Why Original Content is the Need of the Hour?

What Does Original Content Look Like?

Conduct Thorough Research

Add Value To Existing Knowledge

Use A Unique Voice

Incorporate Visual Elements

Avoid Plagiarism And Duplicate Content

Conclusion

5 Tips To Optimise Image Alt Tags For Voice Search

Use descriptive alt tags

Use long-tail keywords

Be mindful of context

Use natural language

Test and refine your alt tags

Final thoughts

Why is authenticity important in widening influencer outreach?

How to stay authentic in influencer marketing?

Choose the right influencer for your campaign

Use your creativity

Watch out for partnership disagreements

Conclusion

Google, being the most prominent search engine in the world, is constantly dedicated to providing its users with relevant and high-quality search results. With billions of searches made every day, Google's sophisticated algorithms and machine learning systems continually refine search results to ensure that users can quickly find the information they need with ease. As such, it consistently strives to improve its algorithms to enhance its understanding of the content and rank websites accordingly. 

In its efforts to achieve this goal, Google releases algorithm updates on a regular basis, which encourages website owners and digital marketers to create and optimise their content to meet the evolving standards of relevance, quality, and user experience. Marketers need to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and plan their strategies accordingly to ensure that their websites stay relevant and rank high on Google SERP. 

The frequent updates to Google's algorithms can pose a challenge for marketers. It's easy to miss critical updates, and falling behind can have serious consequences for a website's search engine rankings. It can adversely affect the website's search engine rankings, resulting in a decrease in traffic and revenue. Therefore, it is crucial for marketers to stay informed about these updates and make any necessary adjustments to their SEO strategies. By doing so, they can ensure that their websites remain competitive and relevant in the ever-evolving digital landscape.

5 Recent Google Updates To Watch Out For

This blog will uncover the most recent updates by Google that every marketer should watch out for:

Product Review Update

Google has recently updated its product reviews system to prioritise high-quality and informative reviews while filtering out low-quality and irrelevant ones. The updated system aims to reward content that provides insightful analysis, original research, and expert opinions. This update, which was released on April 12, 2023, is a successor to the earlier version released on February 21, 2023. 

The February 2023 update primarily focused on eleven languages worldwide, while the April 2023 update leans heavily on signals of experience, including visual evidence, audio, links to evidence of experience, and quantitative measurements. To improve their review rankings, marketers must take extra steps to provide actual evidence of experiences, such as original photos and quantitative measurements. The new update gives a lot of weightage to such evidence. Therefore, it is crucial for marketers to understand that their reviews' quality will play a significant role in determining their rankings.

March Core Update

Google's highly anticipated March core algorithm updates, which were released on March 15, 2023, brought about significant changes to the search algorithms and systems. These updates have had a significant impact on search rankings, making it crucial for SEO experts and website owners to adapt to new strategies and stay informed. The updates focused on monitoring site metrics, emphasising quality content, and optimising technical aspects to maintain a strong presence on search engines. As 81% of marketers consider content as their core business strategy, this core update serves as a reminder for SEO experts and website owners to stay up-to-date with changes and adjust their strategies accordingly. The March core algorithm updates are noteworthy. It requires SEO experts and website owners to be proactive in adapting their strategies to remain competitive in the ever-evolving digital landscape.

Helpful Content Update

As per stats, around 44% of searchers consume 3-5 pieces of high-quality content before engaging with a vendor. With the rise of websites serving search engine-specific content rather than high-quality content, Google’s helpful content update improves search results by prioritising web pages with high-quality and relevant information. Google’s helpful content update, a sitewide signal, started on 5th December 2022 and ended on 12th January 2023. This update was released globally, impacting all languages, including English. It is a step taken by Google to reduce low-quality content & make it easier for searchers to find authentic & valuable content in search. The update will downgrade the unhelpful websites that rank in search while promoting more helpful websites which are designed for humans & are above the search engines. 

Link Spam Updates

As per stats, around 66.5% of site links in the last 9 years are dead. Google released the Link Spam Update to neutralise unnatural links & remove any signals which are passed to the linking domain. It was started on 14th December 2022. The update went on for 29 days, & ended on 12th January 2023. The update affects results in all search languages. Google brings up a significant upgrade in its spam detection system. With the new update, it can find any purchased links & detect domains which are primarily used to pass links to other sites. Additionally, Google utilised its AI-based spam prevention system – SpamBrain, for the first time, which detects spam directly & identifies sites that are buying links for building outgoing links. 

