Apex Gifts And Prints LLP: February 2022

Monday 28 February 2022

IoT’s Market Growth Outpaces Security and Hackers are Loving It

Imagine going to your local grocery store on the corner to grab a few snacks, only to receive a heartfelt sermon about the virtues of unionization from the receipt printer. Yes, the same one that urged you to subscribe to a YouTube star a few years ago. It’s a very outspoken device, apparently.

The hijack security trend

As entertaining as such hijacks may be, they reveal what’s by now all too familiar — The IoT security trend (or rather lack thereof).

Businesses tend to be lax about protecting their connected devices, and this hands-off attitude has created the most significant blind spot in today’s security landscape.

The speed of threat surfaces

The speed of Internet of Things (IoT) proliferation means that most companies are building up vast threat surfaces — and usually turning a blind eye to them. As a result, the market is expanding quickly, with the number of connected devices expected to soar to over 27 billion by 2025.

About two-thirds of businesses globally are already using IoT products, so you can be sure the B2B market will account for a solid proportion of those devices.

Attack targets and entry points

More IoT means more targets and entry points to go after for hackers. According to Kaspersky, the number of attacks on connected devices doubled in the first half of 2021 compared to the previous six months.

Some security incidents are a joke

Granted, some IoT security incidents amount to nothing more than an innocuous joke — like the receipt printer rooting for a YouTube channel. Nevertheless, companies report these more minor incidents, get a headline or two, and the world moves on.

Too often, though, other incidents stay unreported — and take it from an insider, those attacks are anything but a joke.

But when the hack isn’t a joke

Here is a quick example from my own experience. Hackers going after a specific government body targeted a Smart TV in a conference room. After gaining access to the device, they could record several sensitive internal discussions before the attack was spotted.

Hijacking a connected device is like securing a beachhead for an offensive operation for a hacker.

A chain is as weak as its weakest link, and IoT devices, which often lack endpoint protection or monitoring, work as perfect entry points.

After compromising a smart printer, a surveillance camera, or another device, an attacker can infiltrate a corporate network to steal sensitive data, disrupt hospital operations, or shut down a power plant or industrial facility.

Compromised IoT devices are great for storing malware, too. In addition, hackers often connect the “zombified” devices into botnets, which can flood a target network or server with connection requests, shutting it down.

The number of such attacks soared in 2021, and botnets are the ideal tool for their execution.

Colossi on clay feet

It may be tempting to blame the entire IoT security situation on businesses that fail to change factory access credentials on smart devices. That said, the reality is more complex. It’s not just about the credentials.

Smart devices often have dozens of software vulnerabilities that users can do nothing about on their own. Such gaps are up to the manufacturer to catch and patch, and until they do so, their customers are sitting exposed. We obviously wouldn’t expect a grocery store to write up a firmware update for its preachy receipt printer.

Manufacturer patches come too late

All too often, though, manufacturer patches come out too late. As a result, the IoT market expands at breakneck speed, with more and more devices going online every day. But the problem is, its own security research and development are lagging behind.

Researchers and regulators alike are still figuring out the best standards and practices for the industry. Likewise, practitioners often struggle to secure the IoT infrastructure properly.

Legacy industries moving into the digital world

Another trend playing into this is the disconnect between the security protocols followed by established tech giants and the legacy industries moving into the digital world.

These companies watch for hackers

Hackers have long been part of the equation for enterprises like Apple and Google, a known threat to keep an eye on.

These companies traditionally don’t protect quickly enough

At the same time, a traditional home appliances company expanding its offering with smart lightbulbs is hardly up to date on all the latest in cybersecurity.

It’s no surprise that researchers have found a significant gap in how these two groups approach their security, with the former predictably way ahead of the latter.

The IoT security crisis at hand

The resulting mismatch in the industry is what underpins the IoT security crisis.

The IoT market is simply too fast and too lucrative for its own good, and the discrepancy between its growth and security research and solutions opens a gap for hackers to exploit.

Some of the companies joining this market lack the necessary cybersecurity experience or procedures.

Given how rare established, mature device security products are, these newcomers end up exacerbating the problem. As a result, the bad guys get more exploits to go after, while the victims are left waiting for patches.

Central Connected Devices

The problem becomes evermore acute given how central connected devices are to today’s tectonic shift in the business paradigm. Everyone, even legacy enterprises, from mining companies to agricultural businesses, strives to go smart. So they deploy arrays of sensors, drone fleets, and robots to do things better, faster, and with higher quality.

Going Smart is Dumb Without Security Features

But going smart is dangerous when you rely on ostensibly dumb devices to work as your infrastructure. And dumb they are, given how often they don’t have built-in security and observability features.

New Attack Surfaces

Without proper safeguards, companies going through a digital transformation expose whole new attack surfaces that would have been inconceivable just a decade ago. And the worst thing is, they don’t even know it.

Cybersecurity Is A Must For Everyone

When every device is smart, cybersecurity becomes a must for everybody. As more and more companies join the digital fray, neither businesses deploying the device nor manufacturers developing it can turn a blind eye to it, even when it comes to securing the most innocuous tech.

The IoT newcomers must learn the ropes quickly. Otherwise, they risk ultimately undermining their own progress by opening the floodgates to a whole tsunami of cyber-incidents.

Image Credit: dan-cristian-pădureț; Pexels; Thank you!

The post IoT’s Market Growth Outpaces Security and Hackers are Loving It appeared first on ReadWrite.

source https://readwrite.com/iots-market-growth-outpaces-security-and-hackers-are-loving-it/

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.

(Feed generated with FetchRSS)

source https://www.facebook.com/108818354838599/posts/156242643429503/

14 SEO Tips for More Traffic in 2022

But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible, as you can see from the fact that our blog ranks on the first page for over 11,600 keywords: Today, I want to share a few simple SEO tips that helped us get there.…

Read more ›

source https://ahrefs.com/blog/seo-tips-new/

Sunday 27 February 2022

Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: Tomorrow and Today

It is a typically cold day in February and the peak of the flu season. Let alone the never-ending pandemic that seems to have been haunting this world forever. And it got me thinking – can technology help battle all these nasty diseases and improve patient outcomes? And most importantly, will artificial intelligence have a hand in it? It seems so.

In 2021, we’ve reached another milestone in Artificial Intelligence adoption – $6.9 billion of market size and counting. By 2027, the intelligent market in healthcare will grow to 67.4 billion. Hence, the future of AI in healthcare certainly looks bright, yet not serene.

Today, I’ll walk you through the state of artificial intelligence in healthcare, its main application areas, and its current limitations. All these will help you build a holistic image of this technology in medical services.

The State of AI in Healthcare Today

Artificial Intelligence is now considered one of the most important IT research areas, promoting industrial growth. Just like the transformation of power technology led to the Industrial Revolution, AI is heralded today as the source of breakthrough.

Within the healthcare continuum, COVID-19 has accelerated investments in AI. Over half of healthcare leaders expect artificial intelligence (AI) to drive innovation in their organizations in the coming years. At the same time, around 90% of hospitals have AI strategies in place.

Now let’s have a look at the top impacts of intelligent algorithms in medicine.

Current Technological Impacts in Medicine

Today, only specific settings in clinical practice have welcomed the application of artificial intelligence.

Patients have been waiting for the deployment of augmented medicine since it allows for greater autonomy and more individualized care. However, clinicians are less encouraged because augmented medicine requires fundamental shifts in clinical practice.

Nevertheless, we already have enough AI use cases to assess its potential.

Early Disease Detection

In most critical cases, the treatment prognosis depends on how early the disease is detected. AI-driven technology is currently used to amplify the accurate diagnosis of a disease like cancer in its earliest stages.

Machine learning algorithms can also process patient data from ECG, EEG, or X-ray images to prevent the aggravation of symptoms.

