Author: Marie

New Instagram Feature Will Help You Figure Out Who To Unfollow

8 February,2020 What's New No Comment Author: Marie

Image by Webster2703 from Pixabay

Instagram has been rolling out a new feature that allows users to group their following list into different categories.

The new “Following Categories” feature groups the accounts you follow into lists such as “Least Interacted With” and “Most Shown in Feed.” The categories use data from your Instagram activity for the last 90 days.  In calculating interactions, Instagram measures user actions such as liking posts and reacting to stories.

You can also sort your followers by the date you followed their account, either from earliest to latest or vice versa.

In a statement to TechCrunch, an Instagram spokesperson says:

“Instagram is really about bringing you closer to the people and things you care about – but we know that over time, your interests and relationships can evolve and change. We want to make it easier to manage the accounts you follow on Instagram so that they best represent your current connections and interests.”

In other words, Instagram users can filter out the noise from their feed by reviewing these new Following Categories.

What it Means for Users

If you are a fan of social media like me, you would have experienced the frustration of the time it takes to unfollow accounts. This new feature makes it easier for users to find accounts that might be clogging up your feed with multiple posts per day.

What it Means for Instagram

This puts Instagram ahead of its competitors such as TikTok and Twitter, which doesn’t have these features.

Impact for Marketers

The impact for marketers is still not clear but people are already talking about the lost of followers. But a good point is made by Search Engine Journal:

Looking at this a more positive way – if users trim down their Following list it could lead to more engagement as well. Users will see more content from the accounts they really care about, and have more opportunities to engage with them.

Whether or not this will be good for marketing, will be known in a few months.

How to access the feature?

To access the feature, go to your profile, then click on “Following”

Now look for the “sorted by” option which may have been set on default.

WordPress 5.4 Lazy-Loading to All Images

8 February,2020 What's New, Wordpress No Comment Author: Marie

Source: Searchenginejournal.com

WordPress announced that WordPress 5.4 may feature image lazy-loading by default. This feature will enable the “loading” HTML attribute on all IMG elements. WordPress publishers will no longer need to use JavaScript or third party plugins for lazy-loading their images.

Lazy-loading

The lazy-loading HTML attribute tells a browser to either wait before downloading an image or to download it right away. There is no JavaScript need to accomplish this.

There are three kinds of lazy-loading attributes but only two that really matter:

  1. Lazy
  2. Eager

Lazy, which will be enabled in WordPress 5.4 by default, means to wait until the user’s browser viewport is within a certain distance before downloading the image. This behavior will speed up users’ experience on WordPress sites.

The “eager” attribute tells the browser to immediately download the image.

WordPress 5.4 Release Date

WordPress 5.4 is currently set to release on March 31, 2020. That date is subject to change depending on how ready the release is. But WordPress has been very good about meeting their deadlines.

According to the WordPress comments, the lazy-loading attributes will be implemented in a manner that makes it easy to remove them. This is important in case future browsers begin lazy-loading all images by default, without the need for a loading attribute.

Google has indicated via Web.dev that there are plans to automatically enable lazy-loading to all images when a browser in the Lite mode (formerly known as Data Saver mode).

Test Drive WordPress Lazy-Loading

The WordPress team has officially released a WordPress lazy-loading plugin designed for testing purposes. Publishers who want to test it and give feedback are welcome to download the plugin and give it a try.

Read the official WordPress announcement here:

Lazy-Loading Images in WordPress Core

Top 5 Must-Try PPC Tactics for 2020

2 February,2020 Business Advice No Comment Author: Marie
Pay Per Click Tactics 2020

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

PPC or Pay-Per-Click is a way of internet marketing. Advertisers have to pay each time their ad link is clicked on. This way, instead of waiting for your advertisement to generate traffic on its own, you can pay for a target audience. PPC, therefore, allows you to reach and engage potential customers quickly. Given below are five PPC tactics or trends that you should definitely try this year.

