Your to-do list for attending a digital marketing conference

Marketing conferences offer participants excellent opportunities to network with peers, learn more about their industry, and see what others have accomplished within their field. It provides an excellent place to exchange ideas. For those new to attending marketing conferences, however, knowing what to expect and how to maximize their time at one can be a challenge. Here is what all marketers should know about how to get the most out of their time at a marketing conference.

• Be prepared
• Network
• Take notes
• Do not leave the conference behind
• Utilize the information gained
• Access and review the presentation decks

1. Be prepared before you go. Before the conference, take the time to really get to know what to expect at this particular event. Look at the speakers, their backgrounds, and see which talks interest and apply to you the most. Follow hashtags for the event on social media and see who else might attend. Connect with a few fellow attendees or prospects via LinkedIn to discuss the event and then plan on meeting up during the actual conference.

Plan out your schedule for the event. You want to maximize the investment you have made, so have a schedule planned and a few objectives you want to accomplish over the course of the conference.

2. Network. One of the best features of digital marketing conferences is the ability to meet and engage with others in the industry. Do not shy away from reaching out to other attendees; remember they also want to network within the industry. Learn how to use the mobile LinkedIn Fidn Nearby. (Click thre person+ button and tunr on Nearby. If other people do same it is easier to request to connect.) Exchange business cards, discuss the talks and sessions, and form professional bonds.

3. Take notes during the talks and presentations. During the conference, you will likely find yourself overwhelmed with an enormous amount of information pertaining to your industry. No one can possibly remember detailed accounts of everything discussed.

To help you maximize your experience, come prepared to take notes during the talks. This gives you something to reference when you finish for the day and head back to your room. Take a minute as you wind down to look over those notes to really start to explore the ideas yourself. Discuss them with others and see how they might inform your own digital marketing strategies.

Also see if the hosting company puts out any sort of recap following the talks. If they post videos or blog posts about the content covered that day, take a few minutes to go over it. It may also help to jog your memory and absorb all you learned.

4. Do not leave the conference behind when you walk out the door. You want to absorb the entire conference experience, not just the talks. If there are formal or informal networking events, such as dinners or gatherings, after the day’s talks, try to participate. This will give you the chance to get to know other attendees better and discuss the day’s events.

At the end of the conference, hold onto the notes you took and the connections you have made. Use LinkedIn to reach out to your new connections and continue to nurture the relationship. Review your notes and go over them with your team back at your company. Look for ways to make the new ideas you gained at the conference part of your company’s strategy.

5. Use the information you gained at the conference to move forward in the digital marketing space. Digital marketing conferences provide an outstanding opportunity for professionals to learn, network, and remain connected to the forefront of the industry. Following these steps to maximize your experience will help you get the most out of your upcoming conference.

6. Access and review the presentation decks. Every conference collects and shares the decks with registered attendees. Download them all and read the ones from the sesssions you missed. Creating and event report for your colleagues is a good way to internalize the insights of the conference. 

Understanding Google image search guidelines

For those who need to optimize their material for local SEO, Google My Business and Maps play a large role in their strategy. Building out a quality My Business page allows brands to better attract potential customers to their business and appear welcoming on the local SERP.

As a part of these pages, businesses want to take advantage of the Google Posts feature.

For brands to build out these Google Posts, however, they need to make sure that they're paying attention to the Google image guidelines and requirements. Reports have recently arisen concerning Google becoming stricter about the rules regarding the images people upload on Posts. Here is what everyone should know about the rules governing the images for Google contributor posts.

• Making the images authentic
• The images must be relevant
• The image must meet minimum quality standards

1. Making the images authentic. Google wants to make sure that people do not upload images that do not accurately reflect the business. This means that stock imagery or images taken by others are not allowed. All of the images portrayed on the site must be taken at that location.

Similarly, Google does not allow users to upload images that have considerable modifications or filters that seriously alter the appearance of the location.

2. The images must be relevant. Google also does not want to see images that do not offer any value for users interested in this location. If the image is irrelevant, then it will not be accepted for the page. This includes if the main subject of the image is not relevant to the page.

3. The image must meet minimum quality standards. Google will also reject images that do not have sufficient lighting, resolution, or otherwise present a challenge for users to understand the ‘environment’ exhibited.

Google also notes that it only allows videos and photos, which means other image forms, such as animated GIFs or drawings, will not make the cut.

If you want to superimpose text or graphics on your images, such as a logo, you will also have to abide by the Google image guidelines outlined here:

The images that Google permits on these pages must abide by strict guidelines as a part of Google's efforts to create a high-quality web experience for users. By narrowly limiting what people can upload, it helps to ensure that the images seen provide customers with the desired experience.