According to the American Cancer Society, 1 in every 2 women is misdiagnosed with cancer due to a high rate of erroneous mammography results. Hence, there is certainly an acute need for more accurate and effective disease identification. Mammograms are examined and interpreted 30 times faster with up to 99 percent accuracy with AI, reducing the need for biopsies.

Faster Drug Discovery

This year, Alphabet has launched a company that uses AI for drug discovery. It will rely on the work of DeepMind, another Alphabet unit that has pioneered the use of artificial intelligence to predict the structure of proteins.

And it’s not the only instance of AI-enabled clinical research.

According to a Deloitte survey, 40% of drug discovery start-ups already used AI in 2019 to monitor chemical repositories for potential drug candidates. Over 20% leverage intelligent computing to identify new drug targets. Finally, 17% use it for computer-assisted molecular design.

Healthcare Data Analytics

The healthcare data explosion is something that has gained momentum in recent years. This sudden spike of data can be attributed to the massive digitalization of the healthcare industry and the proliferation of wearables.

With a single patient accounting for around 80 megabytes of data per year in imaging and EMH data, the compound annual growth rate of data is estimated to hit 36% by 2025.

Therefore, physicians need a fast and effective tool to make sense of this data flow to produce industry-changing insights. Predictive analytics is exactly one of those tools. In particular, AI-enabled data analytics helps uncover hidden trends in the spread of illness. This allows for proactive and preventive treatment, which further improves patient outcomes.

For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) implements analytics to predict the next flu outbreak. Using historical data, they assess the severity of future flu seasons which allows them to make strategic decisions beforehand.

The global pandemic wasn’t an exception as well. Thus, The National Minority Quality Forum has launched its COVID-19 Index. The latter is a predictive tool that will help leaders prepare for future waves of coronavirus.

Clinical Intelligence

In the past year, labs performed over 2800 clinical trials to test life-saving medications and vaccines for the coronavirus. However, this large clinical trial field wasn’t fruitful and has generated misleading expectations. But it’s old news.

The $52B clinical trials market has been long suffering from ineffective preclinical investigation and planning. One of the most difficult components of running clinical research is finding patients. However, many of these clinical trials – particularly oncology trials – have become more sophisticated, making it even more challenging to find the patients in a short window of time.

Artificial intelligence holds great potential for making the selection process faster. It can amplify the patient selection by:

Maximizing patient unification. This might be accomplished by the harmonization of huge EMR and EHR data from various formats and levels of precision, as well as the use of electronic phenotyping.

Providing prognostic clinical outcomes. This refers to selecting patients who are more likely to have a measurable clinical objective.

Predicting a population that will benefit from the treatment.

Personalized Care

As artificial intelligence enters the precision medicine landscape, it can help organizations benefit from precision medicine in multiple ways. First of all, personalized medicine may come in the form of digital solutions that allow one-to-one interaction with specialists without leaving the house.

According to statistics, there are currently over 53K healthcare apps on Google Play. Why are they so popular? Patients like the convenience that healthcare apps give. Patients can save money, get immediate access to tailored care, and have greater control over their health thanks to advancements in mobile healthcare technology.

Here are some encouraging statistics to demonstrate the importance of this tech boon:

The mHealth apps market stands at $47.7 billion in 2021 and is estimated to grow to $149 billion by 2028.

The market saw a growth of 14.3% during 2020, promoted by the pandemic. Also, this market is estimated to see year-over-year growth of 17-18% in the next five years.

The major economic benefit from mHealth apps lies in cutting hospital costs by decreasing readmission rates and length of stay, and by assisting with patient compliance to medication plans.

Another face of personalization in healthcare is precision medicine. It is an innovative model of medical services that offers individualized healthcare customization through medical solutions, treatments, practices, or products tailored to a subset of patients. The tools underpinning precision medicine can include molecular diagnostics, imaging, and analytics.

However, precision medicine is impossible within the traditional medical approach. Instead, it requires access to massive amounts of data coupled with cutting-edge functionality. This data includes a wide span of patient data, including health records, personal devices, and family history. AI then computes this data and generates insights, enables the system to learn, and empowers clinician decision-making.

What Hinders AI Transformation in Healthcare?

The clinical impact of machine intelligence holds great potential for disrupting healthcare, making it more accessible and affordable. However, the adoption of AI is currently at its early stages due to a great number of industry limitations. Some of them include:

Fragmented medical data is one of the major challenges on the way to automation. A difficult combination of unstructured and structured output further aggravates effective data capture. Thus, around 80% of all data goes to unstructured siloed pieces scattered across medical systems.

A complex web of economic factors and ethical considerations also impacts the speed of AI adoption. Currently, there are no standards for AI systems in healthcare, which raises concerns among doctors and patients. Also, intelligent systems cannot be deployed into resource-poor settings, thus calling for significant investments.

Privacy is another limitation linked with digital transformation, Since smart algorithms feed on a huge amount of data, it enlarges the attack surface for cybercriminals. Besides, the predominance of sensitive information means the need for supreme security measures and compliance with federal regulations like HIPAA.

The Final Word

Artificial intelligence in healthcare is a long-awaited disruption that has been ripening for quite a while. Its possibilities are virtually limitless and stretch from faster drug discovery to at-home diagnostics. In 2021, AI has seen significant growth due to the pandemic-induced crisis and acute need for automation. Although in its early stages, we’ll see more of AI revolutionizing our healthcare sector.

Image Credit: provided by the author; Thank you!

The post Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: Tomorrow and Today appeared first on ReadWrite.

source https://readwrite.com/artificial-intelligence-in-healthcare/

Friday 25 February 2022

SEO Split Test Result: Would Adding The City And State To a Cannabis Directory Site Title Tag Improve Clicks?

We hypothesized, by adding the city and state of a local dispensary to that dispensary’s listing page, we’d see an increase in clicks.

from Semrush blog https://www.semrush.com/blog/seo-split-test-result-title-tag-test-cannabis-directory-site

Thursday 24 February 2022

Keyword Analysis: How to Analyze Your Keywords for SEO

Once you find keywords for your SEO strategy, what‘s next? Learn how to analyze keywords to choose the best ones for organic success.

from Semrush blog https://www.semrush.com/blog/keyword-analysis-how-to-evaluate-the-best-keywords

Marketing Analytics: The Simple Guide

If you’re doing digital marketing, you’re swimming in a vast pool of actionable data. But if you’re not using tools and techniques to discover, analyze, and interpret this data, then you’re swimming with your eyes closed. To help you learn…

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source https://ahrefs.com/blog/marketing-analytics/

How to Build a Topic Cluster in 10 Minutes

Don’t worry, they’ll tell you. Lots of SEOs seem to be raving about the benefits of topic clusters at the moment. But do topic clusters live up to the hype, or are they just another buzzword? In this guide, you’ll…

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source https://ahrefs.com/blog/topic-clusters/

Wednesday 23 February 2022

How to Come Up With a Business Name: The Creative & Practical Checklist

Did you know that there are 33 million businesses in the U.S.? This alone makes it tough to come up with a unique business name—then add in the fact that the name of your business can impact its success. Oh, and that once you name it, there’s no turning back (unless you want to swim in paperwork and buy all new business cards and collateral).

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There’s a lot of pressure here, but don’t worry. Because in this post, I’m going to show you how to come up with a business name you’ll love—not just creative ideas and brainstorming tips, but also the practical and legal steps to take so you can get it right.

Table of contents

Who knew that coming up with a business name had so many steps? Don’t worry, most of them are fun.

How to come up with a business name (the creative part)

Essential steps for coming up with a business name

Checklist for creating a business name

How to name a business (the legal part)

How to come up with a business name: brainstorming tips

This is the fun part where you get the creative gears turning. Here are some tips, prompts, and ideas to help you get a fruitful business naming brainstorm.

