Google Analytics Beginners Tutorial

Here is a beginners look at how to read and understand your website traffic in Google Analytics.

5 Digital Marketing Skills to Master for 2020 & Beyond

Acquiring these skills will really help you know how to market your business or brand online and futureproof your career.

Summary of skills:-

1. Digital Psychology 

Marketers tend to fall into the habit of focusing on WHAT users are doing through analytics while forgetting to ask the very important question WHY they do it. 

2. Customer Experience

Shifting our mindset from selling products to selling experiences is a must! In addition, we need to focus on managing that experience at every touchpoint. This is essential for marketers in the digital age.

Customer experience looks at the interactions between a user and the brand, so every area of our business will impact customer experience. 

Having a solid understanding of our customers experience simply isn't enough. If we want to deliver a highly relevant experience to the user we have to hyper-personalise.

3. Front-end Code

Don't worry, we don't need to know code back to front to get this right, especially with the abudance of "coding-free" tools and solutions.

But front-end code is excellent for making bespoke changes to landing pages built with builders or having a better understanding of how tracking codes work, for example. 

4. Video Marketing

Video marketing is great for increasing social engagement, building authority and converting and increasing sales.

To stay on top of digital marketing, we really should have a strong understanding of how to effectively utilise video. 

5. Digital Analytics 

Earlier we talked about the WHY of customer behaviour and the importance of digital psychology, but digital analytics is about WHAT.  

It helps us to make more effective date-driven decisions and make predictions on when and where our prospects might appear in their buying journeys.

4 Powerful SEO Tricks For Higher Google Rankings In 2020

Have responsive and user-friendly websites if you want to rank higher in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) of Google and other search engines such as Bing and Yahoo in 2020 and beyond.

For a result-oriented and effective Search Engine Optimization SEO strategy, for higher rankings, have good designs for your website, with, of course, quality content.
A clever marriage of the two will fetch results you will be proud of.
5 Exciting SEO Tricks for High Conversions and High Google Rankings

Now let's check these 5 tried and tested SEO tricks, in detail, if you are serious about doing well, and finding a place on the first pages of Google and other search engines:

1. Focus on mobile layout: Post 2017, Google has started indexing the mobile editions of the websites first. A report shows that during 2017, as high as 70% of the entire web traffic came from smartphones. So, bet your money on your mobile customers first and design your website accordingly. However, if you want to make your site do well in both the worlds (mobile & desktop) have a site that uses responsive web-design methods to change to the size of the user's specific gadget/settings.
2. Have user-friendly and Google-friendly pages: Page design and SEO aren't separate. The pages that are easy to navigate are indexed higher. Such pages are loved by not only the users but the search engines as well. Icing on the cake: on such pages, the readers spend more time. Such pages also lead to more engagement with the visitors and more backlinks.
3. Ensure your pages open speedily: A crucial thought of developing websites is to guarantee that they load instantly. Prior to you start optimizing your site(s), figure-out if they are doing well, first. Design your pages in such a manner that these loads cleanly and swiftly. Have simple design and make certain that they aren't plagued with litter.

Visitors to your pages will have no difficulties whatsoever in speedily opening such pages. Pages that open instantly are good for high indexing. Besides, the slow pages have lower conversions and higher bounce rates.
4. Have high quality content: We all know that Content is King. However, many of us, perhaps, don't know that good content is good SEO.

If you want decent content on your pages:

A. Generate unique and original content.
B. Develop persuasive and eye-catching headlines. Your headlines must hook your readers and inspire them to read the entire page.
C. Make your content actionable. Write in such a way that the readers get motivated to do what you may want them to do.
D. Offer answers. Raise critical questions that affect your visitors and answer them. Provide result-oriented solutions.
E. Make certain that the content that you use on your pages makes sense, is relevant, clear, short, and to the point. No beating around the bush, please!
F. Use your keywords at the right places, and in the right density. Have 'how to' and 'FAQ' pages that are considered user-friendly pages, because Google and other search engines love such pages and rank them higher. The reason: the common web visitors want information and data even while such pages provide that.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10235915 

What Are the Necessary Skills to Become a Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Consultant?

Search engine marketing is amongst the most highly-rated digital marketing practices out there. A part of search marketing, search engine marketing is the practise to increase the visibility of a website on search engines through inorganic paid methods.

Compared to SEO, SEM is often not considered as important by most brands and companies across various industries. This is because while SEO is a free method that does not require any monetary transaction to take place, SEM is a paid digital marketing technique that basically allows brands to pay the search engine a certain amount of money to reach the top of search results.

Small brands and companies are often hesitant to ingratiate SEM into their digital marketing campaign. Fear of not getting a sizable ROI and wasting their precious resources lies as the heart of this hesitance.