  1. Layered Audience 

It is very important to know which audience you are catering to. Once you determine this, it will help you to design your campaign better.

  • Demographics & Affinity

Using Google Ads and Analytics, you can target your desired audience. Demographics and affinity when taken into consideration, can help you to determine and narrow down your audience which in turn will allow you to engage them better.

  • Market

In-Market Audiences are audiences that are actively in the market, looking for specific products or services. Such audiences can be determined by browsing history or present search activity.

  • Life Events

People who are going through some major changes or life events can become potential customers and using Google Ads you can run specific promotions. However, there are limitations. These include not being available for campaigns on Gmail or YouTube and not being able to target any life events other than graduation, marriage and changing homes.

  1. Running A Responsive Search Ad (RSA) for every Ad Group

RSA for every ad group might not have proved to be successful in the past. But the trick here is to focus on different keywords and even shifting a bit from the target audience. Keep in mind the following points while running RSA.

  • In machine learning, the keywords are evolving and the machine must learn which of these work and do not work in particular campaigns. The whole thing is a work in progress and will require some time.
  • Headlines and descriptions that you put in will have to be of good quality. If the input quality is mediocre then you cannot expect the machine to generate proper output.
  1. Establishing Target Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) or Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

CPA or ROAS can be very useful when calculated with proper logic and incorrect context. To optimize a promotion correctly, you can use CPA or ROAS to reach a specific number. This can be done by considering

  • The different campaigns that have to launched
  • What the lifetime value of a potential customer is
  • All margins
  1. Reviewing Different Features in Google and Microsoft Ads

The following features are available in Google Ads and Microsoft Ads and they can help in optimizing your campaigns.

  • Gallery Ads
    • These allow the content to be present at the very top of a search results page and in the form of images that can be swiped for viewing.
  • Promotion Extensions
    • At the ad group level, these extensions are great for advertisers who use site links or ad copies.
  • Lead Form Extensions
    • Using these extensions, advertisers will get to know their leads from a paid ad.
  • Image Extensions
    • Images along with texts automatically attract more viewers. With Microsoft, advertisers can upload images while in Google the images can be directly taken from the websites.
  1. PPC Automation

Automation is one tactic that you cannot miss out on using. It will help in ad testing and with optimization of PPC campaigns. PPC automation will do the  following things:

  1. Determine the best strategies to achieve specific goals
  2. Prioritize ads that are doing better than most
  3. Getting proper ad performance reports
  4. Using Google Scripts to generate and optimize ad copy

Google Launches SOS Alert For Coronavirus in Search Results

2 February,2020 What's New No Comment Author: Marie

Google has teamed up with the World Health Organisation to launch and activate an SOS alert in search results for searches related to the coronavirus outbreak.

Introduced in 2017, Google’s SOS alerts are activated during crisis events where public safety might be at risk.

The search engine will prioritise information on the virus from the WHO, including safety tips and WHO Twitter updates on the spread of the virus and how to stay safe.

Anyone searching for information related to the coronavirus, an SOS Alert box with resources from WHO at the top of the results page will be shown.

Google SOS Alert Coronavirus

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

Where does Google get content for SOS Alerts?

According to this help document by Google:

We have teams around the world who source content from government agencies, first responders, trusted media outlets, and NGOs. We also aggregate information from other Google products and services, such as Google News, Google Maps, Waze, and more.

 

Elegant Themes Divi Theme Code Injection Vulnerability

9 January,2020 Wordpress No Comment Author: Marie

Elegant Themes Divi Theme Code Injection VulnerabilityIf you are someone who is using the WordPress Divi Themes, you might want to update it right away. Just last week, Elegant Themes announced that several of their products contained a code injection vulnerability, their team discovered this during a routine code audit.

What is the vulnerability?

Code Injection, also called Remote Code Execution (RCE), is a general term for attacks that exploit poor handling of untrusted data. The code injection vulnerability can allow an attacker to install malware on a website. The Divi vulnerability allows users who are logged in to execute a small set of PHP functions. 

