner with that are black-owned.

Feature # 9: Location Stories (once again!)

This feature was removed in October 2020 due to election precautions, and finally, a year later, it's back! With it, users can find Stories being published by accounts nearby—a great way to do some local social media marketing!

Feature #10: Maps search

In September 2021, Instagram began rolling out the Map search feature. The in-app map will show nearby shops, venues, and cafes, and if a user taps on one of the map items, Instagram will then show more information about the business like hours, address, pricing, their Instagram profile, and public posts tagged at that location.

Image source

Bonus feature: Ads in the Shop Tab

True to its word that it will now be focusing on video and shopping, Instagram has begun testing a feature that will allow advertisers to show shoppable single image or carousel ads in the Shop Tab.

How do I stay on top of Instagram features and updates?

Instagram is constantly coming out with new features. Yes, it's a little overwhelming, but don't fret. Just take one tip a week or even a month and focus on how you can incorporate new features into your Instagram marketing strategy. One great source for the latest updates is Embed Social's Instagram Features & Updates. Stay in the know so you can increase your audience engagement and generate more sales for your business!

source https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2021/10/27/instagram-features

Steps to Find a Black Seed Oil Buyer Online

Setting up your own international trading business is not something that you can do easily. But, according to Black Seed Oil Buyer, there are many aspects of this business that you may not know about if you are a beginner. This article is the way to find buyers online for black seed oil, or any other product or service.

However, being a human, you can always learn anything and everything if you are interested in it. If you are someone, who is interested in starting your own international trading business, then you can follow the steps below.

Step # 1 – Choose a Viable Product

When you wish to start your own international trading business, you must realize that the product or good in which you are interested in trading matters highly to someone else. Therefore, you need to pick a product or good, which has a high demand.

Do Some Research

Pick or select a product by conducting thorough research of the demand patterns in the international market. First, search for a product that is in high demand — then you will be able to find buyers and sellers for that particular product quite easily.

Step # 2 – Create an Account on a B2B Platform

The second step will require you to create an account on a B2B website because B2B websites are the perfect place to find buyers and sellers in the international market.

Now, let’s suppose that you are interested in trading black seed oil in the international market. To sell black seed oil, you will have to find a buyer or seller in the global market. Assuming that you are a buyer, you will be looking for a seller, and if you are a seller, then vice versa.

When you trade in the international market, then you need to have a presence in places where you can get in touch with both international buyers and sellers.

Having an account on a B2B website will allow you to have access to millions of buyers and sellers in the international market quite easily. Furthermore, creating an account on a B2B website will require you to pay certain charges. These charges are between $300 and $3000, depending on the b2b website you are registering yourself.

Step # 3 – Secure Your Supply First

Whether you are a buyer or a seller, you will need to secure a consistent supply of black seed oil, if you want to trade internationally in this product.

If you are a seller, you will undoubtedly need the product to sell, and for this, you will need to contact suppliers. On the other hand, if you are a buyer, you are already working on creating a supply line for your international trading business. Therefore, you do not need to specially work on it separately.

If you are not a manufacturer yourself — you’ll want to have strong ties with a supplier of the product or good, which you wish to trade in the international market. Assuming that you are not a manufacturer, you must use your account on the B2B website to search for viable suppliers for the desired goods or products.

Once you do the search, you will come across millions of suppliers, and depending on their minimum order quantity, rates, and the quality of their products, you must categorize them.

You must prioritize the suppliers, providing you with your desired quality and quantity at the best and lowest possible rates.

After screening the list of suppliers, you must simply contact and negotiate with the selected suppliers to open up an uninterrupted supply line for your international trading business.

Step # 4 – Focus on Finding a Buyer Now

Once you have secured a supplier, you must start working on finding a buyer as well. Again, you must use the same B2B website for searching for buyers.

After searching for buyers, you must make a list of the possible buyers, who are looking for the goods you will purchase and supply to them yourself. This follows the plan of most dropshipping ventures.

Screen your list of buyers because millions of buyers on your platform, will not necessarily be looking for the exact same thing. You should be able to set yourself up with products that you can sell as the middleman.

But screen the list and contact the ones, who are interested in buying the product you have and the quantity, quality, and rates you are offering.

After the screening phase, you simply need to contact the ones who fall in this category.

You need to negotiate and provide samples to the buyers to check the quality of your products as well.