With Google apparently taking a greater interest in the images being uploaded and refusing a greater percentage, brands need to carefully review their desired visuals to make sure they abide by Google image guidelines.

Focus on images that:

• Are original
• Pertain directly to your business
• Create an accurate perception of your organization
• If they have any superimposed text, that they follow Google image guidelines above
• Are of high-enough quality and size to be very clear

For more information about Google’s guidelines, please see the rules listed here.

Understanding GDPR regulations and CCPA standards

In 2018, the GDPR, or General Data Protection Regulation, put forth by the EU, went into effect. This outlined specific rights and privacies of users. Beginning in January 2020, California’s own laws, known as the California Consumer Privacy Act, went into effect. Both of these sets of laws impact website owners. Here is what you need to know about the regulations and our recommendations regarding how to remain compliant.

• Make sure you remain fully transparent with all users regarding your data collection
• Obtain permission from the user before you use cookies
• Do not collect more data than you need
• Be able to separate and classify user data

1. Make sure you remain fully transparent with all users regarding your data collection. These laws tell us that users have the right to know when and how their information is being collected. In your privacy policy, you must let people know what types of data you collect, whether or not you sell the data, when you share the data, and how you use the information you collect.

The CCPA also mandates that the privacy policy provides information about how people can request to access, change, or even erase the data you have collected on them.

Note that your plugin vendors must also align with these requirements. If you have a plugin that collects data, you must also get consent from your users and let people know about it in your privacy policy.

With the CCPA, you must also provide people with the ability to opt out of their data being sold to a third party. For any 13-16 year old minor, you must obtain their consent before selling personal information and you must obtain consent from the parents/guardians of any minor under 13 before you sell their data.

2. Obtain permission from the user before you use cookies. Cookies make it possible for businesses to perform certain personalization features and track users, but you have to obtain permission from users before you begin to use them. Many sites obtain this permission with a popup that appears when someone first lands on the site. To make sure that you are obtaining true consent, you cannot have a default, but allow the user to select.

3. Do not collect more data than you need. Although it can be tempting to collect as much information as possible, you need to be careful to only collect the information needed. You also want to make sure this information is not stored longer than required. In other words, if users register to only receive a white paper, once you send them the white paper, you cannot use their email for additional promotions unless they give you explicit permission to do so. When they register, you can offer them an option to continue to receive information and promotions, which will allow you to keep using their email.

Along similar lines, make sure your mailing lists have been obtained properly. If anyone on your mailing list did not give expressed consent to receive messages from you, it will be best to delete them. This will be especially applicable if you purchased the list from any third parties.

If you have been using a double opt-in strategy, then you can feel confident that your mailing list was obtained through consent and you can continue to use them.

Go through your mailing list and your practices of obtaining email addresses to make sure no one was added without consent. Including an ‘opt-out’ link in your emails can also help ensure that only people who want to be on your list are included.

4. Be able to separate and classify user data. With the CCPA in particular, businesses must have greater ability to classify user data. People will now have the power to say whether or not they want their information shared with third parties, which means that brands must be able to filter the information of those who give permission and those who do not.

Users also have the right to learn what information precisely has been collected on them from companies. This includes who the information was sold to over the past 12 months from when the customer requested the information. Businesses who do not currently have the ability to uncover this information need to focus efforts on becoming compliant.

Privacy has become an increasingly prevalent concern for users as data collection grows. Respecting your users by complying with the GDPR standards and laws does require a shift in some practices, so all site owners should carefully review their domains.

The importance of responsive web development

With the variety of devices currently used by consumers today, you have to make sure that your website is ready to scale for each one. Having a website that does not fill the screen correctly can provide a poor user experience and encourage people to click off your website. A website that has not been setup properly for mobile devices at all can also lead to penalties in the Google algorithm under the mobile-first algorithm. Here are some basic starting points for responsive design.

• Prioritize what appears on the site
• Design the layout with mobile-first in mind
• Use Scalable Vector Graphics for any computer graphics
• Make sure the images fit well across devices

1. Prioritize what appears on the site. As sites need to be able to move back and forth between device and screen sizes, you do not want to create overcrowded webpages. Including too many items on a desktop screen, for example, can result in the page then looking too ‘busy’ when it shrinks down to mobile or tablet size.

Think carefully about what you actually want to have on the page. Prioritize each item, considering what graphics and text are the most important.