In truth, search engine marketing can be used to pull a large amount of traffic to a website. For a new brand with a new website, getting meaningful traction through organic SEO techniques can be difficult. SEO typically takes a long time to bed in and produce results. In such a situation when a brand cannot reach a sizable audience organically, SEM is a great option to pull in valuable relevant traffic.

As a subject of learning, SEM is taught across various digital marketing courses across the board. Whether we consider an online training program or a digital marketing course, SEM is always a mainstay in such learning modules.

In this article, we will discuss the skills necessary to become an SEM consultant at a top institute.

Keyword Research

The best skill an SEM consultant can possess is the knack to pick out keywords a given brand can target for quick conversions and high CTR. In most digital marketing practices, keywords often end up playing a key role in the process. Even SEO as a practice is driven by select keywords targeted by content creators and SEO executives to optimize search rankings.

By finding the right keywords in an SEM campaign, a consultant can then organize the effort behind bidding for the keywords identified and post an engaging search ad to drive clicks through search engine results.

Get Google AdWords Certification

Although not entirely necessary, getting a Google AdWords certification is the best way for a candidate to prove his/her credentials in search engine marketing.

Google conducts its own certification exam for professionals interested in search engine marketing. By joining the Google Partners Program, applicants can give their certification exam. After getting certified, professionals can then show the certificate as a necessary attestation of their skills as an SEM executive.

To pass the AdWords certification, professionals have to brush up on their knowledge of AdWords. Going through some of Google's very own training guides to help test-takers is also a great way to prepare for the exam.

Content Writing Skills

Despite all the necessary skills about keywords, it can all be for naught if a suitable search ad copy is not created.

Even while writing short ad content, SEM consultants have to be adept at writing content which triggers readers into clicking on the ad and improving the CTR. For this, reasonable knowledge of content marketing becomes necessary, thus making an SEM consultant a very rounded professional in the field of digital marketing.

In Conclusion

In conclusion, the skills mentioned in the article are crucial for a professional to become an SEM consultant. With these skills, anyone is digital marketing can becoming an SEM specialist at any given brand or company.

Article source:  http://EzineArticles.com/10194409

Should You Stop Marketing During COVID-19?

The Impact of Coronavirus on Small Business

As a human, I'm sure you've been affected by COVID-19 (also known as novel coronavirus) in some way.

Whether that means worrying about elderly parents, changing travel plans or stocking up on essentials to work from home for the foreseeable future, it's hard to not feel the stress.

As a small business owner, you may be seeing fewer customers as people limit social interaction, change travel and leisure plans and focus on staying healthy rather than on shopping for products and services.

Unless you sell toilet paper or hand sanitizer, you may be concerned about the impact of the coronavirus on your small business; your revenue, employees, and empty marketing funnel.

So does that mean you should hunker down and stop your marketing efforts for the time being? No!

The World Health Organization has declared coronavirus a global pandemic, and it's a very uncertain time. However, I'm a firm believer in focusing on what we can do and change while finding the opportunities amidst adversity.

Every challenge can be met with common sense, rational thought and even kindness. This is not the time for irrationality. I was watching a webinar the other day and someone said, "Worrying is like a rocking chair-it gives you something to do but it won't get you anywhere!"

I know we are living in troubling times. The virus and how the global economy is responding to the preventative measures being placed is something that will go down in the history books.

But as business owners, there is one thing we do still have control over, and that's the ability to be resilient and make choices that will get us through these times as best possible.

In this article, I'm sharing some ways you can address the challenge of marketing during a crisis and keep your business going.

 Let's start by looking at two of the wrong ways to approach marketing during a crisis right now:

1. Making a joke about coronavirus. 

A few weeks ago, it was common to see online memes and humorous marketing campaigns being shared. A Las Vegas jeweller even created a campaign to sell rings!

As more and more people around the world were affected by coronavirus, these slowed down a lot. Making light of the situation is not only in poor taste, but you'll likely drive away a good chunk of your target audience.

2. Playing on people's fears. 

It's one thing to use a sense of urgency to sell your product or service, but it's another thing entirely to use scare tactics.

For example, don't scare people into buying a first aid kit with a message like "Only two left! Don't risk your family's health!" Rather, focus on the benefit of being proactive and prepared by stocking up on medical supplies.

Make sure the angle and tone of your marketing reflects your customer's current concerns and pain points without capitalizing on their anxiety.

How to Effectively Market Your Small Business During the Coronavirus Outbreak

No matter what type of small business you have, your priority should be clearly communicating with your customers to put them at ease.

Think about what your clients need to hear from you, and how you want to position your business during this crisis.