Try to close the deal with only those who are willing to buy your products at the best price. Moreover, you must not only rely on one buyer because the buyer might not be someone who wants to keep buying regularly from you.

This process is a continual process — you keep working on making deals with as many buyers as possible.

Work on finding those who are ready to buy from you at all times. You’ll watch for those that stop buying from you and try to determine why so that you don’t make the same mistake again with your buyers.

Your success will come as you set up your supply source and then who you will source to. Being dependable with your product being delivered on time and in good condition is what you are trying to achieve here.

You want a process to be set up with many buyers so that if some of your customers stop buying from you, your sales will not completely stop.

Image Credit: Mikhail Nilov; Pexels; Thank you!

The post Steps to Find a Black Seed Oil Buyer Online appeared first on ReadWrite.

source https://readwrite.com/2021/10/28/steps-to-find-a-black-seed-oil-buyer-online/

How to promote your products and earn money on Pinterest

With over 450 million active users every month, Pinterest is a platform you don’t want to ignore as an online shop owner. According to the platform, 89% of its users use Pinterest to decide what they should buy next. So whether you’re a small business or sell all over the world, Pinterest is worth investing your time in. Want to start using Pinterest for your business or want to get more out of it? In this post, we’ll explain how Pinterest works and how you can get the most out of it. You’ll also find out how Yoast SEO can help you reach your goals.

Pinterest explained

Unlike common belief, Pinterest is not simply a social media platform. It’s also a visual search engine. Users browse the platform for ideas, called pins, that often link to other websites where you can read more or buy something. The pins are vertically shown images with an optimized meta description that provides the pin with context.

Example of pins for the search query ‘interior design’ on Pinterest

What’s cool about Pinterest is that it can actually show your pins in the feed of people who don’t know you yet. This is quite easy for Pinterest as its algorithm creates a personal feed for all of its users. This feed is based on someone’s recent search history and the people, boards, and topics they follow. When a user likes a pin and wants to save it, they can pin it on one of their own boards. This board is a collection of pins that they can easily go back to when they want to look at these pins again. When a user saves a pin, this pin is also automatically shown in their friends feed, increasing its reach even more. So if you optimize your own pins well, it can go viral if it reaches the right audience.

In contrast to social media such as Facebook and Twitter, a pin can generate traffic to your website for months to come. In fact, it’s more common for a pin to generate more traffic a few months after you put it live, as the power of sharing is incredibly important on Pinterest. Consider it a snowball effect: the more your pin gets repinned, the more Pinterest learns about your pin and who would enjoy seeing it in their feed. It bases this knowledge on the boards it’s placed on, the pin’s description, and the people who interact with it. That’s why a pin that doesn’t seem popular at first, can actually bring you more traffic after a while. When it’s been shared more and Pinterest has a good idea of what the pin is about.

How to claim your content on Pinterest using Yoast SEO

Pinterest has two types of accounts: personal accounts and business accounts. If you have an ecommerce site, make sure your account is a business account. You can read more on how to do this on Pinterest’s page about getting a business account. After that, make sure to link your account to your website and claim your content on Pinterest. It’s incredibly easy to do so in only three steps!

Log into your account

Log into your account on Pinterest, go to your settings and find the ‘Claim’ option. Here you can insert the URL of your domain.

Copy part of the HTML tag

Next, Pinterest will ask you to verify your website. Choose ‘add HTML-tag’ and copy the code within the content quotes, as displayed below.

Add this to the Pinterest tab in Yoast SEO

Go to your website’s dashboard in WordPress and click on SEO in your left-hand menu. Then, click on Social and go to the Pinterest tab. Here, you’ll find a box for the Pinterest confirmation. Paste the code you copied in step 2 here and save the changes.

That’s it!

You’ve now successfully claimed your website on Pinterest!

How to turn your pins into rich pins

Now that you’ve connected your Pinterest to your website, let’s not stop there. Because with just a little bit of effort, you can make sure that your pins show up as rich pins. With rich pins, there is a lot more information shown alongside the image. Information that Pinterest gets straight from your website, meaning that any changes will also be reflected in your rich pins. This type of pin will probably increase engagement as it gives a lot more information.

To get your own rich pins, Pinterest must authorize your site for them.