Major Google Announcement

Google recently announced its documented ranking systems page, creating a buzz in the industry. Google’s recent announcement is related to removing 4 ranking systems – page experience system, mobile-friendly ranking system, page speed system, & secure sites system – from the list & counting them as ranking signals. With the current proclamation, Google cleared all the confusion evoked by its previous announcement around the ranking system. Marketers now need to put more effort into content & on-page factors rather than the above mentioned factors. While these elements will contribute to the website evaluation, the content will remain the prime factor.

Final Thoughts

Keeping up-to-date with Google's updates is critical for SEO experts and website owners to remain competitive in the ever-evolving digital landscape. Google continuously strives to enhance the quality of its search results and user experience, releasing frequent updates to its algorithms and systems. By staying informed and implementing effective strategies, website owners can maintain or improve their search engine rankings and provide their users with the best possible experience. It is essential to keep an eye out for future updates as Google continues to prioritise quality and relevance in its search results.

How marketers can benefit from the changes in Google Ads 2023?

1. Utilising Google Ads local campaigns to track conversions

2. Optimising Gallery & Showcase Shopping Ads to their Full Potential

3. Maximising Google Shopping’s Free Traffic

Conclusion

In today's digital age, YouTube has become an undisputable powerhouse, offering content creators a robust platform to showcase their talents and captivate a massive audience. However, in a sea of countless videos, merely uploading your content won't suffice to garner visibility and attract viewers. To unlock the true potential of your YouTube channel, it is imperative to employ effective promotional strategies that can set you apart from the crowd. While creating high-quality videos forms the foundation, it is the art of promotion that enables content creators to amplify their reach and connect with their target audience. 

Effective Strategies To Promote YouTube Videos

Through a strategic approach, businesses can leverage various tools and techniques to ensure their videos gain the attention they deserve. From optimising titles and descriptions to crafting eye-catching thumbnails, from harnessing the power of social media to engaging with the audience, there are multiple avenues to explore and exploit. 

In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into seven proven strategies that will empower you to promote your YouTube videos effectively. By implementing these techniques, businesses will enhance their channel's visibility, attract a larger viewership, and pave the way for success in the competitive world of online content creation.

Optimise Your Video Titles and Descriptions

One of the fundamental aspects of promoting YouTube videos is optimising the titles and descriptions. Craft compelling and concise titles that entice viewers and accurately represent the content. Include relevant keywords that align with the video's theme and target audience. Additionally, write detailed descriptions that provide an overview of the video, incorporating relevant keywords naturally. This optimization will help videos rank higher in YouTube's search results and attract more viewers.

Create Eye-Catching Thumbnails

An appealing thumbnail can significantly impact a viewer's decision to click on the video. Create visually compelling thumbnails that accurately represent the content and evoke curiosity. Use bold and contrasting colours, clear imagery, and compelling text overlays to grab attention. A well-designed thumbnail can capture viewers' interest and entice them to click, thereby increasing the video's chances of being watched and shared.

Leverage Social Media Channels

Social media platforms offer excellent opportunities to promote YouTube videos and expand the audience. Utilise popular platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn to share teasers, snippets, or behind-the-scenes content related to the videos. Also, engage with the audience, encourage discussions, and provide updates about your channel. Collaborate with influencers and relevant communities to amplify the reach and gain exposure to new viewers.

Engage with Your Audience

Building a loyal community of viewers is crucial for the long-term success of your YouTube channel. Actively engage with the audience by responding to comments, questions, and feedback. Foster a sense of community by organising contests, giveaways, or exclusive live streams. Encourage viewers to subscribe, like, and share the videos, as well as turn on notifications for future uploads. By building a strong connection with the audience, businesses can foster loyalty and drive organic growth.

Collaborate with Other YouTubers

Collaborations with other content creators can be a game-changer in expanding the reach and attracting new subscribers. Identify YouTubers who share a similar target audience but offer complementary content. Reach out to them with collaboration ideas, such as joint videos, interviews, or guest appearances. Cross-promote each other's channels and leverage each other's audiences to maximise exposure. Collaboration not only introduces the brand to new viewers but also adds variety to the content, keeping the existing subscribers engaged.

Create a Playlist 

Consider the creation of a playlist once you have uploaded a substantial number of videos, as this will greatly facilitate your audience's seamless viewing experience. By engaging viewers with a series of videos within a well-structured playlist, businesses can significantly increase the overall watch time. However, it is essential to adopt a strategic approach when curating playlists on YouTube. Categorise your videos according to relevant topics and optimise them for improved visibility.