1. Write out your story

Yes, I know, this can be a pain in the butt, but you absolutely need to do this. It doesn’t have to be perfect—that’s not the point. This isn’t for anyone to read. It’s for you to write (or type). Because you’ll be amazed at what surfaces when you write about something versus talk or think about it. Depending on what stage you’re at, write about how you came up with your business idea, why you started or want to start it, what challenges or opportunities arose, and where you want it to go.

This will get the gears turning and will also come in handy later on down the line when it comes to writing your mission statement and about us page.

2. Take a personal inventory

Now it’s time to see if there are any personal attributes you could potentially incorporate into your business name. Take some more time to jot down your:

Passions

Nicknames

Favorite books, songs, and quotes

Upbringing

Core values

As well as:

How people describe you

People, places, and things that are important to you

What inspires you

Your core values

Did you know that IKEA is an acronym for Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd? That is, the founder’s first name, last name, farm he grew up on, and home villiage.

3. Look at other business names in your industry

This strategy is helpful in a number of ways. First, it will tell you what not to name your business if you want to stand out. Second, it can give you creative ideas. Third, it will also give you some general themes to stick to. As we’ll get to later, most business names require some level of conformity, as you don’t want to be so unique that you’re foreign.

Search industry-specific directories.

Look up your business category in Google maps for different states or countries.

Literally Google “list of [industry] businesses.”

Check out our epic list below

>> 268 Catchy and Creative Business Name Ideas (Curated, Not Generated!)

4. Look at other industry business names

There are so many approaches you can take to naming a business regardless of industry, so don’t do yourself a disservice by only looking up business names in your niche. Take, for example, Happy as a Clam Dock Builders.

This inspires…

Cool as a Cucumber Salon?

Light as a Feather Weight Loss?

Pleased as Punch Tiki Bar? Boxing gym?

Right as Rain Law Firm? Just kidding, we’ll get to that later).

5. Do an emotional brainstorm

Think about how your customers want to/will feel as a result of your products and services. One word that stirs up an emotion can make a powerful and attractive business name that markets itself. For example:

Online pet store customers want to feel: proud, relieved, joy, laughter, excited, loved.

Gym members want to feel: strong, competitive, progress, admired, accomplished.

Speech therapy students want to feel: secure, confident, happy, belonging.

Confidence Connection: emotional and alliterative business name.

We have a list of emotional words here to help get you started.

6. Check the thesaurus

Take the words you’ve come up with so far in your brainstorm, like emotions and core values, and plug them into the thesaurus. There are dozens of cool, fancy, and fun to say words that make great business names. Take the word “bravery,” for example. Synonyms include:

Gallantry (Gallantry Web Design)

Grit (Grit n Glory clothing line brand)

Fortitude (Fortitude Fitness Academy)

Intrepidity (Intrepid Detox • Residential).

The possibilities are endless.

7. Mull over mythology, movies & legends

Do you have any favorite movie characters or quotes that you can somehow incorporate into your business name? For example:

J.A.R.V.I.S is a character in the Marvel movies, standing for Just A Rather Very Intelligent System.

Archimedes is a Greek mathematician.

Dionysus is the god of wine.

There are plenty of characters in history and pop culture that can signify concepts related to your brand, so do some research!

8. Use a business name generator

I’m not too keen on this idea, and I doubt that you’ll actually land a business name using one of these. But they can still give you starting points for good ideas, or at least a few laughs. For example, here’s what you get when you type “events” into Shopify’s Business Name Generator:

There’s a few decent ones in there:

Stratos Events

Asterisk Events

ClassAct Events

Not bad, but like I said, it’s best served as a brainstorming tool. (Plus, do you really want to say you used a business name generator when people ask you how your business got its name?)

5 essential steps for coming up with a business name

This is where play meets practicality. It’s time to take the names you came up with in your brainstorm and test them in the wild.

Check for availability: This means checking against state and national databases, domain, and social availability. I cover all of that

Keyword research it: Now you’ll want to plug your business name into a keyword research tool to make sure it’s not a popular keyword that could negatively impact your SERP presence.

Google it: A term has a low search volume doesn’t mean there isn’t a wealth of content behind it, so be sure to actually search your business name on Google too. Make sure it isn’t slang for or associated with something inappropriate or irrelevant, and that it doesn’t yield a popular result that might detract from traffic to your site.

Try it on: Think about what this name would look like as a part of your logo, on your website, and in your marketing content. Some names give you more opportunity for name- or letter-containing logos than others. Try it out in design templates to make sure your name doesn’t limit you in this regard.

Test it out: Share the name with others. This includes people of varying levels of familiarity with you as a person and your business or business idea. Get their reactions, feedback, and opinions for that objective perspective.

For example, the founders of Klaviyo originally went with Clavija, but when testing it out with friends, they found that no one could spell it and that “it sounded scary, like a disease.”

Klaviyo knows a thing or two about business naming.

They ended up going with Klaviyo, which is better but still has confusion around its spelling and pronunciation. Which brings me to the next section:

Checklist for creating a business name

Okay so you’ve done your brainstorming and testing and your business name choices are available. Great, but you’re not done yet. After all some business names are available for a reason. Sort of like how banana flavored lollipops are always in abundance. Here are some questions to ask to make sure your business name is fool-proof.

1. Does it make sense?

It might be super clever, but if it only makes sense to you or a few within your audience, it’s probably not a good idea to use. Think about having to explain the name at every networking event or to every customer. That’s why it’s so important to test out the name with people familiar and unfamiliar with your business and you as a person.

2. Is it a good fit for your industry?

There are plenty of powerful words out there, but make sure they hold the right kind of power for your industry. For example, words that allude to strength and steadfastness are good for locksmiths and security companies, but for nursing homes or home care? Not so much. It would be better to use words associated with gentleness and kindness.

Right as rain. Perfect for sprinkler repair. Clever for a lawyer, but not a tone fit.

3. Is it future-proof?

We can’t predict the future (otherwise 2020 wouldn’t have happened) but you do need to account for all possibilities when coming up with a business name.

If you could move or expand to other locations, avoid names like Canton Dry Cleaners, or Manny’s on Main.

If there’s a chance that you might expand your offerings, avoid names like Breakfast at Tiffany’s or Suro Laptop Repair.

If there’s a possibility to pivot, avoid names that target your audience like Clear Paths for Seniors.

4. Is it easy to spell?

A business name might roll right off the tongue, but is the spelling intuitive? You want people to be able to find your business easily in a search, and you also want to avoid confusion with anything related to invoicing or legal measures. For example, prints & printsess pottery is fun but if you want to tell someone to go to your website, you’ll lose their attention before you even finish explaining how to spell it.

“So it’s prince and princess but instead of the c’s it’s t’s….except for the two s’s at the end…”

5. Is it easy to pronounce?

Your business name can be a piece of art in and of itself. But if you have to manipulate the letters to indicate the pronunciation or meaning, it might lead to confusion.

This business name looks great on paper… but is it vali-DATE-tech? or va-LID-a-tech?

6. Is it easy to remember?

Spelling and pronunciation factor into the memorability of a business name, as well as length. Short is easy to remember, but it could get lost in the shuffle. Too long, and it could be a barrier to entry for customers searching for you, not to mention a design issue. Think also about how closely related it is to your product or service. This might help with brand recall, but then again, unique and catchy names are easy to remember too. It’s all about balance.

How to name a business [officially]

Alright, you are now ready to officially name your business! If you’re conducting business as your legal name, you don’t need to register anywhere. But if you want liability protection or legal and tax benefits, you will want to register. Here’s how to do it.