To make sure your website is ready for rich pins, follow the steps on the rich pins validator page of Pinterest. If you’re not quite sure how to add metadata to your pages our page on how to get rich pins for your site can help you with that.

A rich pin, including price, stock, and a link to the website, encourages people to check the product out in the online store.

Product pins: the most important pins for you as a store owner

Pinterest has a few different types of pins, like article pins, app pins, product pins, and recipe pins. We’ll focus on product pins, as these are the kind of pins you will want to create as a shop owner. Of course, that doesn’t mean that you can’t create any other pins. If you have a blog and want to reach people on Pinterest, article pins are the way to go. Or if you sell kitchen-related items and also share lots of recipes on your website, feel free to add recipe pins to your Pinterest account.

But rich product pins are always a good choice if you’re a shop owner. As they make it easier for your possible customers to see what you’re selling, how much it costs, whether it’s in stock, and more. By providing this information immediately, you’re grabbing the attention of your audience and will drive more traffic to your website.

Yoast WooCommerce SEO and Pinterest

The WooCommerce SEO plugin stitches the Yoast SEO schema output and the WooCommerce schema output together, making sure it’s one, coherent, graph. At the same time, it also enriches the output with several attributes. This means that, when you own an online store that runs on WooCommerce, you only need the Yoast WooCommerce SEO plugin on top of Yoast SEO to make sure Pinterest can get all relevant information. You just have to install the plugin, we’ll do the rest for you!

The moment you or someone else shares the product on Pinterest, we’ll make sure Pinterest understands it’s a product, what the price is, and who the seller is. On top of this, we’ll also explain to Pinterest that the main entity of the page is the product you sell. This way your pins will be shown in a rich and attention-grabbing way!

Structured data explained

Implementing structured data properly on your website has always been a hassle. In Yoast SEO we made this easier for you: instead of focusing on the technical specifics of your website, you can now focus on selling your product. We’ll focus on the right Schema implementation for you!

Schema.org is used to markup products, recipes, articles, and more. Search engines as Google and, of course, Pinterest can read this implementation and present it to their users. On top of this, search engines understand a page or website that has schema.org implemented better. Here’s a little story to show how it works. All in all, Schema.org is incredibly important for SEO. It will make your website a better search result as it will give your visitors an easier way to pick a result from the list of links.

Want to work on your product pages to make sure that you’re hitting the right note? And curious about what else our WooCommerce SEO plugin can do for you? Check out our article on writing product descriptions with the help of Yoast WooCommerce SEO:

Read more: Write great product descriptions with WooCommerce SEO »

The post How to promote your products and earn money on Pinterest appeared first on Yoast.

source https://yoast.com/how-to-earn-money-on-pinterest/

Thursday 28 October 2021

The T in E-A-T: What is Trustworthiness? How can you achieve it?

Trust is really important for users browsing content and shopping online. Fake news is a widespread problem, and phishing attacks are becoming more and more common. You might know your content is safe to use — but does Google know that, too? And what about your users? In this post, we’ll explain all about trustworthiness in online content: why it matters, when it matters, and how to make sure you’re sending all the right signals to let users know they can trust you.

What is trustworthiness?

Trust is something we all need to have in our daily lives. We have to put trust in other people and systems all the time. And we all need to be trustworthy as individuals, too, or we face suspicion. But what is trust, at its core? Dictionary.com defines trust like this:

Deserving of trust or confidence; dependable; reliable

That sounds really simple, but in practice there are a lot of things to think about if you want to show the world you’re trustworthy. And that’s especially true when it comes to digital content and online shopping. Another way to put it is this: if you use this information or buy from this site, will it do what it promises? Or will it lead to negative consequences? Especially when it comes to ‘Your Money or Your Life’ pages, Google wants to make sure the pages appearing high in its search results are trustworthy. After all, most people would rather pay a couple of bucks extra if it means they can be sure they won’t get ripped off.

Why trustworthiness matters (for SEO and more)

Trustworthiness isn’t a ranking factor — at least not a direct one. However, if users feel uneasy when they reach your page, there’s a high chance they’ll click the ‘back’ button and bounce right back to Google. Now, Google keeps pretty schtum about how they measure user satisfaction — but making sure users get what they need is basically their #1 priority. So if users leave your site right away, and continue to search on Google… Google is going to notice, and it doesn’t really matter what they call the ranking factor associated with that. We’re confident it exists ;)

The same is true with all the E-A-T factors: strictly speaking, they’re not ranking signals — but if Google’s algorithm works correctly then high E-A-T pages should end up highest in the search results too. (If they don’t, then it’s a problem, and that’s the whole reason why Google uses E-A-T to review its own results).