Advertise Your Videos

YouTube offers various advertising options to promote the videos to a wider audience. Consider running targeted ads within YouTube or through Google Ads to reach users who are likely to be interested in your content. Experiment with different ad formats, such as in-stream ads or video discovery ads, and monitor their performance closely. By strategically investing in advertising, businesses can accelerate their channel's growth and attract viewers who might not have discovered their content organically.

Final Verdict

Promoting your YouTube videos requires a well-rounded approach that combines optimisation, social media promotion, audience engagement, collaborations, SEO techniques, and strategic advertising. By implementing these seven effective strategies, you can enhance the visibility of your YouTube channel, attract more viewers, and ultimately increase your chances of success. 

Remember that consistency, quality content, and a genuine connection with your audience are essential elements of a thriving YouTube channel. With perseverance and the right promotional strategies, you can unlock the full potential of your YouTube channel and achieve your goals as a content creator.

As a website owner, have you ever experienced that gut-wrenching feeling of seeing your website go down unexpectedly? It's a moment of sheer panic and frustration that can leave you feeling helpless and vulnerable. Unfortunately, website downtime is a reality that many businesses face, and it can have serious consequences for your online presence and reputation. Since website design is the face of the business, internet users expect it to show up instantaneously.

There are many simple steps you can take to be proactive and avoid downtime. Even if the site goes down, it can be restarted quickly with minimal ramifications. 

Why is Prevention Crucial to Address the Issue of Website Downtime?

Website downtime can have a significant impact on businesses, resulting in loss of revenue, damage to reputation, & decreased customer loyalty. Due to website downtime, search engine rankings can plummet as well. Occasional downtimes are not penalties, but excessive downtime can negatively impact Search Engine Optimization (SEO). 

To avoid these negative consequences, prevention is crucial. By taking necessary measures, businesses can prevent stepping into the situation of website downtime, minimising revenue loss by ensuring that their website is always accessible to customers. 

Additionally, website downtime can also damage a business’s reputation by making it appear unprofessional or unreliable, which in turn, would lead to decreased customer satisfaction & trust. Hence, it is important for businesses to take proactive measures such as regular maintenance, updates, and monitoring to prevent website downtime, ensuring the website’s consistent functioning at all times. 

By prioritising preventive measures, businesses can ensure that their website is always working, providing a positive user experience for customers & maintaining their trust & loyalty.

3 Tips to Minimise Website Downtime

Here are a few ways in which you can minimise the downtime of your website:

Start by setting up a downtime page

If you plan to have downtime and access to your site, consider setting up a downtime page. This lets visitors know you'll be back soon and that they're not just looking at a blank page. A page with a simple "Site Maintenance" or "Service Unavailable" message shows that you know what's going on and can help restore trust. 

Work with a trusted hosting provider

Hosting providers play an important role in keeping your website up and running. If your server is not properly maintained, you may have trouble keeping your website active consistently. There are many factors to consider when choosing a hosting provider. An easy way to determine if a hosting provider is trustworthy is to look for reviews online. Unhappy customers have probably shared their experiences, and you can learn from them to avoid similar problems on your website. 

Create regular backups

We can do all we can to prepare, but there may still be downtime for the site. Sometimes it's just luck in the lottery. Unexpected things can happen at any time, so it's important to always have backups ready. Luckily, creating regular backups in WordPress is pretty easy. Most hosting services offer this option, and many WordPress backup plugins automate the process. A backup will make your website functional in no time. 

Final Thoughts

Website downtime is inevitable, causing a variety of problems for your website, including revenue loss, substandard reliability, and below-par SEO. Hence, it is imperative to be prepared with the right tools & services to ensure your website gets back up & running in no time. By implementing the right website design strategies, you can avoid getting stuck in such a situation, resulting in improving your website rank & helping you create a huge impact on your users.

On a fine Sunday morning, you order groceries online. It’s been over an hour since your order was confirmed, but no luck having it delivered. After hours of waiting, disappointment sets in when you realise your order has been delivered to the wrong address. Now imagine what would happen if the same transpires to the users who visit your website. No surprise that you would not want your visitors to go through such an inconvenience. 

Considering the ever-evolving Google algorithms, it is of utmost significance for brands to optimise and enhance their website. During such updates and enhancement processes, they sometimes lose essential URLs in transit. In such cases, taking the necessary steps to ensure that your visitors land in the right place is paramount. This is when 301 redirects play a dominant role.

