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Chat Bots and Live Chat Can Help Turn 35 Percent More Website Visitors Into Customers

Chat Bots and Live Chat Can Help Turn 35 Percent More Website Visitors Into Customers

Chat software programs help increase appointments booked by initiating a conversation with site visitors and breaking down conversion barriers.

Here’s how they work…

A widget or “Can I help?” button is placed in the lower right-hand corner of your website pages

The chat provider (there are a few listed below) builds an artificial intelligence (AI) back end into that widget or button that answers…

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Box office revenue of the highest grossing movies worldwide in 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)

Box office revenue of the highest grossing movies worldwide in 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)

Find more statistics at Statista

In light of the upcoming Oscars, let’s take a look at how the movies made money in 2018.

The statistic above presents the most successful movies at the global box office in 2018. According to the source, ‘Avengers: Infinity’ War was the highest grossing movie of 2018, with a worldwide box office revenue of over 2 billionU.S. dollars. Brad Bird’s 2018…

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Number of Spotify premium subscribers worldwide from 1st quarter 2015 to 4th quarter 2018 (in millions)

Find more statistics at Statista This statistic gives information on the number of paying subscribers to Spotify's music streaming service from the first quarter of 2015 to the fourth quarter of 2018. As of the final quarter of 2018, Spotify had 96 million premium subscribers worldwide, up from 71 million in the corresponding quarter of 2017. Spotify is a music streaming service originally founded in 2006 in Sweden. Spotify allows users to browse through a catalogue of music, licensed through multiple record labels, and create and share playlists with other users. Additionally, users are able to listen to music for free with advertisements or are also given the option to purchase a subscription to allow for unlimited ad-free music streaming. Spotify’s largest competitors are Pandora, a company that offers a similar service and Apple Music, which was launched in 2015. Pandora, is the highest-grossing music app title in the Apple App Store. In November 2018, the app generated 14.55 million U.S. dollars in revenues.  Users are also able to register Spotify accounts using Facebook, enabling them to connect with other Facebook friends and see what music they listen to, as well as listen to their playlists. Facebook users can connect to Spotify directly through the website using an app. Spotify is also a popular source for keeping up-to-date with music - a survey of U.S. consumers in 2017 revealed that 33 percent of respondents used the service to do so. Other popular sources of new music were friends and family, YouTube and radio. Read the full article

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Number of Spotify premium subscribers worldwide from 1st quarter 2015 to 4th quarter 2018 (in millions)

Number of Spotify premium subscribers worldwide from 1st quarter 2015 to 4th quarter 2018 (in millions)

Find more statistics at Statista

This statistic gives information on the number of paying subscribers to Spotify’s music streaming service from the first quarter of 2015 to the fourth quarter of 2018. As of the final quarter of 2018, Spotify had 96 million premium subscribers worldwide, up from 71 million in the corresponding quarter of 2017.

Spotify is a music streaming service…

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Number of monthly active Facebook users worldwide as of 4th quarter 2018 (in millions) Find more statistics at Statista This statistic shows a timeline with the worldwide number of monthly active Facebook users from 2008…

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Getting started with Accelerated Mobile Pages: 5 helpful guides

Getting started with Accelerated Mobile Pages: 5 helpful guides - from Search Engine Watch #SEO #amppages 

From Search Engine Watch Here at Search Engine Watch we have covered the evolution of Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) across numerous posts since the project’s launch in earnest in 2016. The Google-led framework gives web developers the means to optimize their sites for faster, cleaner, and more efficient delivery on mobile. Of course, this is good for user experience and visibility in the SERPs. So it is understandable that many well-known sites – including eBay, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, Medium, and Pinterest – have incorporated AMP across their pages. I thought I’d use this post to draw together some helpful guides for getting started with AMP – with an eye on the basics, as well highlighting recent announcements and upcoming new opportunities for using the framework in 2018.

1. Create your first AMP page

It seems logical to start this list by turning to the AMP team’s dedicated site: ampproject.org This, fairly simple, six-step tutorial introduces the required AMP HTML mark-up, with links out to schema that will make your site more Google friendly and optional metadata to make your site look good on other platforms such as Twitter.

Required AMP mark-up checklist from ampproject.org It also highlights how to mark up images to make them AMP-suitable, as well as tweaking the presentation of your new AMP-optimized site to ensure it’s in keeping with the style of your original domain. When it comes to layout, AMP requires things to be somewhat less flexible, but there is some room for modification. The tutorial then walks you through previewing and validating your site, linking between AMP and non-AMP pages, and publishing.