Who is affected?

WordPress Websites who are using Divi version 3.23 and above, Extra 2.23 and above or Divi Builder version 2.23 and above, are affected.

What is the fix?

Updating your themes and plugins will fix this problem. You can update your themes and plugins from within your WordPress dashboard, or you can download the latest versions from the members area and update them manually. 

5 Effective Facebook Ads Targeting Strategies

3 December,2019 Business Advice, E-Commerce No Comment Author: Marie

Facebook Ads have become a powerful tool for eCommerce websites. Many eCommerce and dropshipping stores use Facebook Ads to get hundreds to thousands of leads and sales. However, using Facebook Ads can either a HIT or a MISS. You can hit the jackpot by successfully targeting the right people, or you can make your ad go to waste by not utilizing it properly to hit your target audience.

Many times, beginners in Facebook Ads (including myself!) often fail at the first try. Facebook Ads is not complicated science, it is easy to master and understand once you know what to look for to effectively target your market. Below are some of the most powerful Facebook Ads targeting strategies that you can use to bring your ‘A’ Game.

Facebook Ads Targeting StrategiesLead Generation

Facebook’s Lead Generation is all about utilizing the average time that a consumer spends on the platform, through multiple mobile devices. Since most of the hits come from mobile itself, the process eliminates the idea of visiting your company or business website for a potential purchase of products and services.

With the help of lead advertisements, you can select from a wide range of targeting options for creating a lead form and thereby generate leads for your business. Such lead advertisements will help you acquire all kinds of information from various consumers who are interested in your product and services, and such information can also be used to generate new audiences as well.

Abandoned Carts

Abandoned Carts is a targeting process in which your target users abandon their shopping carts on your website. Such consumers take out time out of their extremely busy schedules to provide you with such information.

Carts may be abandoned due to reasons like customers looking for better deals, coupons, reviews and so on. Such a technology can be used to retarget the customers the next time when they visit their Facebook timeline or feed. Such a practice can also be termed as dynamic marketing and it’s indeed extremely effective.

Cold Traffic

Cold Traffic is defined by the consumers who have never heard about your business or brand and are thereby unfamiliar or have no idea what to do with such products or services. When on Facebook you’re trying to target cold traffic – it means that you’re trying to rope in the lookalike audience with the help of targeting advertisements via interests. In simple words, any targeting that involves customers other than your main audience is known as cold traffic.

There’s no such trust or relationship that you’ve established with such an audience, which makes them extremely interesting to sell as well.

Incorporate Messenger ads

facebook messenger ads

Source: Wordstream.com

Facebook Messenger Ads are not just any simple ads on Facebook. Messenger Ads can be defined as the method through which you can instantly connect with the customers you like or want. Such a process allows users who see your ads to directly initiate a conversation with your business, at the click of a button.

Such a procedure can be easily implemented by the use of Sponsored Posts or Destination Ads. For one, in Destination Ads where normal advertisements are run with the addition of ‘Send a Message’ instead of ‘Shop Now’ or ‘Buy Now’. When users will click on ‘Send a Message’, they will be redirected towards the FB Messenger with extra action buttons like ‘Get A Quote’ or ‘Get Help’.

Evergreen Facebook Ads

Evergreen Facebook Ads can be defined as a type of advertisement which allows a certain ad to run continuously, irrespective of the consequences. Such advertisements tend to run several weeks, months and even years.

Companies use their best selling products or services to always perform such an evergreen advertisement in the background and then alternate such action by doing live or new launches a couple of times a year. Such an alternate strategy can be used when campaigning for old products as well as newly launched products.

 

Source: [1] [2] [3] [4]

What You Need To Know About Ad Fraud

17 November,2019 E-Commerce No Comment Author: Marie

You will often come across advertisements online, data events, or even clicks that turn out to be false and just a method to get money. This practice of creating fraudulent advertising to generate revenue is known as ad fraud or invalid traffic. Now, ad frauds are usually banner ads, video ads or clicks.

what is ad fraudIs Ad Fraud a Problem?