301 redirect is a method of directing website visitors to the verified URL when the originally requested URL is removed. Redirects point to the most relevant or similar live page in the absence of the original. This guarantees a smooth browsing experience for your visitors and ensures that the backlink values ​​are appropriately routed and not lost on old pages. 

When Should You Use a 301 Redirect?

From replacing irrelevant or not-so-useful pages to rebuilding websites where URLs are cleaned up into new pages, 301 redirects, when applied prudently, prove to be highly effective in enhancing user experience. Mentioned below are some situations where a 301 redirect helps:

Deleting a page from your website

In case the website page gets removed, it is advisable to redirect the same to another related page. This creates a better user experience & gives people an alternative. For instance, if a user clicks on a deleted page, the pop-up shows up, which puts a negative impression on the user. In most cases, we recommend using a 301 redirect to direct users to a similar page on your website. 

Permanently moving to a new URL

Another reason to use 301 redirects is in the case of changing the URL of your website. For instance, in case of a product name change or to categorise web pages better, it is advisable to shift to a completely new URL. Implementing a 301 redirect ensures that users and search engines are redirected to your new URL. It also allows search engines to carry over the SEO features of the old URL to the new one. 

Changing the structure of your website

Choose a 301 redirect if you want to change the structure of your website to organise your content better and help Google see how pages are related. Opting for appropriate redirects is advisable if you change the subfolder structure of your website. Whether it's a blog, an e-commerce, or some other category, permanent redirects are the best way to implement changes. 

Benefits for SEO with 301 redirects

301 redirects play a key role in SEO. There are several ways they can help, such as:

Remove old URLs from search engine indexes

When search engine spiders encounter a 301 redirect while crawling your site, it indicates that the old URL should be removed from the index and replaced with a new one. This means that the new page will eventually have to replace the old page in the search engine's index. In the meantime, the old URL redirects human visitors to the new URL when someone tries to access it. If you don't use a 301 redirect when removing a page from your site, search engines will receive a 404 Not Found error response code, and over time your page may be removed entirely from search engine indexes. 

Keep visitors to your website

When a visitor clicks a link and is taken to a 404 page, it can negatively impact the experience of your site and drive them away in frustration. With the presence of 301 redirects, visitors are more likely to smoothly land on your website & navigate to content, which eventually leads to grabbing the attention of more customers & followers. 

Link Equity

301 redirects are the preferred choice for 3xx redirects for SEO as it has been proven to be able to pass around 90% link equity from redirected pages. 302 redirects are temporary, so search engines may not pass the required link value to the new URL. 

Conclusion

301 redirects play a vitally important role in maintaining the health of a website. They serve a core function to signal both search engines & users when the contents of your website have been changed or moved. This, in turn, ensures that with your evolving web presence, your user journey remains rational & clear. Hence, implementing the right 301 redirects strategy can benefit you to gain a significant increase in organic traffic.

Influencer marketing has enabled brands to reach more targeted audiences online. Their endorsement and product placement has evolved into an opportunity for brands to tap into new communities. This marketing channel has brought forward a new understanding & expectations for brands.

Let us take a look at how influencer marketing has evolved in 2023: 

Era of influencer subscription

Influencer subscriptions are an additional source of income for creators, offering exclusive content, benefits, and services to subscribers for a monthly fee. For example, creators in the US enjoy the benefit of Instagram subscriptions which allows them to earn recurring monthly income with the help of exclusive content & experiences for their followers. The rise in influencer marketing will lead more influencers to adopt subscription-based services to expand their revenue streams as well as their reach. With creators seeking alternative revenue streams, they have also become less dependent on their deals with brands. As a result, they will be more selective in collaborating with brands, which may lead to higher prices. 

Live shopping to dominate influencer campaigns

In 2021 & 2022, live shopping became extremely popular, and this trend is all set to gain new heights in 2023. Using live video & engaging content, influencers will continue to promote products to their audience. Live shopping statistics show that the majority of consumers prefer live streams over other types of social media purchases. Many consumers now prefer shopping recommendations from live video streaming. The uptake of live shopping witnessed a huge rise during & post-COVID-19. People no longer believed in spending time shopping in-store. Instead, they looked for ways to engage with commerce sitting on their couch. In addition to this, brands like Amazon, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram have developed live-stream shopping tools and partnerships.  