Aside from anything Google assesses about your trustworthiness, it matters even more for you and your users. If they don’t trust your site, they’re probably not going to use it! And that makes all of your other SEO efforts a waste of time. So put some work into creating trust — this stuff really matters.

How Google looks at trustworthiness

Trustworthiness matters in different ways for different kinds of pages. So Google takes the purpose of a page into account when it assesses its trustworthiness. For pages that provide information, the accuracy and reliability of that information matter — and that’s even more important for YMYL pages.

What’s at risk if a user trusts this page?

If you’re talking about topics that matter to people, take care about what you’re saying. If you tell users they can jump on a flight to the US without arranging a Visa first, you’re not just misleading people, you’re encouraging them to do something that could seriously backfire. Or if you tell people that smoking doesn’t cause cancer, well, you might end up killing someone. Just with words! So whenever you write content online, remember: words really do matter. And they really can cause harm.

If you have an online shop, there are lots of risks users might face when making a purchase: the accuracy of product descriptions, background information about your company, customer reviews and whether or not your transactions are secure.

Who’s responsible for the site? Do they have a good reputation?

When you’re providing information, products or services that people need to rely on, your reputation matters a lot. While there’s a lot of overlap with expertise and authoritativeness, those factors tend to focus more on who wrote the content, or where the information has been sourced from. Trustworthiness takes that into account too, but also looks at who has the final responsibility for the content or products provided. Some people and companies prefer to work under anonymity, but unless there’s a good reason for it, that could be a red flag when it comes to trust. Especially for YMYL pages. Having clear and complete information about who’s responsible can make a big difference for trustworthiness. The reason for that is related to the next point:

What can users do if anything goes wrong?

Imagine you’ve just bought a new television online, and you paid a few hundred dollars for it. What happens if your order doesn’t arrive? Is there someone you can contact to investigate and resolve your issue? Or what if the TV arrives damaged — will you be able to return it and get a refund? Without clear contact information, making purchases online becomes a lot more risky.

Google takes these kinds of things really seriously when it comes to trustworthiness. The more accurate information you can provide, the better:

“For YMYL pages and other pages that require a high level of user trust, an unsatisfying amount of any of the following is a reason to give a page a low-quality rating: customer service information, contact information, information about who is responsible for the website or information about who created the content.”

From Google’s Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines (section 6.6, page 35)

How to improve your trustworthiness

Assuming you’re not scamming people, it shouldn’t be too difficult to increase your trustworthiness. You can start making improvements by following these tips:

Add clear and correct contact information

Let users and Google know your contact details, if possible. In some cases, there are good reasons to stay anonymous, so you shouldn’t feel pressured to share too much information if it doesn’t make sense for you. But if there’s no clear reason why there’s no name, telephone number or address, be aware that this can impact your trustworthiness. Try to include as much information as you can. We’ve got a guide to making a great contact page, you can find more tips there. You can also check out these contact page mistakes to avoid.

Customer support info helps too

Contact information is good, but you can do even better when it comes to trustworthiness. Your contact information might include a name, as well as an email address or a physical address or a phone number, or all three. But that doesn’t really give you a strong idea of who you’ll be getting in contact with, or how any issues you have will be handled. Customer service information, on the other hand, can be much more reassuring. Firstly, knowing that someone is ready to help with any issues you might have with your purchase can give you a good sense of trustworthiness. Secondly, if you include information about when customer services are available (e.g. 9am – 5pm weekdays), it lets people know what to expect, so they won’t be worried if they can’t reach someone right away.

Tell customers how they can contact you if they have any problems, and when they can expect a response. Extra details that tell customers what to expect (things like complaints procedures or refund policies) can go a long way to increase trust, too. Be sure to deliver what you’re promising, though! Otherwise your reputation is likely to suffer.