Ad fraud is actually a quite significant problem. It is known to cause damage of almost $20 billion every year. Ad fraud in digital marketing manipulates the traffic and user activity, scamming impressions and conversions. The statistics are changed and data appears distorted so that marketers are left confused and they fail to discover the fraud before it has already happened.

Kinds of Ad Fraud

  • Cookie stuffing

Cookies track a user’s path from affiliates to source sites and every time an affiliate link is clicked, there is an exchange. Now, when the user comes to the source site, it pays for the affiliate. In cookie stuffing, the stats and data of the source site are distorted and the site ends up paying much more than usual.

  • Traffic fraud

Generating traffic onto your site is a way of earning money but this traffic is very easy to imitate. Traffic fraud is imitation and manipulation of online traffic to con analytics into spending more for results based on data that is false.

  • Impression fraud

This kind of ad fraud falsifies the impressions which are an important part of CPM-based operations. These fake impressions are traded in place of the real ones, delivering no actual benefits. Such trading can take down the entire website.

  • Click fraud

In digital marketing, clicks generate revenue. What click fraud does is manipulate the ad activity to increase the number of CPC ad clicks and so you might see a large number of clicks but hardly any positive results.

  • Action fraud

Action Fraud is quite complicated. Actions distort the very elements that move money by imitating user activity and can actually end an entire campaign.

Other types of ad frauds include retargeting fraud, conversion fraud, and affiliate fraud.

How to Detect Ad Fraud?

While ad fraud is difficult to catch, it does not mean that you cannot detect it. If you have a single app and a single campaign it is easier to protect. However, the following indicators can detect ad fraud:

  • Similar install behavior for a few consecutive installs.
  • Many installs from one particular device.
  • A very large number of downloads from one particular source.
  • A very short period of time between a click and an install.

How Can You Stop Ad Fraud?

A few simple points are given below to help you stay alert and prevent ad fraud.

  • Know how your publisher is generating traffic before starting your campaign.
  • Invest in third party solutions that monitor campaigns and check for ad fraud.
  • Make sure that you have clear verification protocols and an immediate algorithm of actions in case of any suspicious activity.

This was all about ad frauds. Thus, adopt the required steps to stay safe.

Facebook Unveils New Logo

5 November,2019 What's New No Comment Author: Marie

On Monday, Facebook announced a new logo that will be used to represent itself as a parent company and to distinguish it from its apps, including Facebook app as well as WhatsApp and Instagram.

The new logo was announced through an official blog post alongside a GIF that alternates between different colors representing the different platforms that Facebook owns.

Below is the new logo as it transitions through Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp brand colors (Blue for Facebook, green for WhatsApp and purple, red and orange for Instagram.).

“People should know which companies make the products they use. Our main services include the Facebook app, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus, Workplace, Portal, and Calibra.
Today, we’re updating our company branding to be clearer that these products come from Facebook. We’re introducing a new corporate logo and further distinguishing the Facebook company from the Facebook app, which will keep its own branding.”

“The new brand system uses custom typography, rounded corners, open tracking and capitalization to create a visual distinction between the company and the app.” “We designed the new company wordmark with clarity and openness in mind.”

In June, the company started adding the words “from Facebook” across all its apps. Although it seems unnecessary, and an alarming number of ‘regular’ users are unaware that Instagram and WhatsApp are owned by Facebook.

Over the coming weeks, Facebook will start using this new branding in its products so you’ll start to see it on things like the login page for Instagram (see photos above).

 

Source: Facebook Newsroom

5 Ways Mobile Apps Can Increase Revenue for Your Business

25 October,2019 Business Advice No Comment Author: Marie

The use and benefits of mobile phones cannot be ignored or denied. They undoubtedly form an integral part of our life and existence without them can seem to be daunting. For carrying out many of our day to day tasks, we rely on our mobile phones and mobile apps – be it ordering food, shopping, calling a cab, booking a flight ticket, filling forms and what not!

