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6 Data Driven Marketing Trends For 2020

November 14, 2019 • Featured, SEO 101 • 28

When the new year is in sight, there’s always excitement about what is to come. In digital marketing, this excitement is particularly big for 2020 because there are lots of interesting trends on the horizon. But which of these trends come from real data and have stats to back them up – and therefore are worth concentrating on the most?

Personalised marketing automation

Neither personalisation nor marketing automation are new concepts but 2020 will see new ways to combine these to provide the most effective results for marketers – and the best experience for customers.

Just adding a customer name or other basic information into an email isn’t going to cut it anymore. People want relevant offers and recommendations, with 91% of consumers more likely to make a purchase based on these. This means using the right software to automate this process and ensure it is seamlessly integrated with other marketing tools.

Customer filters and triggers will be key to ensure each person gets relevant and timely information, offers and promotions. This will also be a great way to stand out from your competition who may still be doing the whole ‘insert customer name’ approach.

The multichannel experience

There are many different types of platforms and many variations of ways to get in touch with customers. 51% of companies use eight or more channels to communicate with customers, showing that there are lots of ways to chat.

But not always are they coordinated. Just 14% of companies say they use a coordinated marketing campaign that takes place across all channels. This means everything from the website to email, paid advertising and social media. But in 2020, this will be a big area to focus on.

Abandoned cart systems are a good example of a multichannel approach. A customer puts something in their basket on the website but doesn’t complete the sale. They then get an email after a set time, prompting them to finish the process or even offering an incentive to do so.

Mastering the multichannel experience is going to be particularly important for B2B businesses. Integrating with that personalised marketing automation is also going to be important so that people get the right prompts or messages on the right platforms.

AI for lead follow up processes

Lots of companies are looking at new ways to use AI (artificial intelligence) in their business in order to cut costs, speed up processes and ensure customers get a consistent approach. From travel support helping you find the right flight to apartment rental, AI is already being used in lots of interesting ways.

One of the new developments for 2020 is going to be the use of lead follow up processes using AI. When speed of response is particularly important for a business, the use of AI will be crucial. No more waiting until the next morning to respond to a query or lead – AI will be able to handle the basics immediately, with a real customer assistant or salesperson taking over.

Predictive analytics

Predictive searches are nothing new – we start typing a term into Google and it prepopulates with the most common phrases that it thinks we are typing. Predicting analytics are an expansion on that idea that will help businesses predict what customers will want and do to better help them.

A simple example could be something like using predictive analytics to provide help desk articles before they have even finishing typing the query. That way, they instantly get the information they need without hunting around for it.

The system could also be used to spot customers most likely to churn based on criteria of other similar customers. These can then be proactively approached, and steps taken to prevent it before they have even given any indication.

Using data in SEO

SEO is one of the most changeable aspects of marketing and 2020 shows no sign of that changing. One of the key ways to manage SEO in the coming year is to use tools and the concept of data driven SEO.

Free and paid tools provide a great deal of information to help you make data driven SEO decisions. From the domain score of the website to the number of backlinks, the number of monthly searches to relevant terms searchers would expect to be covered in the article, there’s lots of data to be found.

The key is to learn how to use this to create better, more relevant content that users will love, and Google will rank. More tools to help with this is a likely outcome for 2020.

Using qualitative data

The final data driven trend for 2020 is the use of qualitative data to prioritise marketing efforts. Often, we focus on quantitative data such as audience analytics, usage metrics and behaviour analytics. But you need to understand what your customer wants to provide the best experience.

Customer understanding and empathy will be a strong area of focus for 2020. Using qualitative data to help your marketing can also put your company miles ahead of your competition, who are still studying those behaviour analytics.
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5 SEO Risks of a Site Migration and How to Avoid Them

November 5, 2019 • Featured, SEO 101 • 54

There are lots of reasons why a business needs to go through a site migration. Whatever the case, if it is done properly, you can offset some of the risks to SEO of a site migration. But what are the key areas to look for?

Why migrate your site?