Secure financial transactions and personal data

If you’re taking payments or handling sensitive personal information, it’s a good idea to use secure HTTPS connections and provide a valid SSL certificate. Firstly, by using HTTPS you’re ensuring a secure connection between your site and your customer’s device. That means nobody else can ‘listen in’ on the connection and steal packets of data that they’re not meant to have access to. Secondly, your SSL certificate verifies the identity of your website, helping users and Google to tell you apart from any phishing sites that could be imitating your website. Note: if you do use SSL certificates, it’s really important to keep them valid and up to date. If you miss the deadline to renew your existing certificate, users are likely to start seeing scary warnings like this when they try to access your content:

If your SSL security certificate expires, users will see warnings like this when visiting your site

Add a security seal

Besides using SSL and HTTPS to create secure connections for your visitors, there are also security seals you can add to show users that your website is safe to use:

Examples of security seals

There’s a verification process that happens behind-the-scenes with security seals like these. So you should never just copy-paste a security seal icon onto your page (if you do that, you’re actually misleading users, and you might even be committing fraud by doing so). That being said, many users don’t understand, or care, about the technical details. They just want to know that your site is safe to use. All of this means two things: a) you can definitely benefit from adding a security seal to your site and displaying the icon clearly — but it’s a good idea to choose a security seal from a well-known company with a good reputation. The ones shown in the above image will probably do the job nicely. But secondly, make sure you’re using the security seal properly; you’ll need to register your site with the security seal provider for your seal to be valid.

Allow customers to add testimonials or reviews

One of the most trusted sources of information out there is “people like me”, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer. So when you let your customers share testimonials or add reviews of your products or services, it can really improve others’ trust in you.

It’s important to let your customers tell their own story. Highly-edited testimonials and cherry-picked reviews are likely to raise suspicions, instead of reducing them. It’s highly unusual for any company to have only 5-star reviews. Instead, let your customers be honest about their experiences. Don’t just publish testimonials — add a form or a link on your website to allow customers to add their own. Otherwise people might be left wondering how those reviews got there in the first place!

Note: If your reviews say something negative about your company, don’t just ignore them! Taking action when things go wrong is likely to reassure users. Nobody is perfect, and taking ownership of your shortcomings will show that you care about your customers’ experiences, and your reputation. What’s more, it will show potential customers what kind of actions you might take if anything goes wrong with their order.

Read more: How to respond to positive and negative online reviews »

Avoid writing click-bait headlines

Click-bait headlines are a big no-no when it comes to trustworthiness. If you’re not familiar with the concept, click-bait is all about promoting a really shocking, exciting, or controversial topic in search results, social media or online advertising, just to get users to visit your page. If you’ve ever seen content being promoted by Outbrain or Tabooleh, that’s the kind of thing we’re talking about. Click-bait headlines promise something incredible or unbelievable — and never deliver anything of value once you click. And that’s exactly where the problem lies; making promises that won’t be kept is the exact opposite of trustworthiness. Your SEO title, meta description and page title should always provide an accurate description of what users can find on the page.

Keep reading: How to craft great page titles for SEO »

Don’t mislead users – or Google

It might sound obvious when we say don’t be misleading. But you’d be surprised just how subtle misleading content can be! You might not even realize you’re doing something Google sees as a problem. To help paint a clearer picture, here’s one example of content Google would consider as misleading or deceptive:

“A webpage or website that looks like a news source or information page, but in fact has articles to manipulate users in order to benefit a person, business, government, or other organization politically, monetarily, or otherwise.”

From Google’s Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines (section 7.4.3, page 44)

What Google’s talking about here is sometimes called bias, and in the worst cases, fake news or misinformation. A huge amount of online content is biased, or comes with hidden motives behind its creation. Things like news sources which exist to push a particular political agenda, or ‘infomercial’ type content, stuff that appears educational but is actually a sales pitch — these kinds of content can appear deceptive.

If your content exists to support a particular goal or purpose, you don’t necessarily need to change everything you’re doing. You can easily make your content more trustworthy — simply be being transparent about your goals! For instance, if your content supports a political group or a social cause, you could explain this on your ‘About us’ page. Or if your links are affiliate links and you’re getting paid to promote them, you can note this within your content, or in your site footer.

That’s it for E-A-T

This was the final post in our series about Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness. We hope you’ve learned a lot more about what E-A-T means, and how you can improve your own site’s E-A-T! Remember: expertise, authority and trust aren’t ranking factors, but they’re still an important aspect of user experience, especially for Your Money or Your Life pages. Making improvements might not lead to instant improvements in your rankings, but your users will definitely benefit. Plus if Google ever does introduce E-A-T as a ranking factor, you’ll be ready for it.

