Features

Instagram has updated their features for businesses to tag and link products to sell. In addition to photo tags, a new feature will allow a product to be tagged in a video. Businesses wishing to take advantage of this feature can add items to the Facebook catalog for their business page. Any item in the catalog can then be tagged in a video, allowing it to link to the business’ website. Additionally, all products tagged in videos will be added to the shop tab, so users watching a video can see and buy products tagged in it.

Key Takeaways:

• On Instagram, one can now tag video posts and insert links to products in those posts for social shopping.
• To enable product tagging in Instagram video posts, one has to add those products to their Facebook Catalog using the Catalog Manager on their Facebook business page.
• Instagram is also testing a complete makeover of the Shopping tab so that products tagged in posts can easily and quickly be added to the Shopping tab.

“To enable product tags businesses first have to make sure their account has opted into using a business page.”

Read more: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/instagram-rolls-out-more-ways-for-businesses-to-sell-products/279237/

Twitter is a very viable place where you can give your opinion on certain things. It is a place where people can get a first impression of who you are and what you believe. With that being said, it can definitely be a place where you express your humorous side. People appreciate humor and if you do it right, you can get a large following. The key is to not offend too many people and to make sure that your jokes are all taken in a comical sense.

Key Takeaways:

• The accounts that are considered to be funny on Twitter gain a ton of traffic on the web.
• Twitter is a very viable place to showcase your voice and tell the world a bit about who you are.
• The best thing to learn from these funny accounts is that you should never be afraid to be yourself.

“If you have to ask that question you probably aren’t adding enough hot sauce. But on a scale from one to 10, where one is your college sociology class (AKA Funbusting 1000) and 10 is watching Paula Abdul on American Idol, Chipotle gets a solid 7.”

Read more: https://blog.hootsuite.com/hilarious-twitter-accounts/

Being creative can be difficult once you’ve gotten past the first few ideas that your brain can come up with, which then leads to a feeling of discomfort. It is said that sitting and thinking through the discomfort brings the true creative ideas. If you write down at least ten ideas a day, you will be able to keep your brain young and functioning. Prepare and research by watching what others are doing, observing culture, searching the web, looking at things, and reading on a diverse set of topics. You may have to put in a lot of time to get to the creativity level that you want to achieve.

Key Takeaways:

• It’s not easy to be creative and come up with ideas, but when one sticks with it the right solutions will come along after the pain.
• The secret to creativity is being consistent and regular because the brain is like a muscle – the more you do creative work, the better you become.
• Generating ideas, especially for content, involves a lot of tasks like watching others produce their products, reading variety of topics and exposing oneself to culture.

“As James Altucher recommends, writing down 10 ideas every day will keep your brain sharp and agile and then when the pressure is on for you to deliver the campaign, your brain is on your side.”

Read more: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/content-sources-of-inspiration/268455/

Recently Google’s John Mueller was asked whether an author’s reputation affects the website’s ranking, as concerns arose from people who used other author’s on their sites. Google states that this doesn’t matter in the way that algorithms check for popularity and ranking. If an author is removed by a website, that is the choice of the website if the author’s no longer want that association. Removal of an author would just be looked at as an update to a site.

Key Takeaways:

• You don’t need to concern yourself with an author’s reputation when ranking websites because they may be new or go into bad standing.
• Website directors have raised concerns that the changing views on an author would change website rankings; this was recently brought to Google as a concern.
• You have every right to remove an author from your website because you choose to no longer be associated with them, but this will not change your website ranking.

“However, if you want to remove an author from your website because you no longer want to be associated with them for whatever reason, then that would be treated like any other organic site change.”

Read more: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-we-do-not-rank-websites-based-on-author-reputation/266829/

If you are just starting to market your content or blog, it is likely that very few people are visiting your site. To attract attention, you might try content syndication where others use your content, but link back to your site or credit you. This can get you more audience members and publish you on popular industry websites. The downside is that when someone reads your content on another site, they don’t necessarily come back to your site. If you are looking for content to be shared, for brand awareness, or additional followers, content syndication may be for you.

Key Takeaways:

• When you start your own content marketing program or blog, it can take some time before people start recognizing you, so content syndication may be the way to go.
• Content syndication is when a company publishes your work, but gives you credit and may link to your site.
• Content syndication can get you recognized by big companies and bring you brand awareness.

“With content syndication, on the other hand, the content itself becomes a mechanism for promotion and can get you in front of new audience members a lot more quickly. And syndication is hardly a tactic only for newbies. Some of the top thought leaders in the field get their articles picked up and republished by additional outlets.”

Read more: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/content-syndication-basics/263415/

Working at Google allows for people to see the inner workings of how SEO works. It is so important to engage with people when you have your own business. Having interactive platforms that allow for people to come together is a very viable way to create more traffic. Marketing is so important for every single person, or business, that is trying to create a brand on the web. This Google employee relates that idea to the public.

Key Takeaways:

• Even when popular sites are caught by Google cheating in link building, Google doesn’t go out to penalize them because they want people to get what they search for.
• When Google encounters spammy links, it sees this as a negative SEO and would rather ignore the links than refuse to serve the site to searchers.
• Rather than rely on lots of human programmers to fine tune their algorithms, Google prefers automation to do so and that is why it did not acquire Digg.

“I experienced this when I started a nutrition site years ago (I no longer own it). Someone built thousands of adult links to the site and it made up the majority of the backlinks.”

Read more: https://neilpatel.com/blog/seo-lessons-google/

For local businesses, Google is such a life saver. It is something that not many people know how to use to their full advantage but if they do, it can make such a massive difference. For companies that are small, using Google for sales is a very viable way to grow your business and your margins. Generating sales is not easy but it starts with generating more and more traffic. If you have a good product when the traffic comes, you will generate more sales.

Key Takeaways:

• Local businesses need to think smart to keep up with their larger competitors around.
• Using the Internet is still one of the best ways to generate sales for any type of business.
• Appealing to the local demographic will allow word of mouth to carry about your place.

“The main benefits include (but aren’t limited to): increased click-through rates and providing more information/context without taking up character limits on your actual ad copy.”

Read more: https://adespresso.com/blog/google-ads-for-local-businesses-3-smart-ways-to-generate-more-sales/

The small businesses in the world today have to be really creative moving forward. The truth of the matter is that the world is starting to rely more and more on technology. Therefore, small businesses should try to stay ahead of the curve by getting on the technology wave. If they do not get on it as soon as possible, they will fall behind. Getting savvy with technology will help them strive in the future as they continue to grow.

Key Takeaways:

• As a small business, you must think smarter to compete with larger businesses with more resources.
• As time goes on, marketing and technology will continue to be unbelievably important.
• Within your own business, you must make the efforts to ensure that you are doing everything you can for your business to succeed.

“Take a minute or two to talk with customers who express interest. Sometimes, all it takes is a little education and kindness to shift habits. First, take a few minutes to boost your own education by reading How to Win Some Customer Back from Amazon this Holiday Season.”

Read more: https://moz.com/blog/3-small-business-tips-2019