1. Determine your entity

First, pick your entity type. Each one varies in ownership, liabilities, and tax filing requirements, and these requirements also vary by state. Here are some common business structures:

Sole proprietorship: One person owns the business, unlimited personal liability, self-employment tax and personal tax. business assets and liabilities are not separate from personal assets and liabilities

Partnership: Two or more people; unlimited personal liability unless structured as a limited partnership, self-employment tax (except for LP) and personal tax.

Limited liability company (LLC): One or more people; owners not personally liable; self employment tax, personal tax or corporate tax

Corporation: same as LLC except corporate tax.

Image source

Learn more about these structures with the SBA.

2. Check business name availability (state & national)

Depending on your state and entity, you may or may not have to register your name.

To check for state availability: Each state has different naming rules and requirements. Sites like this LLC name search site will direct you to the page for each state where you can search for entity name availability

To check for national availability, go to the US Trademark Electronic Search System.

Not the friendliest of websites…

3. Check domain availability

As in love with your business name as you may be, it’s not worth using if you can’t have a website that closely matches that name. It’s already hard enough to make your website more visible; don’t make it harder.

Even if you can differentiate your domain by adding something like “get” or “go” in front of the name, it may not be worth it. Potential customers performing direct searches won’t know to do this and will likely end up on the existing site. If it’s a competitor, you’ve lost someone. If it’s not, they might just abandon the cause.

You can use GoDaddy’s domain name checker for this.

4. Check social media

Also make sure that you can create social handles that are closely associated with your name—and that you can have the same handle across all channels. If there is already a handle using your exact name, check to see how popular it is. Because even if you come up with something close enough, if the real thing is a major account that could make yours look like an unverified or fake version of that account, you’ll want to steer clear.

5. Register your business name

Be sure to register your domain name as soon as possible (before it gets snatched up!) and then depending on your business, you may or may not need to register your entity name, trademark, dba, or all three. Learn more about registering your business from the SBA.

How to come up with a business name [recap]

So as you can see, naming a business is a bit of a process, but with something so final, you want to make sure all your bases are covered. To recap:

Here’s how to come up with a business name:

Write out your story

Take a personal inventory

Look at other business names in your industry

Look at other industry business names

Do an emotional brainstorm

Check the thesaurus

Mull over mythology, movies & legends

Use a business name generator

Here are the essential steps for coming up with a business name

Check for availability

Keyword research it

Google it

Try it on

Test it out

Follow this checklist before creating your business name

Does it make sense?

Is it a good fit for your industry?

Is it future-proof?

Is it easy to spell?

Is it easy to pronounce?

Is it easy to remember?

Here’s how to name a business officially:

Determine your entity

Check business name availability (state & national)

Check domain availability

Check social media

Register your business name

The post How to Come Up With a Business Name: The Creative & Practical Checklist appeared first on WordStream.

source https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2022/02/23/how-to-come-up-with-a-business-name

Vidyard Study Finds 87% of Financial Services Professionals Say Their Technology at Work is in “The Dark Ages”

KITCHENER, Ont. – Feb. 23, 2022 – According to the second part of a future of work study released today by Vidyard and Atomik Research, 87% of financial services professionals said that their technology at work is in “the dark ages.” Respondents also said that the company they work for could be more tech savvy if it were not for compliance department red tape. The findings were included in the report titled “The Future of Work in Financial Services: Remote or In-Office? The first part of the study was released in January 2022.

While a common complaint, the findings come even as companies continue to adopt indefinite remote work policies and accelerate digital transformations in response to the pandemic and changing workplace tastes. In fact, professionals across industries are seeing that customers are comfortable with virtual meetings and video messages.

Indeed, 89% of financial services professionals surveyed said that video messages would be more impactful than traditional text emails when working remotely. And 40% of respondents report that most of their customers have transitioned to a remote work model. 40 percent also find in-person meetings to be misaligned with how they normally do business. But, with IT stuck in “the dark ages,” only 35% of financial services professionals are currently equipped with the tools they need to do video messaging.

To better understand the evolving preferences of financial services professionals in today’s remote-first business world, Vidyard and independent market research firm Atomik Research conducted the study with more than 500 financial services professionals, between Nov. 22-26, 2021. Respondents were asked about changing relationships with customers, how technology is impacting their businesses, and the impact of video on their work.

“Amid the ongoing pandemic, customers are finding that virtual communications are effective and enhancing relationships,” said Tyler Lessard, vice president of marketing at Vidyard. “Our study found that financial services professionals overwhelmingly feel that when empowered with video tools, they can create better connections than they ever could in the old in-person meeting world. The past 18 months have taught us that, when given the right technology, financial services pros can advise their clients and drive engagement remotely just as much as they have in-person.”

Change in Business Culture

Overall, financial services professionals said that they feel more confident working from home versus working in the office, while also being able to build better client relationships. The survey found:

66% of respondents said they have gotten to know clients or customers, vendors and partners (50%), and leadership (42%) better by interacting through video more often.

57% of financial services professionals working remotely during the pandemic said working from home makes them feel more confident compared to working in the office.

More than half (54%) said working from home makes them feel more independent.

38% said they sometimes feel ignored when they participate in meetings remotely.

Technology Options Determine the Work from Home Experience

The use of collaboration tools and video technology has been a game-changer that’s made working from home feel seamless. However, many financial services professionals think that their workplaces still offer outdated technologies. The study found:

80% of respondents indicated their organization saved money by transitioning to a business model that relies on virtual meetings rather than in-person meetings.

1 in 2 respondents said incentives tied to the adoption of new business technologies, such as providing employees with decent training on new business technologies, would lead to more widespread adoption of new technologies within their organization.

81% of respondents indicate that access to technology for virtual selling is the #1 must-have for their work in the year ahead.

More Information:

For more insights and to dive deeper into the data, please download the second report, The Future of Work in Financial Services: Remote or In-Office?

Methodology:

Vidyard commissioned Atomik Research to conduct an online survey of 503 financial services professionals with sales, marketing, human resources, or client services related job functions throughout North America (Canada and the United States.) Financial services professionals in the sample are defined as adults who work full-time within the financial services, insurance, banking, investing, and wealth management industries.

The margin of error for the overall sample is +/- 4 percentage points with a confidence interval of 95 percent. Fieldwork took place between Nov. 22- 26, 2021. Atomik Research is an independent market research agency.

About Vidyard:

Vidyard is the leading video platform for businesses. More than 200,000 unique businesses use its video messaging and video hosting tools to engage their customers and prospects more effectively. Vidyard enables enterprises across high tech, SaaS, financial services, professional services, and other industries to use asynchronous video to transform their approach to remote sales, marketing, and customer service. Business professionals can use Vidyard everywhere they work, on any digital platform, to create and share custom videos to deliver their message in a more personal and impactful way through its free and pro tools. Sign up for Vidyard for free: /free.

Media Contacts:

Josh Swarz, Big Valley Marketing for Vidyard – press@vidyard.com

Sarah Duckett, Public Relations & Communications, Vidyard –duckett@vidyard.com

The post Vidyard Study Finds 87% of Financial Services Professionals Say Their Technology at Work is in “The Dark Ages” appeared first on Vidyard.

source https://www.vidyard.com/press-releases/finserv-professionals-say-their-work-tech-is-in-the-dark-ages/

What Are Core Web Vitals & How Can You Improve Them?

Mobile page experience and the included Core Web Vital metrics have officially been used for ranking pages since May 2021. Desktop signals have also been used as of February 2022. The easiest way to see the metrics for your site is with…

Read more ›

source https://ahrefs.com/blog/core-web-vitals/

What Are Core Web Vitals & How Can You Improve Them?

7 Tech Companies that are Changing E-Commerce Processes

There’s no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed e-Commerce processes and how the entire retail industry operates.