Holistic SEO is an approach we believe in here at Yoast, and E-A-T fits well with that. So if you want to create a better all-around experience for your users, be sure to check out our other content too!

Read on: 7 ways to increase sales by creating trust »

The post The T in E-A-T: What is Trustworthiness? How can you achieve it? appeared first on Yoast.

source https://yoast.com/e-a-t-what-is-trustworthiness/

How an Agency Created an Effective Technical Content Brief for a Bakery Client

As a part of our SEO Reality Show series, we keep telling you our story of how one SEO agency is developing a blog for their bakery client from Florida. The agency has already chosen the list of impactful topics and a website content plan. Now it’s time to create content! In order to create for the bakery’s blog not only engaging, but high-ranking content that would rank well, the agency knew they should craft a list of technical specifications for their inhouse copywriters to follow. In this bl...

from Semrush blog https://www.semrush.com/blog/how-to-create-a-techincal-content-brief-for-bakery

How’d You Make That Flipping Awesome Content for HBO?

What happens when an audience falls in love with your content series – and then the series gets canceled? HBO and HBO Max’s senior vice president of multicultural marketing takes you behind the scenes of the content experiences that help them keep audience's engaged even when their favorite programming ends. Continue reading →

The post How’d You Make That Flipping Awesome Content for HBO? appeared first on Content Marketing Institute.

source https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2021/10/award-winning-content-hbo/

Wednesday 27 October 2021

Everyday Investors Believe Wall Street is Rigged: How One Man Plans to Change the System

The Occupy Wall Street movement wasn’t the first time economic inequality made the news. But it did call more attention to the disparities in the financial system. The Occupy movement also highlighted how the structure of that system is set up to benefit those who run it. Even though more people make up the 99% or “Main Street,” it’s the 1% who continue to pull ahead.

Delphia, an investment startup founded in 2018, wants to change that system. Through its investment model, which is based on an algorithm that gets smarter the more data it consumes, Delphia hopes to make the stock market work for the everyday investor.

Delphia’s goal, says CEO Andrew Peek, is to change the system so it can work for everyone.

“To change the system so it can work for everyone” is a statement that may sound overly idealistic and too much like the lofty goal that Occupy Wall Street wasn’t able to fully realize. But Delphia is betting on the combined power of its AI-driven algorithm and the voluntary participation of frustrated Main Street investors. The investment firm hopes to bring fairness back to the market through the concepts of quantitative investing and collective data.

Why Delphia is Different — Changing the System

When most people want to invest, they put money in a 401(k), mutual fund, a money market fund, treasury bonds, or a CD. But Peek describes the world of investing as a simple decision tree. In the first place — a would-be investor needs to decide who is making the investment decisions — them or an investment manager.

No matter what the investor decides, Main Street investors have to place their trust in the data that’s available to them or to the decisions of that manager. Those who go it alone rely on an understanding of how financial markets and investments work. In a lot of cases, this understanding involves an analysis of a stock’s (or fund’s) key performance indicators.

The return profile of a stock or fund can either be in or out of alignment with a person’s investment goals and risk tolerance. Peek argues that investors who are content with average returns should pay the least amount possible to get those returns by using index funds. But investors who want above-average returns have two investment styles to choose from.

Two Styles of Investing

According to Peek, those two styles are fundamental and quantitative investing. Fundamental investing involves deep research on a handful of stocks while using machines to parse terabytes of data. The data can then be used to take small positions in hundreds or even thousands of stocks.

Use an Algorithm

Delphia takes the latter approach using an algorithm developed by its CIO (Chief Investment Officer) Jonathan Briggs, and Head of Research, Emre Konukoglu.

Quantitative Investing from a Mobile App

Delphia believes that this is the first time retail investors have access to quantitative investing from a mobile app. The firm delivers a 200-stock portfolio yet doesn’t charge investors any fees. Instead, it asks everyone to commit to sharing their data to makeDelphia’ss AI smarter.

Voluntary Participation

The value of the stock market is a function of speculation on the part of investors, and the actual performance of the companies within it. Since performance is only revealed every three months, big data has made its way into the speculation side of the equation as investors estimate the actual performance.