There are lots of reasons that you might need to migrate your site. A few examples can include:

A change to CMS or platform – maybe you are unhappy with the current platform or it simply doesn’t provide the features you need. Migrating to a new platform or CMS can be the best option. You can see this comprehensive guide for more on this

Changing to HTTPS – adding the recommended layer of security to your site is important for SEO but is also a migration and can cause problems

Changing your domain – maybe you have outgrown your old website URL and want a new one or are rebranding. This would mean a migration to your new site

What are the SEO risks (and how can you avoid them)

There are clear risks to your search engine ranking when you migrate your website because it effectively breaks that flow the search bots use to find and crawl your site. By looking at the biggest risks, you can see how to best avoid them.

Decline in organic traffic

It is common to see a change to organic traffic immediately after migration, but the key is to ensure this doesn’t last for too long or become a steady decline. The risk here is that the new domain is seen as weaker than your old one due to its newness – all those backlinks are no longer pointing to it and the domain authority weakens.

The solution is to put together a URL mapping document to tell Google where old URLs are now going to be found and pass on their ‘link juice’ to the new pages. Examples of what could be in it include:

Which pages to lose or use 301 redirects

Important pages to migrate

Which URLs are the most important

Which pages match which old ones

Broken internal links

Broken internal links are where pages or posts link to others but due to the migration, these links are broken, and the user gets a 404 error. This is where you have not mapped or redirected a page to anywhere and the link is therefore broken.

Use a tool to find broken links and then redirect them to the right place. The URL mapping process will help with this, but it is easy for some to be missed so regular checks for any broken internal links is an important ongoing job.

Lower conversion rate

Another common issue is that conversion rates take a downward turn when you migrate your site. There are a few reasons this can happen such as:

Redesigning the site while migrating so it is hard to tell what the cause of the change of conversion rate is

Different form fill boxes, colours or styles

Added steps in the purchase process that puts customers off or is no longer compulsory for them to sign up

An intrusive pop up

There are tools that can help to identify what the underlying cause to the conversion rate change could be. For example, hot spot tools tell you where people are clicking – do they click out of the pop up? Are they not scrolling long enough to see the signup box? By studying behaviour on site, you can get ideas about what isn’t working and make changes.

Search Console issues

When migrating a site, it isn’t uncommon to run into issue with Google Search Console and these can impact SEO. A manual action for unnatural links is one example – a spammy link or from a low-quality website that is pointing to your new site. Because it is new, this affects the site more than it would with the older, more established one.

Having an SEO specialist check over your website and backlinks is a good way to avoid this kind of problem. You can also check Search Console yourself and see what issues and problems are showing.

Indexing problems

There are all kinds of indexing problems you can encounter when making a site transfer. But if there are lots of them such as a big difference in indexation count, then this can rapidly impact SEO standing.

Look to see if pages are being indexed twice due to the migration. Search from your site in an incognito window and see what comes up. If the old site still appears, it is also indexed, and this can lead to problems. Or if your new site doesn’t appear, then something could be stopping it from being indexed.

Get the right help

There’s no doubt that migrating a site is a big job and there are lots of common problems that can have an impact on site traffic. It is often a good idea to get the right help with the process to spot these common problems and deal with them before your traffic dies off completely.
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8 Best Steps to Designing a Website for Inbound Success

October 11, 2019 • Featured • 91
Designing a website is a very different proposition now than it was a few years ago. With the changes in technology but more importantly, the changes in buyer mindset, websites need to be designed carefully. If you want inbound success, this should be at the core of the website design. Following these 8 steps will help you get there.

Who is your website attracting?

The first step is to think about who your website is attracting – who are you talking to? In order to create websites designed to generate leads, you need to know who those leads are and what you need to say to them.

One of the best places to start with this is buyer personas or ideal customer avatars. These are a process where you examine your ideal customer, what they are looking for and how you can use your website to attract them.

What stages of the marketing funnel do you need to cover?