Remember to keep your buttons easy to use on mobile devices and your call to action clear.

2. Design the layout with mobile-first in mind. As you begin to build your web page, do not forget that since 2018, Google’s algorithm has been mobile-first. This means that the search engine giant first looks at how the page appears on mobile for the rankings on the SERP.

Therefore, organize the page layouts and text for a mobile audience first. Consider how the page appears on mobile devices and use that as your launching point to design the page.

3. Use Scalable Vector Graphics for any computer graphics. Scalable Vector Graphics will automatically resize according to the size of the screen they are on. This makes them particularly helpful for any images you have on your site that are computer-generated. With scalable graphics, the images will consistently remain sharp at different screen sizes, providing a more positive user experience.

4. Make sure the images fit well across devices. For images that are not computer-generated graphics, you want to make sure they continue to appear correctly on all screen sizes as well. You can have images resize by using the ‘width’ property of the image in your CSS, instructing it to adjust based upon the width of the screen it will be displayed upon.

Depending upon the size of the image, however, this can sometimes cause some unnecessary slow-downs of the page speed. For example, if the image is 1600px on the desktop, but will become a quarter of that on mobile, it does not do much good to load the entire 1600px image just to shrink it. This can cause unnecessary delays in loading speed.

Instead, you can upload alternate images to your site code, instructing the device to load certain images depending upon the screen size.

For example, say you have two images. One image will load for small screens - those with a maximum width of 600px, and another one for screens that run larger than 600px. In this situation, you might have code that looks something like this on your page.

• <picture>
•   <source srcset="img_smallexample.jpg" media="(max-width: 600px)">
•   <source srcset="img_example.jpg">
•   <img src="img_example.jpg" alt="Example">
• </picture>

This tells small devices to load the first ‘smallexample’ image, while devices that do not fit this criteria will load the standard size image.

Responsive design can help create a better experience for users and allow them to realize the full potential of your site regardless of what size screen they use.

Sales and marketing plan

Bringing together the sales and marketing teams can help organizations maximize their conversions. Leads move seamlessly from the marketing side to the sales side of the buyer’s journey, receiving an excellent customer experience throughout. The key to creating a more cohesive unit lies in improving communication between each group and working to function as a single team. Here are some ideas to bring everyone together.

• Align your goals
• Know your Key Performance Metrics (KPIs)
• Get everyone on the same page
• Track progress
• Revisit and plan

1. Align your goals. Before beginning your marketing project, bring the marketing and sales teams together to discuss goals. Outline both short-term and long-term goals. This will give everyone a concrete start point and a standard by which they can evaluate themselves at the end for an idea of how well they performed.

2. Know your KPIs. To properly target your goals, each team will also need to outline their KPIs. Know how you will track progress towards each of your goals and how you can compile this progress and report on it.

3. Get everyone on the same page. Before everyone can work together, you must make sure you have a common vocabulary. Discuss and come to a firm agreement regarding what qualifies as a sales qualified lead, the point at which a lead should transfer from marketing to sales, and what the expectations will be once that transfer happens.

Outline and record these common terms and expectations in a glossary document for everyone to access. Maintaining this consistent form of communication will make it easier for everyone to function as one team.

4. Track progress. The marketing and sales teams should also establish how and when they will come together to make a common report. Establish a set schedule that will bring the two teams together to discuss their progress thus far. Discuss the previously outlined goals, KPIs, and how performance aligns. Know what data will be presented and keep the communication lines open to help the team work as a united group.

5. Revisit and plan. In addition to your reporting cadence, you also want to set a schedule to review, plan, and potentially revise the goals and KPIs. Examine how the teams perform, where the weaknesses lie, and what can be done to correct them. For example, if the teams notice a large drop off in leads around the middle of the funnel, discuss how the two teams can work together to nurture these leads to keep them warm through the transfer to sales and better prepare them for a potential purchase.

By going through these steps you will help your marketing and sales groups feel more as though they are part of a single team dedicated to bringing in more customers. Communication will improve and it will become easier for them to accomplish common goals.

Optimization best practices for Amazon's A9 algorithm

In less than three decades, Amazon has grown into a massive ecommerce behemoth. With more than 197 million people visiting the platform from around the globe each month and an ecommerce market share that hit 49 percent in 2018, no digital retailer can afford to ignore the importance of the platform.

Amazon functions with its own algorithm that matches buyers with products that align with their search. This Amazon algorithm is known as A9. Unlike the Google algorithm, which is designed to keep people coming back to the search engine repeatedly, Amazon's A9 algorithm allows the platform to focus on converting customers.