Emphasis on diversity & values

With diversity becoming an important factor for consumers, brands should prioritise diversity in their influencer marketing strategy. Consumers nowadays wish to connect with brands that are actively investing in DEI initiatives. As per stats, around 77% of consumers buy more products and services after seeing content posted by creators that resonate with their values. Millennials and Gen Zs are more likely to be willing to pay for products and services that match their values ​​and support companies that prioritise sustainability. Both influencers and consumers analyse brand messages and campaigns to ensure inclusivity, which will lead brands to align their cultures with inclusivity and remove all traces of exclusivity. 

Rise of micro & nano influencers

Gone are the days when brands entirely relied on mega influencers. With the shift in the influencer marketing industry, many brands are now targeting to create partnerships with micro & nano influencers. Stats predict that micro-influencers tend to generate up to 60% more engagement than macro-influencers. This rise in engagement has led brands to hop onto the bandwagon of collaborating with micro & nano influencers. By focusing on nano and micro-influencers, brands can increase influencer marketing budgets while working with influencers who connect deeply with their audiences. Brands associated with nano-influencers are usually considered more authentic as influencers may have real relationships with the majority of their supporters.

Increase in influencer collaboration

Another big trend to be witnessed in 2023 in the influencer marketing industry is the rise of collaboration between influencers. Recently, content houses have been the talk of the town. These spaces for influencers & creators allow them to come together & collaborate. Some examples of creator houses are Sway House, Clout House, FaZe Clan, and more. Brands nowadays are keen on content houses as they gain enthusiastic influencers who work on their content all day long, expanding their brand's reach. Influencer collaboration will bring a win-win situation for everyone – Brands will be able to run better campaigns, influencers will be treated like professionals, & consumers will find their desired product at the best price. 

Conclusion

With these evolutions in the influencer marketing industry, marketers would be witnessing a drastic change. Most of these trends would come out to be extremely useful for both influencers & marketers, opening multiple opportunities for both and resulting in higher sales & revenue.

Customer expectations and needs are rapidly changing, which has put brands on a constant grill to meet their needs. According to reports, brands that address customer needs and build strong customer engagement tend to witness a 9.5% year-over-year increase in annual revenue. With this rise, brands have never been more apparent of the importance of digital marketing services and interactive content.

Brands create numerous strategies to create a unique business and acquire potential customers. With the help of digital marketing, brands will be able to attract target customers and grow their business. 

In the last few years, there has been a paradigm shift from traditional to digital marketing. Brands can reach out to customers and viewers with services offered by digital marketing agencies to market their products and services online. Some of the benefits that digital marketing services offer brands are:

1. Higher conversion rate

Businesses that use online as their preferred marketing method can easily measure conversion rates in real-time. That means identifying the percentage of your audience who become prospects, then subscribers, and ultimately purchase your service or product. SEO, social media marketing, and email marketing are high-converting methods because they can generate fast and effective communication channels with consumers. With digital marketing, you can reach only those who need that type of service and improve lead conversions. 

2. Enhance visibility and access 

With the help of the internet, brands can reach a huge audience from local to global scale. The more people that visit your brand, the more awareness your product or service will have. This might have been possible with traditional marketing styles but at a much higher cost & investment. The frequency of impressions made directly by a brand accelerates its visibility. Having a presence on multiple digital platforms helps increase brand awareness. Google records about 4 billion searches per day. Improving your visibility in search engines through relevant keywords increases your brand equity. 

3. Increase brand trust

Having an omnichannel presence allows customers to rate your services based on their level of experience. Positive and favourable reviews left by satisfied customers cause new customers to convert quickly, which in turn builds a strong image of your brand in the minds of new consumers, leading to more conversions. 

4. Good return on investment

Because it's digital, you have access to packages with different costs, so you can choose the one that best fits your budget. With web analytics, a business owner can know if the company's website is providing optimal ROI. You can also track where the response is positive and where you need to focus more. It also shuts down costly and fruitless modes. Digital marketing allows businesses to reach more people at a lower cost, making it easier to get a higher return on investment (ROI).

5. Associating with mobile customers

These days, it is very important that all businesses practice mobile-friendly marketing techniques. Stats predict that mobile apps are expected to generate over $935Bn in revenue in 2023. This is because all customers have access to mobile phones and can search for different products and services on their smartphones. Especially since the first update of Google Mobile, all websites have become mobile responsive designs. Website navigation should be designed to be visible to mobile device users. 

Conclusion

Digital marketing is essential to building a successful business. Whether it's brand growth or increased sales, there are no limits. By understanding what happens in the digital space, you can harness it and future-proof any business.