Consumers Access to Data

A lot of the data used to estimate company performance belongs to consumers. It can be anything from their purchasing behaviors and financial transactions, to the ways people engage with companies on social media. All of this data can fuel speculation about whether a stock will go up or down.

However, much of the data that can help determine a stock’s value is not available to retail investors. They don’t see where that information is coming from, who controls or is selling it, or even how it’s being used.

Buying Consumer Personal Data

Despite increased stock market investing by Main Street, institutional investors still exercise control over the majority of the market. And that means hedge funds, whom these institutions invest with, have deeper pockets which allow them to buy consumer data and use it to their advantage.” “Believe it or not,” Peek says, “Delphia’s model was actually inspired by the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

The company’s co-founders recognized the power of personal data, but they were concerned about how the world was weaponizing it against unsuspecting people. So Delphia’s investment model came from the idea of helping people use their personal data to their own advantage instead of to the benefit of WallStreet’ss elite.

The co-founders wanted to build a product that would let people safely benefit from their data, so they created an investment strategy to improve consumer data over time.

You Choose How Your Data is Used

People who choose to make investments through Delphia’s model agree to share their data to help the companys’ algorithm make better predictions.

This data comes from consumers’ social media accounts and credit cards, but investors can choose which information to share. Delphia’s algorithm uses terabytes of data to make its investment decisions.

By measuring things like changes in a company’s sales, the algorithm can predict increases or decreases in a stock’s value. The hope is that data volunteered from Delphia’s own investor base, will help the artificial intelligence behind the algorithm get an earlier read on a company’s performance before it is publicly announced.

Peek saysDelphia’ss vision is to use voluntarily shared data to improve one’s investment returns, thus allowing more people to achieve financial prosperity.

The Future Delphia’s Investment Strategy

Over the past year, Delphia launched its first true quantitative investment strategy, and thus far, 3,000 people have consented to contribute their data, while over 4,000 investment accounts have been opened.

Currently, the strategy achieves its returns using commercially available data. However, as the number of people contributing data to Delphia continues to grow, the firm will eventually rely on a blend of data it buys and data its investors freely contribute.

Enhance Individual Returns

As for the immediate future, Peek envisions contributions that will allow Delphia to develop a proprietary data set to enhance people’s returns further. One way the company plans to encourage those data contributions is through its Data Dividend Rewards Program. The DDRP Rewards Program rewards investors with a chance to win cash each week in exchange for helping Delphia train its AI.

If Delphia’s predictions are correct, the world of investing will shift away from the purchase of consumer data and the absence of informed consumer consent.

On its website, Delphia boldly predicts that hedge funds and corporations will not be able to buy consumer data without consent as soon as 2024. Instead, Corporate America will need to reach out to consumers and directly make the ask. Sound familiar? It’s exactly what Delphia is already busy doing.

To help you better understand our processes — please read our Terms of Service at https://delphia.com/legal

Image Credit: Никита Семехин; Pexels; Thank you!

The post Everyday Investors Believe Wall Street is Rigged: How One Man Plans to Change the System appeared first on ReadWrite.

source https://readwrite.com/2021/10/26/everyday-investors-believe-wall-street-is-rigged-change-the-system/

How to Create & Optimize Landing Pages for SEO (Step-by-Step Guide)

And although it can be harder to rank a landing page in Google compared to, say, a blog post, it is possible. Just look at this landing page from Asana. The entire page is designed to drive people toward the…

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source https://ahrefs.com/blog/landing-page-seo/

Expanding Your Business? Key Insights for Smooth Transition

As a business owner, you know when it’s right to expand your business globally. However, when you expand your business globally, it comes with a lot of opportunities, potential customers, and obstacles.

Apart from growing as a business, it also helps you understand the global market and enables you to grow as an individual too. So, if you want to mark your presence at a worldwide level, the time is right to leap forward.

When you decide to expand your business beyond borders, there are a number of different considerations to make sure for a smooth transition. It is not just about being multilingual but putting your business into a foreign country that fulfills their requirement. It should be helpful and, most importantly, serve some purpose.

Before you get started, here are some questions that you need to ask yourself:

Will my product sell well in the targeted culture?

Is your target market familiar with the product or service that you offer?

Do you feel it will work out in that country?

What does the infrastructure look like?

Here’s how to expand internationally:

Keep the Business Purpose Alive

Before expanding your brand globally, it is essential to understand its potential in its current market or national iteration.