Because the aim is to use the inbound marketing approach on your website, you will want to consider the different stages of the marketing funnel and where your customers are in it. You might need to hire an inbound marketing agency to help with this stage because it is very important. But a snapshot of the three main areas include:
- Top of the funnel – someone searching for a general type of car ‘best small car’
- Middle of the funnel – someone looking for more information on something specific ‘reviews of Ford Focus’
- Bottom of the funnel – someone who has made a choice and now wants to buy ‘Ford Focus cars for sale’
Another way of looking at this is people may be at the Learner, Shopper or Buyer stage depending on their awareness of the topic. You need to see where your product fits in and how your website helps them move through the stages.

What kind of content do you need?

Once you have lined up the funnel and where you fit into it, you can start to consider the type of content you need for your audience. The aim is always to stand out from the competition and to provide top-quality content that helps your audience.

One phrase often used is a ‘thought leader’ – based on the idea of taking what has already been done and improving it. This can have benefits for both your audience and also SEO – more on that in a moment.

Focus on talking about the ‘why’

As you are planning your content, make sure you are thinking and talking about the ‘why’ more than the ‘what’. This means talking about why someone needs or wants what you offer, how it helps them, what problems it solves. If you are just talking about what the product does or is, this won’t have the same emotional connection for your audience as to why they need it or how it helps them.

Understand the basics of SEO

You don’t need to be an expert in SEO to create an inbound website, but you do want to learn the basics and apply these as you go. For certain, the basics of on-page SEO should be in your mind as you are creating the website.

Keywords are one of the most important things to understand. What keywords and phrases would your audience use to find your product? What keywords are needed to help them understand it and why it is what they need? Naturally including these in the copy, the URL, the title and in the meta description are also the foundation of SEO.

Ensure your website is easy to navigate

SEO is about optimising your website for user experience and as you design your site, one of the top things to consider is the design and navigation of your site. The more complex the navigation, the more chance people abandon their visit and go elsewhere.

Instead, make sure the most important parts of the site are in key places. Your menu should show the next steps to take. Links in the footer should make it easy for people to find key areas. Anchor texts within content should be logical for the content they are linking with.

Have a responsive design

Depending on your industry, the percentage of users on mobile could be anywhere from 40-80%. This means a responsive design that is mobile friendly is key to capture all visitors on all devices. It is also a big part of SEO and Google are now taking a ‘mobile-first’ approach.

Stand out from the competition

The final step is to look for ways to stand out from your competition. You don’t want to copy anyone but look at what they do and see how you can do it better. This doesn’t always mean flashy graphics or bold colour schemes – it may be about simplifying the customer experience, offering more information or simply ensuring it is easy for customers to reach out to you with questions.
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How To Protect Your Website From Negative SEO

September 20, 2019 • SEO 101 • 149

The practice of using black hat SEO and unethical techniques to undermine a competitor’s ranking in the search engines is referred to as negative SEO. The most common forms of negative SEO include hacking, building spammy links, and removing high-authority backlinks.

Fortunately, there are various steps that can help you detect whether your website has been a target of negative SEO.

Detecting Negative SEO

Here are 3 ways to detect negative SEO attacks on your website:

Set Up Google Webmaster Email Alerts

Connect your website with Google webmaster tools and configure your email alerts to ensure you get alerted when someone tries to attack your website with malware, or when you get a manual penalty from Google.

You can also retrieve alerts when there is a sudden spike or drop in your website’s impressions, clicks, or organic traffic.

Analyze Traffic Quality

Frequently analyzing your website’s traffic quality will help you identify bots and undesirable traffic. A sudden unexpected spike in traffic might be a signal of an external attack.

Use specialized analytics tools, such as Databox, to get a detailed report on your traffic quality.

Keep An Eye On Your Competitors

Since negative SEO tactics are mostly used by competitors, it is essential to analyze their activity to know if they are engaging in unethical SEO practices.

Follow the footprints of your competitors using a VPN service — this will ensure you remain anonymous. It is essential that you compare VPN services before you make a decision.

Protecting Your Site From Negative SEO

It is important to take effective measures in advance to protect your site from any possible negative SEO attacks.