While online shopping was certainly popular before, since early 2020, it has become a mainstay powerhouse. More consumers opt for the convenience of easy ordering. As a result, brick-and-mortar shopping centers are closing down. That said, the industry itself is constantly evolving to meet demand.

This is where a few software-as-a-service (SaaS) and other similar brands are stepping up. As a result, they are helping improve how online sellers meet shopper needs. Likewise, even the B2B marketplace has seen a greater emphasis on virtual transactions in the last two years.

But none of these things can happen without innovators working to make waves in an already massive industry. So here are seven tech companies that are changing e-Commerce processes for the better.

1. Tradefull

Known as a complete e-Commerce solution on the market, the platform helps online brands of all sizes with everything from shipping and logistics to warehousing, multi-platform sales, customer service tracking, and a whole lot more.

However, what really makes Tradefull innovative is their technology. The solution integrates with Shopify and makes it easy to sell on other platforms such as eBay or Amazon. For those looking for a so-called Swiss Army Knife of e-Commerce capabilities, adding Tradefull to your arsenal is well worth the investment.

And that’s just the start. Tradefull also offers additional automation features, improved fulfillment costs, multi-platform product posting, social media integration, and tons of other options to give companies more flexibility in running their businesses efficiently.

2. Shopify

We absolutely cannot cover the biggest tech companies changing e-Commerce processes without adding Shopify to the list.

Considered on an overview level as one of the top retail companies globally, the platform makes it easy for even small startups to get into the online sales arena.

Best of all, they’re always working to improve their options. These options integrate with new tech solutions and grow to meet the needs of their service subscribers. Noted as one of the most popular options for e-Commerce sites, they offer abundant features that make opening an online retail store as simple as possible.

3. TikTok

If you think TikTok is just a place to watch short humorous videos about people playing pranks on each other or showing off their pets, you’re wrong.

Instead, the platform is a massive powerhouse for those targeting Generation Z shoppers. This is why the rollout of TikTok Shopping is so intriguing.

This new addition to the video content platform allows users to make purchases directly inside the app, which could really be a gamechanger for social selling over the next few years. In addition, it shows the huge role social media plays in consumer attitudes and opinions—and how tech companies can work to leverage it.

4. Chargebee

Those who regularly engage with Amazon Prime or Netflix already know the power of the subscription model.

And yet, it really hadn’t been explored on a deeper level for the e-Commerce industry — until recently.

Chargebee is an e-Commerce solution that integrates with most online retail platforms to make it easier for brands to offer a subscription-based model. In turn, this helps promote customer loyalty, recurring income, and organizational growth.

From digital content to recurring shipments of goods, charging customers at specific intervals is increasingly popular. For startups looking to enter this type of niche, having an all-in-one product like this is a real game-changer for the industry.

5. Affirm

These days, shoppers want more flexibility when it comes to how they can make online purchases. That said, giving them the option to accept payments spread out over time for the goods they want now is not a new concept—but doing it online certainly is.

Affirm is just one of many different providers out there making this happen for internet shoppers. By working directly with retailers who want to offer this type of service, Affirm breaks cart orders into convenient monthly payments.

Buyers must place a small down payment at the start, then agree to make payments of smaller chunks later on. After that, however, the merchant is paid upfront for the whole order.

6. Coinbase Commerce

Speaking of diverse payment methods, shoppers these days are also looking to spend something other than the traditional dollar.

As the popularity of cryptocurrencies increases, e-Commerce brands that adopt it as a spendable currency could see dramatic growth over competitors who do not.

Coinbase Commerce, a branch of the well-known crypto platform, has started making it easier for smaller online brands to accept alternative payments. For example, a Shopify plugin allows these stores to sell items in exchange for Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and many others.

While this is still a concept that’s evolving, it is definitely worth mentioning in a list of tech firms changing how e-Commerce is done.

7. OpenCart

Until now, it always seems like there’s been a line in the sand drawn between e-Commerce businesses and general websites.

The truth? Sometimes companies are a little mix of the two, so having a solution like OpenCart is so useful.

This unique platform offers online sales functionality to any website, whether on WordPress or something else. It is an excellent solution for firms that want to take some of their sales online, but don’t want to sacrifice years of content or search engine rankings.

Further, OpenCart is an excellent option for B2B sales teams looking to pivot to more of a virtual presence in a post-pandemic world.

Top Tech Companies Changing e-Commerce Processes

The e-Commerce industry is always changing thanks to new advances and new techniques for selling online.

However, the seven companies we’ve mentioned here are really upping the ante. This is especially true when it comes to the evolution of how consumers make purchases online.

There’s no telling where these firms will take both new and seasoned online brands from logistics solutions to alternative currency. Especially now that shoppers are more focused on buying on the internet than they ever have been before.

Image Credit:

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source https://readwrite.com/e-commerce-processes-tech-companies/

Monday 21 February 2022

How NLP Engines are Fulfilling AI’s Promise in Healthcare

In an ideal world, the healthcare industry would be the perfect arena for unleashing the transformative potential of artificial intelligence.

Sophisticated AI models require vast amounts of data to learn from, and healthcare data represents nearly one-third of all data in existence. Nevertheless, all that information could fuel the development of algorithms capable of detecting and diagnosing disease, prescribing preventive treatments, and fulfilling myriad other functions with far greater speed and accuracy than even the most highly skilled team of doctors. With this kind of promise, that power is undoubtedly worth harnessing.

AI’s Uses in Healthcare

In some cases, AI’s potential has already been realized. For instance, radiologists equipped with AI-powered tools have been able to review and translate mammograms 30 times faster than they otherwise would, with 99% accuracy. So naturally, these results have fueled tremendous excitement among stakeholders throughout the healthcare ecosystem.

However, the present reality is that most healthcare organizations don’t have the infrastructure or data management capabilities needed to sufficiently train algorithms that can be reliably deployed in a clinical setting.

Moreover, the complex, fragmented nature of the industry and misaligned incentives that support the status quo have further hampered technological innovation and created barriers that simply don’t exist in other sectors. Yet the potential for transformation remains.

Searching for Solutions

Although there are still massive obstacles to deploying AI in clinical settings, the hurdles aren’t as significant for other use cases. One of the most promising of these is in the area of medical coding, particularly when it comes to risk adjustment. However, as the quantity of healthcare data continues to grow exponentially, medical coders will remain in high demand—and in short supply.

Fortunately, AI tools equipped with natural language processing capabilities can help relieve some of the coding burdens, enabling health plans to overcome the widening talent gap while also improving coding speed and accuracy.

At present, many organizations relying solely on (often understaffed) human teams tend to view speed and accuracy as inversely correlated. However, a good AI/NLP engine won’t require them to sacrifice one for the other.

Speed up Coding

Using AI to speed up medical coding gives human coders more time to fix costly mistakes, increasing accuracy and potentially allowing facilities to direct more resources toward where they’re needed most.

NLP has advanced significantly over the past five years. And coding tools that harness its technology increase the accuracy of codes and solve the problem of overcoding by deleting the codes that shouldn’t be there.

On the surface, this type of application might seem relatively mundane, but its implications could indeed be revolutionary for healthcare plans, providers, and patients.

The Need for Speed

The slow pace of medical coding has long been a pain point for health plans. It can take weeks, months, or sometimes even years to manually review and process chart notes to identify pertinent information. In addition, patients with ongoing or chronic conditions need treatment while health plans and providers work to identify the most accurate hierarchical condition category (HCC) codes.

Many plans use concurrent, and retrospective chart reviews to address these conditions in the same calendar year. Still, as healthcare data volume, variation, and complexity increase, better solutions are sorely needed. This is why more organizations are turning to NLP to quickly search, analyze, and interpret massive patient data sets.