If your brand strategy is not up to the mark, you may face difficulty while expanding your business globally. So, knowing and understanding your customers is the very first step where you understand your customers abroad. Because your brand can either make or break your business, starting from product packaging, website, customer service, who will be your ideal buyer, etc., you need to have a solid strategy that works for all of these.

So, take time, understand your business, research your market to know how you want to present your brand in front of your new audience.

Don’t Forget Language Barriers and Cultural Challenges

When you enter a foreign market, there are a lot of obstacles that you may experience. Cultural differences and language barriers are of the top two of a few. These two will demand you to adjust your marketing and branding strategy to impress your consumers differently and emphasize their culture. That means, even if you are working on opening a new office, you will need to consider the office culture. Because work/life balance is different everywhere, and you need to make your decisions that revolve around that.

Also, language barriers can also make it challenging to communicate effectively when you position yourself there. The best way to escape this is by learning a new language. It shows that you respect their values, culture, and it helps you build meaningful relationships.

You can identify which language is commonly spoken in this region and how long it can take for you to learn it. After that, put a plan in place and learn the language, so you get ready to move your business forward.

Focus on market Needs that Your Business can Solve

When we say globally, it doesn’t mean the entire United States can be your targeted country. It depends on a number of factors, and some regions serve as a much better market for your product or service.

Here are some points that will help you decide on which areas to consider:

Is there a serious need for my product or service in the area?

Is this market saturated with others with a similar product or service like mine?

Apart from these, you can decide the aspects as per your business and determine the most targeted areas that will have the requirement of your product.

Relationships Matter

When you enter a global market, there is a good chance of you dealing with customers who speak different languages than you. Hence, it is important to translate your product materials and maintain your branding as a business that cares about other cultures.

If needed, you can consider having a native speaker on your team who can help you with these requirements and know you are communicating with your customers the way you need to. You can also try a video translation service. There are numerous professional translation services available today to help you keep up with your client and build relationships that will matter the most.

Keep your Logistics Game Right

It is essential to handle the logistics of your global expansion in a systematic way which is crucial to your success. Here you should pay attention to the factors that could fail your seamless logistical plans. For example, things like shipping costs, ruined cargo, and government regulations are a few you should consider.

Remember that logistics is very much crucial to your brand image because setbacks like these could affect the brand image. If you keep these in check, you can build customer loyalty faster after you deliver on the agreed time. Conversely, when you lose track of logistical things, they will only backfire on your business.

Identify Competition

If you’re entering a new market outside your country, it’s vital to understand the existing competition in your new market.

Studying the competition can give you a sense of the region’s demand for that product or service. You can also learn from the successes and failures of those companies what works in this market and what doesn’t seem to.

Pay Importance to Culture

When dealing with a different set of people, there must be a vast difference in ideologies, practices, perspectives, etc. When you expand your business globally, these are some of the significant aspects to consider.

There are chances that your services might be better in some regions. However, there might be a higher or lower demand based on cultural practices and specifications.

An adaptive approach to the new market is the foundation of your branding strategies. If you don’t crack them, you will not be able to appeal to your new set of customers. In addition, because of these changes in cultural views and demands, something that may be offensive in one culture might not be offensive in others. These are the things you need to understand before starting your global expansion program.

There are some of the biggest businesses that would have failed in some markets by overestimating their appeal.

Consistency is the Key

Setting your brand in a global marketplace needs consistency. Whatever you do, you need to stay consistent with your brand’s promises and values. As people are growing with their perspectives, it becomes vital that people also see your brand as a good example.

Showing consistency to your brand’s promises and values is one of the crucial aspects of a stronger foundation.

Conclusion

If you are a business wanting to expand at a global level, above mentioned are some of the things to consider. Of course, it is always a huge step, and proper planning is required. However, if you keep all things in check, your global expansion branding strategy will strongly appeal to your customers and the market as a whole.

Even if it is about starting from step 1, the key is to be consistent about your activities. Then, once you have everything at your checks, everything will get streamlined to help you set your business apart from others at a global level.

Image Credit: SHVETS production; Pexels; Thank you!

The post Expanding Your Business? Key Insights for Smooth Transition appeared first on ReadWrite.

source https://readwrite.com/2021/10/26/expanding-your-business-key-insights-for-smooth-transition/

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