Here are 3 ways to market your business during the coronavirus crisis:

1. Reassure everyone that you're protecting their health. 

This is especially true if you have a brick-and-mortar location. This may mean sharing your extra sanitation practices, putting a hand sanitizer station at the front of your location or implementing a policy where all staff wear masks and gloves.

For example, WestJet shares their additional precautionary cleaning measures due to coronavirus on their website.

2. Be prepared to pivot. 

You need to be flexible to best serve your customers. That might mean instead of cancelling a customer conference, you change it to a virtual event.

If you are planning an upcoming workshop or event, pivot with your audience in mind. It's possible you have already been forced to cancel or postponne, but don't assume everyone wants the solution you're providing.

Consider options such as making it a virtual version of the event or postponning your conference to a later date. Or some people may want ticket refunds.

Polls and questionnaires can be a great way to get honest feedback from your ticket holders before changing an event.

And of course, take a look at all of your contracts to ensure you're covered before making any changes.

If you're a service provider, create other ways to help your clients like this fitness trainer did. He offered them a way to stay fit that doesn't involve being around a group of people in a gym.

3. Make your employees a priority too. 

Don't focus all your efforts on marketing during this time. Your employees are what keep your business going, so how can you care for them?

Maybe you can give your staff the option of working 100% remotely while COVID-19 is a concern. Or, remind them you fully encourage them to stay home if they're feeling sick.

The more you can put your employees at ease, the better they'll be able to support your business and your customers.

What Small Business Owners Can Learn from Coronavirus

I know this is hard, and I hope you can hang in there and focus on the present, and on being of service to your clients and staff.

They're afraid, and what you do or share can help alleviate those fears. Remember to be careful and intentional about what you're saying.

If your small business is being adversely affected by coronavirus, it's also a good time to reassess your business fundamentals, including how CONVID-19 is affecting your digital marketing. How will you deal with a crisis the next time it happens? Are there things you'd do differently to be more prepared or prevent losses?

Like everything else in life, this is a learning experience. Stay healthy, safe and positive.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Susan_Friesen/260293

Major Digital Marketing Changes You MUST Know in 2020 with Marketing Influencer Rand Fishkin

Learn SEO Basics To Make Your Digital Marketing Campaign Successful

SEO is the abbreviation of Search Engine Optimisation. It is all about learning and using tactics, strategies to enhance the visibility of web resources like websites, web pages in various search engine results pages. If you are an SEO executive then you need to have the basics right to be successful in your digital marketing campaign. This blog discusses the SEO basics that are helpful in your for the professional search engine optimizer.

Understand What the Customers Are Looking For

It is to understand that as a professional SEO executive it is very difficult on your part to optimize a website without understanding what the customers are looking for. You as a search engine optimizer need to use common sense to figure out what your customers are searching for.

You need to adhere to the following points to comprehend what your customers are looking for:-

· Try figuring out the most popular method in which people search for your business.

· Comprehend other ways people search for the same thing using a search engine.

· Emphasize long-tail keywords while searching using a search engine.

· Do granular searches more according to the requirements of the customers.

· Search For popular as well as engaging topics in your field and write contents on those topics.

· Try expanding your keyword list. 

To be successful in search engine optimization you need to take into consideration people's views about a particular topic or niche. You need to discuss the problems that the people are facing. You need to talk to the customers and find out the language that they are using.

Following are some of the important ways by which you can become successful in search engine optimization:-

· Post in Forums

· Do keyword research and analysis

· Comprehend the metrics that are behind the targeted keywords. These metrics may include keyword difficulty, search volume, domain authority, page authority, keyword competitiveness.

· To do keyword research and analysis it is advised that you create an excel sheet, highlight the metrics that you are using, populate the respective metric's field with values as against the keyword that you are using.

· Create Webpages that are optimized for searches 

Focus on On-Page Optimisation

Keyword research and analysis is the first step to attract organic traffic to your business. Next focus on on-page optimization in a digital marketing campaign. If you are using a Word Press website then it is recommended that you install appropriate plugins on your website. Create on-page content that is relevant to your business. In this context, it is relevant to add that there are three types of searches and they are navigational, informational, and transactional. For more on this visit relevant resources available online.

Following are some of the tips to focus on on-page optimization:-

· Use short and descriptive URLs

· Create compelling meta titles as well as descriptions

· Use headers as well as sub-headers to create a logical structure

· Focus on optimizing your images

· Lay emphasis on setting up a schema 

Other Aspects that Help to Make You a Better Search Engine Optimizer

Make your Website accessible to humans as well as search engines. Make sure that your web portal loads promptly. Focus on installing an SSL certificate. Focus on creating a site map for your website. Apart from these, there are many other aspects of digital marketing that helps to enhance the search engine optimization skills of the professional web marketer.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Chandrasekhar_Bhattacharjee/1737216