Easing Up Workflows

AI/NLP engines turn the expertise of the medical coder into a more useful asset for healthcare plans by enabling these professionals to focus on more meaningful work (such as spotting unusual trends and patterns in data).

As coders gain familiarity with AI-powered tools, their coding speed will continue to increase over time, thus reducing the cost of coding a chart and making these human employees increasingly valuable to their organizations.

No human being can remember all hierarchical condition category codes (which have expanded rapidly over the past few decades). Still, with the help of AI, human teams can more quickly match a code to its corresponding condition.

The Cost of Complacence

In contrast, organizations that continue to rely on traditional coding tools will experience more of the same obstacles that have plagued the sector for years. Given that more than 9,500 ICD-10 codes map to roughly 80 HCCs, medical coders that can’t rely on NLP-enhanced search capabilities are much more likely to miss codes.

NLP medical records using machine learning algorithms can even uncover diseases that might not have been previously coded—an essential feature for making HCC disease discoveries.

Moreover, manually allocating charts to coders can be expensive from a management perspective and makes it challenging to scale projects to large teams.

It also puts coders at a severe disadvantage: Without NLP prioritization, they must manually comb through charts, often resulting in fatigue and burnout. Besides this, given that traditional tools typically offer only limited reporting capabilities, teams using them will continue to struggle with project oversight and performance management.

Harness advanced algorithms

Because they can harness advanced algorithms, machine learning and NLP engines can help teams gather relevant insights and concepts from previously considered data buried in text form.

By giving voice to unstructured data, these tools can better understand data quality, continual process improvement, increased risk adjustment accuracy, and better patient outcomes.

A Word of Caution

Like any emerging technology, NLP engines aren’t a panacea. Without sufficient training, they might miss valuable codes, and the reality is that many NLP coding tools are trained on a limited number of medical records. As a result, they tend to struggle with less-common conditions and electronic medical record formats.

Furthermore, most NLP tools still feature a user interface that simply isn’t optimized to meet coders’ needs. This is no minor issue, as a poorly designed UI can cause coders to lose context around clinical notes and make additional mistakes.

The effectiveness of these tools also largely depends on the workflows designed around them.

NLP coding tools built with a one-size-fits-all approach usually fail to support workflows that aren’t purely associated with risk adjustment. For example, most don’t provide features that allow for the auditing of vendor work. As a result, NLP tools that prioritize speed over accuracy will miss codes and expose organizations to compliance issues and the risk of lost revenue.

According to a study from CMS, 80% of improper payments stem from inaccurate coding; these improper payments can lead to charges of fraud that could cost three times as much as a false claim, making accuracy a financial imperative for healthcare organizations.

Choosing speed tends to result in the submission of improper codes, which has a domino effect as lower payments or risk adjustment data validation audits ultimately encumber the health plan, and thus its ability to support patient health.

Powering Progress

When well-designed and properly implemented, AI/NLP engines can drive the speed and accuracy of medical coding. They allow coders to achieve significantly faster coding speeds while reducing instances of human error and the multitude of risks that accompany it.

By making the process of extracting information from physician notes and assigning medical codes far more efficient, these tools speed up billing and ensure that the organizations deploying them can continue to support patient health well into the future.

Image Credit: provided by the author; Thank you!

The post How NLP Engines are Fulfilling AI’s Promise in Healthcare appeared first on ReadWrite.

source https://readwrite.com/how-nlp-engines-are-fulfilling-ais-promise-in-healthcare/

B2B Data-Driven Marketing Infographic

Data-driven marketing is the strategy that uses data and evidence to formulate marketing campaigns. With the right data, you can understand your customers better. You can also experiment with your marketing campaigns to learn new tricks and enhance the sales process.

More than just collecting and analyzing the data, data-driven marketing is all about the mindset. It guides you to make decisions not based on your whims, expectations, or preferences but based on evidence drawn from a scientific data-driven approach.

The Power of Data-Driven Marketing

The power of data-driven marketing is that it can influence your target audience. It can also influence the channels through which you reach them. Even the content you’d specifically created for them can change.

And most importantly, your budget can also increase or decrease based on data-driven marketing. This is possible because you have the exact idea about how many contacts are responding to your campaigns and where they are coming from.

Data-Driven Marketing

The Evolution of B2B Data-Driven Marketing

In the B2B market, it’s more vital than ever to strengthen existing customer relationships. You must also try to build a solid foundation of qualified prospects. A data-driven approach about two decades ago supported interactive reporting.

Today, it uses automated procedures by making the optimum use of emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning algorithms. B2B data-driven marketing has evolved throughout time. And it is becoming more and more powerful, along with marketers looking forward to include it in their strategy.

Opinion of Marketers and Challenges

B2B marketers following the data-driven approach have mainly two goals to achieve to manage successful campaigns:

1. Learn how to how to acquire data from the correct locations.

2. Learn how to transform it into measurable outcomes.

Important for Marketers and Channels to colllect data

Conclusion

In these infographics, you have been able to see in comparison to earlier strategies, the future of data-driven marketing today focuses around the use of predictive analytics, which leads to higher ROIs and business success, in this B2B Data-Driven Marketing infographic.

Marketing Strategy and Tactics

You can also see the fast summary of marketing data evolution, marketers’ opinions on data-driven marketing and its effects, and the numerous challenges that come with acquiring it — and how to plan for strategy and tactics that will help your team with marketing efforts for your company.

Take time to look at the problems, opportunities, and ambitions for data-driven marketing and data analytics in the future. Plan your attack and go for it.

Inner Image Credits: Provided by the Author; Thank you.

Top Image Credit: Anna Shvets from Pexels; Thank you.

The post B2B Data-Driven Marketing Infographic appeared first on ReadWrite.

source https://readwrite.com/b2b-data-driven-marketing-infographic/

How to Create a Strong Ecommerce Brand Identity

Marketers tend to talk a lot about brand identity. But what does it actually mean? It’s one of those things that, if it’s working, you don’t notice it. You only really spot it when it’s not there. It’s about the kind of vibe you want your business to convey; how they come across to the public and potential customers.

Many brands spend years building up their identity. Think about Etsy smoothies, for example. They are famous for having a quirky, light-hearted brand identity. It suits their business model and is reflected in everything, from their ads to their small print.

Conversely, a call center service business might have a more professional approach. This may include compliance with international business standards as it is more appreciated in the industry. Branding has always been a vital part of marketing. And it’s just as important when it comes to ecommerce.

Relatively speaking, ecommerce is still in its infancy compared to other business structures. And, naturally, potential audiences are much more significant. Not only this, but competition is fiercer than ever before. Because of this, it can be challenging to produce a strong brand identity for ecommerce businesses that will have a real impact.

That said, there are some sure-fire ways to get you well on your way to creating a strong ecommerce brand identity.

First steps

Here, we’ll cover everything you should consider at the very start of your ecommerce branding. Before you start, you’ll want to have checked off everything on the following list. A clear plan will ensure you have direction, and this will serve as a guide for you and your team.

Establish Values and Identity

Before building the more specific aspects of your ecommerce brand, you’re going to need to figure out what those features will represent. Think about the values at the core of your ecommerce site, morally, and pragmatically. What kind of things does your company provide, and what does it stand for?

Research Competitors

Building a strong ecommerce brand identity is vital, but you won’t know how well it will be received unless you know how it relates to what’s already on the market. First, research to get a sense of the competitive environment. When you get to know the other brands, you can then figure out where your brand fits and use this information to create a strategy that will boost your brand and Ecommerce conversion rates.

Decipher what makes your ecommerce store different from the others, highlight those differences (perhaps you’re offering something they are not), and build the brand around those unique identity traits.