Amazon's A9 algorithm works entirely based on the information contained within Amazon. There are no outside ranking factors that might influence how frequently or highly your products appear. Instead, products are ranked based on how closely they align to what users want to buy and factors likely to interest users, such as price.

Here are areas that you will want to optimize to make sure that your products rank as highly as possible.

• Your reviews
• Excellent images
• Quality descriptions
• Product information
• Answering questions

1. Your reviews. Customers want to see plenty of customer reviews and they want to see products that have a lot of stars. Encourage people to leave you positive reviews by providing excellent customer service and inviting people to tell others about their experience. For example, leaving inserts in your packages can remind people about the importance of reviews. If you get negative reviews, work to address the issues as much as possible, including trying to correct the problem.
2. Excellent images. Since customers cannot touch and see the product in person, they rely on images to let them know what they buy. High-quality images can help create the best possible perception of your product. Take images from a variety of angles.
3. Quality descriptions. Optimize your product descriptions to match your product to as many applicable searches as possible. You want the words the customer searches for to appear somewhere in your product description to maximize your visibility. Also, be sure to use keywords in your product title, product descriptions, and backend keywords.
4. Product information. In addition to your product description, fill out as much of the product information as possible. You can enter information such as dimensions, material type, color, and manufacturer. This can help your product appear in searches when customers use product filters that help them narrow down their options.
5. Answering questions. People buying products online often have questions that can be answer to tell from a basic product description. Actively answering questions that arise can improve how customers perceive your business and provide information that can encourage people to purchase.

Amazon has become an important ecommerce platform that businesses want to take advantage of as much as possible. With the enormous number of customers operating on the platform, optimizing your products to capture these customers will help grow your organization.

Stay up-to-date with the latest digital marketing trends and become a thought leader in the process

The digital industry continues to change at a rapid rate. Several times a year, Google releases new updates to their algorithm, which can then cause changes in the strategies people use on their websites. Staying up to date on all of the different changes that occur can sometimes feel like an entire job on its own. Here are a few helpful strategies to make sure we remain up-to-date on the latest changes in digital trends.

• Follow Google
• Follow leading digital blogs
• Subscribe to popular industry magazines

1. Follow Google. With over 60 percent of online searches going through Google, the search engine giant has an enormous impact on digital marketing trends and SEO optimization strategies. Brands that want to remain updated on the latest developments and trends should follow Google’s various content outlets closely.

Various Google representatives actively post on Twitter, making them great resources for those who want to know as soon as Google makes official announcements. Google also publishes various blogs that discuss some of their latest updates and recommendations. Signing up for their digests to receive an email whenever Google posts a new update.

2. Follow leading digital blogs. A number of leaders in the digital world have made it their mission to stay updated on the latest digital marketing trends and changes in SEO. These professionals use a variety of tracking software, along with conversations with search engine representatives, to stay on top of any changes in the industry. Following these digital leaders' blogs can provide the latest updates as well.

At BrightEdge, we work to do this for our community. Our blog provides valuable information for our followers, helping them understand not only the latest changes, but also how these changes personally impact them and their SEO strategy.

3. Subscribe to popular industry magazines. In addition to blogs, there are also several industry publications that solicit contributions from some of the best minds in the industry. Our own Jim Yu regularly publishes at Search Engine Watch, Marketing Watch, and MarketingLand. These publications do a wonderful job of updating followers on industry news and trends so you can feel confident you have some of the latest information.

Remaining updated and informed on the digital industry has become an important part of being a successful professional. Using these strategies can help you stay informed and ready to maximize your online presence.

Managing your reputation and reviews for B2B & B2C businesses

Reputation can have a tremendous impact on how potential customers perceive you and the trust that they will have in your organization as they begin their search. Therefore, finding ways to protect and promote your reputation and customers’ perception of your organization can help you build your brand recognition and trust, encouraging potential customers turn to you when they find themselves in the market for your product or service.

Reputation management should be a chief concern for both B2B and B2C customers, but the strategies that they use might differ.

B2B

Those in the B2B sector will want to focus on building a reputation with prospective customers in a professional sphere. For example, they will want to make sure they pay close attention to professional networking sites like LinkedIn. Across all social media sites, B2B brands will also want to pay attention to how customers discuss their organization, their industry, and their competitors. Responding to complaints and questions that arise and seizing opportunities to demonstrate helpfulness and goodwill can help build the brand in prospects’ eyes.