Perform Regular Backlink Audits

Regular backlink audits are necessary, and the best way to spot suspicious activity on your website. They can also save you from negative backlink attacks.

Hackers usually alter the content of a website to include spammy links, or to modify existing links to redirect to their own website. Therefore, performing regular backlink audits can help you quickly identify if this is happening.

If you find bad links that are hurting your rankings, try to remove them as soon as possible. You can use Whois to find the email address of the webmaster by entering the domain name of the website or its IP Address.

Check For Content Scraping

Content marketing is a very effective way of increasing organic traffic. However, content scraping is one of the most common techniques used by spammers to negatively affect a website’s SEO.

Scraping is a process of copying your content (word-for-word) and publishing it online. If most of your content is copied, there is a higher chance of Google penalizing your website.

Use duplicate content detection software such as Copyscape to identify if someone else is publishing your content without your permission. Fill out Google’s Copyright Removal Form to report it.

Protect Your Best Backlinks

In order to increase the impact of negative SEO, spammers will often try to remove your best backlinks by contacting webmasters using your name.

The most effective way of preventing this from happening is by making sure that you always use an email address from your domain when communicating with webmasters.

The Bottom Line

Negative SEO can hamper your website’s ranking. Fortunately, you can take steps to protect your website from it. Make sure you set up email notifications on Google webmaster tools and analyze your website’s traffic regularly.

Also, keep an eye on your competitors using a VPN service, use a plagiarism checker, and perform regular backlink audits. By taking these precautions you will not only reduce the impact of negative SEO, but could prevent it altogether.
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How Ensure Online Plagiarism Doesn’t Harm Your SEO

August 22, 2019 • Content Marketing • 171
It’s a commonly believed myth that anything posted on the Internet is in the public domain. This is not the case. All creators hold the copyright to their published works in digital form, and unless stated, others do not have the right to use it without permission.

Although it is not mandatory to protect your public works, there are small steps you can take to reduce the chance of suffering from plagiarism and mitigate any damage to your Internet marketing efforts.

Follow this Anti-Plagiarism Checklist

You can never fully prevent people from copying your words and images; however, you can certainly deter them. Always follow this checklist from law firm Plattner Verderame, P.C., when creating new content.
1. Outline clear guidelines for writers and editors.
2. Fact check and verify all of your sources.
3. Ensure your writing is unique and offers something brand new for the reader.
4. Don’t hire cheap content creators without a proven track record.
Understand Copyright Laws

If you are based in the United States, you and the infringing party will be subject to US law. Outside of the US your content could be protected by the Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Work. That means, in the event of copyright violation, you can prosecute.

That said, it’s always worth checking up on your local copyright laws before you engage in legal proceedings. According to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, you should always start by sending a letter to the relevant party. If their physical address isn’t available, an email will suffice.

If you don’t get a response, you can send a takedown notice to their website hosting service or Internet Service Provider (ISP) requesting that the content is removed. However, in such circumstances the burden of proof lies with you, meaning you will have to provide evidence that you created the works in question.

Dealing with Duplicate Content

A lot of Internet marketers fear duplicate content; however, it’s not as disastrous as it’s generally made out to be. Google will not penalize all websites that contain duplicate content. Instead, they’re more likely to penalize the website that offers the least amount of value overall. While this doesn’t mitigate the damage of content theft, it will hopefully provide a little consolation if you have been a victim to plagiarism in the past.

Using Copyscape

Copyscape is still the go-to website for detecting whether your content has been stolen. While it would be tedious to go through each page of your website on a regular basis, it’s often worth checking your pillar content every quarter.

Sometimes it’s simply better and more cost efficient to cut your losses and accept that your content can never be fully protected. However, in the event of a large-scale plagiarism issue, it’s definitely worth seeking legal advice and taking steps to regain control of your work.

Note: this blog post should not be taken as legal advice for SEO violations and issues of copyright. While the advice above is a good starting point to mitigate the damage caused by plagiarism, it’s important that you read up on the relevant law and address issues accordingly.
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