Build a Tone of Voice

After figuring out your ecommerce store’s brand identity, you’re going to want to represent that identity by establishing a tone of voice. This refers to anything written that comes from your company.

Website copy, emails, and text, promotional materials, social media posts, even terms, and conditions will all make a difference in your outcomes. In addition, there are many creative ways you can employ your tone of voice, even in empty cart reminders.

Pixabay; Thank you

Your tone of voice should permeate every level of communication to convey a unified, consistent brand. Building a tone of voice will depend entirely on your previously undertaken research. What are you about, who are your customers, and what tone will they best respond to?

Will you opt for a casual, friendly tone, or something more stern and professional? It all depends on your target demographic.

Take Dialpad, for example, a cloud-based communication platform. They provide many communication tools like video conferencing, contact centers, and a call recording system. They’re all about communication, and their slogan “Get more out of every conversation,” reflects that perfectly.

It’s concise, conversational, and informative because that’s what they do!

Build an Aesthetic

Many of the same rules apply when it comes to designing your brand’s aesthetic. You’ll want something unique, eye-catching, and appropriate for your identity. Much like the tone of voice, the cornerstone of this is consistency. Once you decide on a look, it should encompass every part of your business.

It’s all about brand recognition. You want people to know, from a glance, who you are. Think about Starbucks. Most people could spot a Starbucks coffee cup from a mile away. They are instantly recognizable because it’s plastered on everything they are associated with.

Prioritize Customer Experience

Branding is all about public perception. In other words, your customers’ experience of your business. As such, prioritizing customer experience should be at the core of every decision you make.

This can encompass many different areas, from the client onboarding process to promotional offers. Without going too far into details, a good rule of thumb is to ask these questions before any significant decision:

“How does this help the customer?”

“How will the public react to this decision?”

“Is it in keeping with our core brand identity?”

It sounds a lot simpler than it is; you need to recognize customer needs while trying to maintain your integrity and core values. Even more practically, you should set up an effective customer service department. This is essential, as they will be the human voices communicating with your customers.

Have a Robust Marketing Strategy

A considerable part of building your ecommerce store’s brand is how it is deployed. In other words, you’re going to need a robust and carefully planned marketing strategy. First, consider what channels are available to you, and how you will utilize them.

Social Media

Social media is a vast marketing resource, and it’s only getting bigger. Build your brand’s social media presence, emphasizing engagement and customer service. Encouraging customer engagement and answering queries will keep your store in the public eye.

Pixabay; Thank you

The most significant advantage of social media marketing is how interconnected all the platforms are. Most of the public has more than one social media account, and content is constantly being shared. Not only this, but they are often more personally focused. It’s information being shared between individuals, so it has the same advantages of word of mouth, but on a far larger scale.

Word of Mouth

As hard as they try, marketing campaigns will never be regarded with the same amount of trust as word of mouth. People are far more likely to try out your online store if they hear about it from a friend.

This is also why good customer service is crucial. Whether a customer called an inbound call center service or reached out via social media, if they are happy with the support provided and the experience, they will talk about it and share the good news.

Additionally, businesses can encourage word of mouth by offering promotions and discount codes when they recommend your store to a friend.

Email Marketing

It’s been around for a while, but email marketing is still one of the most successful kinds of marketing. It has a significant Return on Investment (ROI), and it’s constantly evolving new and innovative strategies.

Pixabay; Thank you

It may sound simple, but it’s a lot more than just spamming potential customers. You’re going to need to find subscribers and generate leads with effective messaging. It can be a lot to take on single-handedly, so consider contacting an email marketing agency to help facilitate your email marketing strategy.

Consistency Across All Channels

Building your tone and aesthetic are vital for building your brand. But, day-to-day, you’ll need to ensure your store’s branding is consistent across every channel. This can be tricky, as there are so many mediums in which your brand can be represented. This means every email, social media post, or blog post conveys the same unified brand identity.

The best way to ensure this is with training, and quality control. Ensure every new employee is thoroughly attuned to your ecommerce store’s tone of voice, design, and core values so that they can appropriately represent the brand in their daily operations. Have experienced staff monitor and advise employees, until they get it right. After a short time, it will become second nature.

Looking Forward

Finally, you’ll want your brand to be ready for everything the future holds.

We’ll now go over a few strategies to make sure your ecommerce brand continues to thrive throughout any kind of transition or development.

Customer Research and Marketing

The whole point of having an ecommerce brand identity is controlling how the public perceives you. As such, you’re going to need to know how customers view your brand.

The best way to do this is by conducting systematic and insightful customer research. Focus groups and online polls are great ways to do this. Make your loyal and potential customers a part of your brand building and show them you value their opinions.

Keep One Ear to the Ground

Any changes you make should be incremental, to avoid being too jarring. While not strictly an ecommerce brand, McDonald’s has done this masterfully over the years. For example, they used to be far more child-focused in their marketing, highlighting happy meals, and play areas.

Pixabay; Thank you

As time went by, they slowly transitioned away from that image. Instead, their ads have a more sophisticated tone, highlighting their reliability, low prices, and availability.

Some of the most common praises you hear about McDonald’s are that you know what you’re getting, it’s cheap, and it’s always open. Maybe it was for kids once, but those kids have now grown up with this brand. It is a trusted brand and well-recognized. And McDonald’s has capitalized on that trust by shifting its brand identity along with its consumers.

To Conclude

Building a brand is an ongoing process, incorporating the look, sound, and behavior of your ecommerce store. As a result, it may take a while to become fully realized. But, if you start with a good foundation, prepare to adapt, and keep the customer at the heart of everything you do, you’ll be well on the way to building a solid brand for your ecommerce store.

Image Credits: Inner Images Provided by the author; Pixabay; Thank you

Top Image Credit: Pixabay; Thank you

The post How to Create a Strong Ecommerce Brand Identity appeared first on ReadWrite.

source https://readwrite.com/how-to-create-a-strong-ecommerce-brand-identity/

7 Pro Tips to Save Money (and Compete!) in Google Ads

So the good news is, Google Ads works. When your business appears for specific, high-intent searches your potential customers are performing, you can expect high returns.

The bad news is, everyone’s using it, and since the Google Ads platform runs as an auction, the more businesses advertising on it, the more expensive it can get.

The great news? There are a number of small details you can take care of to find profitable customers in cost-effective ways. You just have to be smarter than the average bear to do so.

That’s what I’m here for. In this post, I’m going to show you how to save money in Google Ads by:

Spending only on the right users

Standing out from competitors

Improving your landing pages

Only spend on the right users

The first area we need to focus on is making sure we’re not reaching beyond our means. That is, that we’re spending our budget only on audiences with the highest likelihood to convert.

1. Use location targeting

When you create a new campaign in Google Ads, the location targeting nearly always defaults to the country you’re in, but every once in a while, it will actually default to “All locations,” meaning—you guessed it—everywhere in the world.

It makes zero sense to advertise to people who you cannot service or would be unprofitable for you. Google Ads offers highly customizable location targeting options you can use to include the best locations for you and exclude those that will be a waste of budget.

Pro tip: Although many folks love the idea of zip codes, they can be hard for the ad platforms to actually determine. If possible, try to use city or neighborhood targeting in lieu of zip code targeting to have a little better reach.

Additionally, make sure you have your advanced targeting settings selected to only “Those in my area” as opposed to “Interested in my area”. This might not have a massive impact, but no incremental win shall go un-won, or something like that.

2. Bid on high(er) intent keywords

Many times I log into new accounts where people aren’t seeing the results they want and the keywords are alarmingly broad. (And by broad, I don’t mean the match type. We’ll get to that in a minute.)

Let’s take an example: shoes. If your business is trying to sell shoes to people, godspeed. But in all seriousness, the shoe space is very crowded, so ensuring you’re advertising for exactly the right things is critical.