So don’t you think if you own a business, owning a mobile app can lead your business to a greater heights?

Talking about the various businesses- going digital can make them great money. Many startup owners are often skeptical about getting their own website and their mobile application developed, they often ask why? Well, the answer is quite simple, it will yield business and profit!

  1. Opt for paid apps

As the title clearly suggests, bring forward the paid applications i.e., the users download the app by making a minimal payment and then end up using your services or products.

Do not charge too much as this will drive away your clients. Therefore, decide the fee smartly.

  1. Freemium apps

Freemium apps are undoubtedly one of the best ways to generate revenue from your mobile application. It simply means to introduce applications that are free of cost- but some features are paid. In this way, the users will pay for those additional features as well if needed.

One similar app is- Grammarly. It allows you to freely access some of its features whereas the enhanced ones are paid.

  1. Localization

This feature directly relates to the term “user-friendliness “. The interface of your app should be easy to understand and comprehend by people across the world.

This can be achieved by supporting multiple languages so that communication won’t stop you from generating good revenue and a fancy client base.

  1. Make use of push notifications

We know that today’s market hosts great competition in terms of all the services and products. For a particular service/ product- multiple options, prices, providers are available.

Making use of the push notifications- helps you to drive the potential buyers to your mobile apps through alerts that remind them of the purchase, new products/ services.

  1. Integration of ASO updates

Now, does only building the mobile application does all the miracle? The answer is clearly a No. Updates are another feature that needs to be looked upon.

This means that your app should be flexible enough to accommodate any update done by Google or Bing.  Moreover, it should be platform friendly and must be able to run on all the possible platforms.

So, next time you think of having a start-up, don’t forget to get a mobile application developed. And if you want to generate a fancy revenue from the same, do ponder upon the above points.

 

Online Privacy – What You Need to Know

21 October,2019 Uncategorized No Comment Author: Marie

Most Websites Already Know a Lot About You. Here’s What You Need to Know About Online Privacy.

Information that you share on an online platform can often be used by third parties without your consent, and it can even be used to track your whereabouts. Now, most of the secure sites will not collect any sensitive information like identification details or financial details. However, your posts on social media, internet searches, and browser history can be accessed, and your computer’s IP address can be used to trace your location as well.

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Therefore, you should always be aware of all the privacy protocols that a site has before entering any information. Given below are a few tips that will help you keep your information safe when you are on the internet.

  • Always update your browser. The web browser is the one thing that you use most often and your browser history can easily be accessed if there are any glitches. To avoid such disasters, it is important to run the available updates. These will check for any potential attacks and take measures to secure your information.
  • Many online services like Gmail and Facebook have a two-step verification system. This provides extra protection as you will have two passwords instead of just one. When you sign in, you will have to enter your chosen password and a generated password will be sent to your mobile number. This reduces the risk of your account getting hacked.
  • More often than not, you will notice that several advertisements are popping up and they are related to what you have browsed for. This is because these ads place cookies that can track and remember what you have searched. Now, you can remove the cookies by clearing your browser history at regular intervals.
  • There are some online privacy tools available that help secures your information. These are not effective against massive attacks but they try to hide your cookies, location and browser history from third party websites.
  • Whenever you are using a new site or creating an account on some online platform, make sure to read the terms and conditions they have regarding a client’s privacy, carefully. Most of the time, we miss this section, taking it for granted that our data is secure. But if you read between the lines you will see that many sites clearly state that they collect your information to sell to advertisers. Also, there are many companies that do not stick to their privacy policies and this places their clients in danger. If anything like this happens, then it becomes very difficult to maintain privacy and protect your personal data. So always keep yourself informed and give your information only if you are absolutely sure.

There are many internet browsers that allow “private browsing”. However, this does not mean that your information cannot be tracked or collected. When you use this mode, cache, browsing history and cookies are deleted, so your privacy is protected but only for those who use that same device.

 

Source: [1] [2] [3]