B2B brands will want to focus on the customer experience. Keep in mind that B2B brands generally have a number of different people who need to approve purchases, particularly larger ones. Therefore, the brands who understand how to create a positive experience and provide ample support throughout this entire process will find the most success. Continuing this level of support by providing help for customers as they use the product or service also benefits customer perception.

B2B brands can also boost their reputation by engaging in thought leadership strategies. Publishing guest posts, speaking at conferences, and writing guest posts for popular industry publications can all help get your brand name recognized in a positive way.

As you build your customer list, cultivating positive reviews and testimonials should also be a goal. Customer testimonials can provide strong motivation for customers considering your organization, as it gives them the chance to hear directly from your customers like them who have seen success.

Finally, remember that employees fill the role of the biggest advocate for any organization. Creating a positive company culture will make it easier to build a favorable reputation. Your employees can naturally spread positive impressions of the organization and encourage people to engage with your business.

B2C

Brands in the B2C sector will want to build a presence that focuses on where they can engage with prospective customers as individuals. This means that they often want to build a strong presence on platforms like Instagram and Facebook. In addition to posting on these platforms, like B2B brands, they will also want to engage in social listening. Monitoring social media conversations for brand mentions or industry questions can help them present themselves as helpful industry leaders.

B2C companies also want to work to create great products and an excellent customer experience. Although the buying process might not take as long for the B2C buyer as the B2B buyer on average, brands still want to make sure the process runs as smoothly as possible. Helpful customer service and quality products will help the brand build a positive perception.

B2C companies also want to solicit reviews from satisfied customers. Having active accounts on various review sites and encouraging customers to leave reviews after positive interactions can also help build a strong reputation.

Building a positive customer perception can help your brand maximize its presence online. Follow the suggestions above to help build your reputation and extend your market reach.

How do you choose team members for SEO and content projects?

When you undertake an SEO project, working with a wider team can help you complete the project more efficiently. It can also help you present the best possible content to users by taking advantage of the expertise of others at your organization when needed.

Determining the team that will work best for these projects and knowing when to bring in this outside help, however, requires careful thought. Here are the guidelines we find helpful for knowing when to bring others into your SEO and content projects and who to select.

• Create a list of what the project entails
• Consider the audience you want to reach
• Assess people's strengths
• Look at time commitments of all team members

1. Create list of what the project entails. Create a thorough list of what exactly you will need to accomplish with a particular project or campaign. For example, if you will need to incorporate video, create an infographic, or create website effects to improve the user experience on a particular page, this should all be noted.

In this list, you will also want to consider the topics you want to cover. Particularly if any of the topics you need to cover for this project fall outside of your personal area of expertise, you will want to make sure it is included on your list.

2. Consider the audience you want to reach. Next, you want to note the specific audience you will target during this project. Think about their particular pain points and where they fall on the buyer’s journey. This will help you better conceptualize the depth the prospect will want to see and the perspective they will take on the issues you discuss.

3. Assess people’s strengths. Now, consider the strengths of people on the marketing team and others who collaborate on SEO and content projects. Note any people who have the strengths that line up with the needs of your project from a technical or content perspective.

If certain team members have particular backgrounds or qualifications that will help them create higher-caliber content, then they should be included in your considerations. Remember that Google wants to see content that exhibits expertise, trustworthiness, and authoritativeness. Working with the people who have the optimal qualifications to deliver particular types of content will help you meet this requirement.

4. Look at time commitments of all the team members. Finally, you will need to take into account the time commitments of the team members you want to include on your project. For example, if the project is small and you personally have the qualifications needed to produce quality content, then proceeding personally may be the best route. For larger projects, you will likely finish the project more efficiently through collaboration.

When you want to collaborate on projects, consider their time constraints and the schedule you have for your SEO or content project.

To ensure that your projects stays on schedule, consider these tips:

• Speak with team members before you assign them tasks. Let them know what you would like to accomplish, how you would like their help, your timetable, and get their feedback.
• If the teammates that you would like to have help with your project have several other high priority items on their plates, then consider alternate means of soliciting their collaboration. For example, if you want their expertise, consider scheduling a meeting and asking them for their insight and then producing content personally. If you need their help with technical specifications, ask them to set time aside in the future - such as in two weeks - to help with that final step. Then you make sure the rest of the project is assembled in the interim.
• Once you assign tasks, make deadlines and expectations clear for everyone involved. If the project has a number of parts, consider creating smaller deadlines for different portions of the project.

To create optimal SEO and content marketing material, knowing when and how to include others in the project can help you keep your projects moving forward and ensure that you provide the best possible experience for your prospects.