Let’s say you’re a specialty shoe store and you’ve chosen to only sell women’s golf shoes (interesting choice, but ok). Here is a list of keywords that could technically qualify for you, but….it’s not nearly as specific as it could be.

This list is a lot more qualified. For these, you’ll be getting search traffic and clicks from people who are looking for exactly what you sell.

These specific keywords will of course have far lower search volume than the broader list above, but we’re not in this for the volume of search terms. We’re in it for sales.

If you have a limited budget, focus only on those things you actually sell and stay away from the higher volume keywords that will drive up your spend and likely yield less qualified traffic. You can learn more in our Big, Easy Guide to Keyword Research.

3. Use only phrase and exact match keywords

Keyword match types have been getting less and less specific over the last half-decade, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work to keep the user queries you match to as specific as possible. For the purposes of this post, I encourage you to focus only on Phrase and Exact match keywords for your campaigns.

Despite many of Google’s claims about broad match being more effective these days, the higher quality, better-matched queries are going to come from using the more limited match types. This will help you limit your coverage on lower-quality searches by unqualified users that broad match can rustle up and burn your budget.

Are you wasting money in Google Ads? Find out with the Free Google Ads Performance Grader.

Stand out from the competition

When you’re trying to be frugal in Google Ads, specifically when you’re competing against big brands, it’s important to make sure you stand out from the competition. There are a few simple ways to do this.

4. Use all the ad extensions

If I conduct a quick search for “small business CRM,” nearly all the ads look the same if you look at just the text. But the one that stands out and gets your attention? That’s the monday.com ad that has the image extension.

The image extension clearly helps the monday.com ad stand out from the rest. There’s this little block of color where all other ads are really just text. While this doesn’t mean that those companies aren’t using image extensions, it does mean that, for whatever reason, on this search monday.com has the attention advantage.

For this reason, I encourage you to always use every iteration of ad extensions that you’re eligible to use.

Sitelink

Callout

Structured snippet

Image (how to set up image extensions here)

Call

Lead form

Location

Affiliate

Price

App

Promotion

When you’re in the Google Ads interface, click on Ads on the left navigation, then Ad Extensions.

Once you’re on that page, click the blue plus button to add any of the extension types listed. By having as many extensions as possible, you’re giving yourself the best chance to capture the user’s attention on the SERP and stand out from the competition.

5. Use Auction Insights for your messaging

Not every search is going yield ads with lots of extensions included. In that scenario, you’re left to your Google ad copy and messaging to help you stand out from the competition.

The first step is to identify who your competition is. If you already have campaigns running, you can use the Auction Insights report to identify the other companies that are showing up next to your ads. (Side note: if you review this list and think to yourself, “these aren’t my competitors,” you likely need to revisit your keyword list!)

In the Google Ads interface, click on Keywords on the left-hand navigation, then choose Auction Insights down at the bottom.

Once you’re there, you’ll see a report that looks like this. It lists the companies that are showing up next to your ads, then gives you a number of stats to help you understand how you stack up to their coverage. (You can learn more about the Auction Insights report in this video.)

Once you know who you’re competing against, you can use competitive keyword research tools like iSpionage to find out what they’re using in their ad copy and how you can separate yourself.

If you’re not able to get the software, the easiest way to find out what people are using in their ads is to simply conduct searches on your keywords.

Pro tip: This suggestion comes with a HUGE word of caution. If you do this regularly and don’t click on your ads, or any others, you’re going to indicate to Google you’re not actually in the market for your offerings. Meaning that over time, you won’t see ads for yourself or others. So IF you do conduct searches to get insights, I suggest you do them very minimally and try to use different devices for each subsequent search to prevent Google from inferring patterns from your behavior.

Once you have a good handle on what other competitors are doing, whether through tools or through SERP spying, make sure your ads stand out.

If every ad uses the keyword (or something close to it) in Headline 1, then you’re likely best served to not do that. (Google Ads headline examples here!)

If all businesses are offering a discount, it may make sense for you to speak to your higher level of quality, explaining why you don’t have a discount.

If your competitor’s listed price is higher than yours, list your price and taut how you’re “cheaper than the other guy.”

The key on the SERPs is to stand out. So based on what you find, make sure that you’re able to craft a new message and be the brand that stands out.

Take special care with your landing pages

You’ve spent your time and hard-earned money developing Google Ads campaigns to bring users to your site, but take a good, honest look at your landing pages. Would you convert on them? Be honest. If you’re lying to me, it’s not hurting me. It’s only hurting you!

6. Have quality landing pages

Higher quality landing pages mean higher Quality Scores, which means lower cost per click. And while landing pages used to be a big pain in the butt, they no longer have to be. Platforms like Unbounce and Instapage make creating landing pages easy for anyone, including people who aren’t coders or developers (i.e., the author of this post).

Here are a few specifics to keep in mind for high converting landing pages:

Always have a clear call to action that is being tracked through conversion tracking.

Be sure the content on the page puts your product or service in a good light and convinces the user to work with you.

Ensure the page loads quickly on both a desktop and a mobile device. If you’re not sure about how to improve page speed, run your landing page through the Google PageSpeed Insights tool.

Attractive, organized, clear CTA—nice landing page.

Remember, the landing page is the closer to the conversion deal. If you haven’t set yourself up well, it doesn’t matter what you did well in the campaign setup and strategy portion of the process.

7. Be strategic with conversion goals

Ideally you’ve targeted the right people, stood out from the competition, and brought someone to an impressive landing page that loaded amazingly fast. But is your conversion action what the customer is ready to do? Have you thought through your conversion action thoroughly? Do you offer them any other option other than a final sale?

If the answer to any of those questions is no, you might want to think about adding a secondary, softer call to action on the landing page.

Are you asking someone to buy something? Maybe also offer an email signup for your newsletter to hear about sales and promos.

Asking for someone’s information to put together a custom quote? Maybe also create an easy calculator to help them develop an estimate on their own.

Each of these actions, while not necessarily being the conversion goal you may want in the end, will help capture additional users who weren’t ready to convert on your key action in that moment.

It’s a small consolation prize, but if you’re able to capture some of that user’s information, you’ll be able to use it as part of your first-party data set to retarget them across any ad platform and reengage with them, hopefully convincing them to take the desired action you want.

Start saving money in Google Ads now

The way Google Ads works gives advertisers with any budget the ability to yield a strong ROI—making it one of the best digital advertising platforms out there. But you have to know how to use it to enjoy it. These seven strategies will help you to save money and get the most out of your budget:

Narrow down your location targeting

Target high(er) intent keywords

Use only phrase and exact match keywords

Ad extensions: use ’em!

Differentiate your messaging

Don’t skimp on landing pages

Be strategic with conversion goals

The post 7 Pro Tips to Save Money (and Compete!) in Google Ads appeared first on WordStream.

source https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2022/02/21/how-to-save-money-google-ads

7 SEO Conferences (Online and Offline) to Attend in 2022

Here’s what we handpicked. 1. SMX München Event types: Online (livestreamed) and in-person (in Munich, Germany) Prices: From €350 to €1,099 (two-day ticket). Full list here. Dates: March 16–17, 2022 Website: https://smxmuenchen.de/en Notable speakers: Rand Fishkin (SparkToro), Greg Gifford (SearchLab), Jono Alderson (Yoast)…

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source https://ahrefs.com/blog/seo-conferences-roundup/

Saturday 19 February 2022

How Not to Write a Meta Description

Writing a meta description is often a neglected part of SEO. However, the meta description has a big influence on your potential customers. If you want them to be appealed by your search result and click on it, you should check out the following tips on how to write the best meta descriptions.

from Semrush blog https://www.semrush.com/blog/what-not-to-do-when-writing-a-meta-description

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