2. How to implement Google AMP on your WordPress site as easily as possible

My Search Engine Watch colleague Christopher Ratcliff published this evergreen guide on implementing AMP on sites running the WordPress CMS towards the end of 2016. Back then critics were not unanimously convinced that AMP would stick around for the long haul. With the benefit of hindsight, it’s safe to say it has. And we can predict with some confidence that it will have further longevity. Additionally, Christopher highlights at the time that AMP itself isn’t a ranking signal. As we will see later, Google is making moves to give AMP-optimized sites more weight in the SERPs. Anyway, as Christopher’s tutorial shows, implementing AMP into a WordPress site is more than just adding the Automattic AMP plug-in.

Christopher’s WordPress website example before and after using Automattic’s AMP plug-in (before tweaking to get colors and fonts correct) Some knowledge of other available plug-ins and setting aside some time to experiment in the settings is needed to get things looking right. Christopher also talks us through using Search Console and the AMP validator tool, which help ensure your AMP-optimized WordPress site is being delivered to mobile searchers.

3. The AMP Channel

Often I find video can be the most helpful online medium for learning about new development and SEO techniques.

Thankfully, the official AMP team have their own dedicated YouTube channel which includes tutorials, Q&As and presentations. Their playlist from their recent AMP Conf 2018 in Amsterdam is a good example of the breadth of content there; including lectures ranging from AMP optimization and SEO, to a case study of  implementing AMP specifically on AirBnb. I found it a bit futile to try and select a specific guide from here, but the channel is worth following and the AMP Conf playlist is well worth checking out.

4. Create a visual AMP story

The development of AMP Stories was one of several announcements at AMP Conf 2018 as another way publishers can use the framework to make their content more suitable for the mobile audience. While the amp-story component is still at an experimental stage, at ampproject.org there is already a tutorial for developers to practice using this special story framework before it is available in its final iteration (you can also sign up to be part of the original trial to publish stories). The tutorial walks you through the necessary HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to convert your content into the necessary scrollable pages which make up the highly visual and scrollable story format.

Aside from pages, developers working with stories also need to understand the requisite layers and animating elements which finish the pieces off.  It is really useful if you are publishing news or magazine style content specifically for mobile – and it is a good illustration of what future AMP components will blend into the digital content landscape of tomorrow.

5. Guide to Google’s forthcoming mobile Speed Update

This guide by my colleague Rebecca Sentance is not exclusively about AMP, but helps put into context why the framework is important for search in the future. On their blog (also discussed at AMP Conf 2018) back in January, Google announced that from July page speed will be an official ranking factor in mobile search. Of course, one of the key virtues of AMP is that it is streamlining content and thus delivering it faster. Google is not saying that if we use the AMP framework we will rank higher in the mobile SERPs. Rather, it is bringing in this algorithm change and highlighting that if you improve the user experience of your pages by making them load quicker, that attribute of your site will be factored into your ranking success. Accelerated Mobile Pages are certainly a viable option, therefore, for optimizing your page speed and improving your chances at being deemed rank-worthy by Google. Rebecca goes into further detail of steps you can take with or without AMP to get your mobile pages loading faster and ready for July’s speed update.

AMP is already a highly visible part of the mobile search landscape

The lightning logo is recognizable to many, but I think we can expect the framework to play a bigger role as mobile content continues to reach a wider audience. We will continue to cover AMP here at Search Engine Watch and to share other important updates from this initiative which is inherently cross-platform and open-source. Meanwhile, if you want to learn even more about AMP, here are some other interesting articles and guides: What does Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) mean for marketers? What does Google AMP mean for ecommerce? GitHub AMP Optimizer ReadMe AMP for Email Read the full article

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Published 06/03/2018 by Jukin Media - The Power of User Generated Content (UGC)

Published 06/03/2018 by Jukin Media Here's a link to the article Authenticity is key in this always-on world, and nothing does more for your brand than making authentic connections with consumers. To better help your message rise above the clutter and stick in a consumer’s consciousness, you need content that will elicit a visceral, emotional response. Enter UGC video. Today, ordinary citizens are armed with HD quality camera phones, and they capture everyday life moments on video with ever-increasing frequency. Hundreds of hours of video footage are uploaded to the social web every minute of every day, and as global smartphone adoption continues to rise, that volume of video will only increase. This surplus of video content has created an opportunity for brands. User-generated video is rife with real emotions, real surprises, real reactions, and real achievements. That authenticity is impossible to recreate, and it’s what makes UGC the most engaging content on the web, achieving “viral” status more frequently than any other type of content. When brands are able to harness UGC and use it for innovative storytelling, what follows are engaging emotionally resonant ads that ooze authenticity, like the ad from Pampers that Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer for Proctor & Gamble, the world's largest advertiser, showcased from the Dmexco stage in September of 2017. UGC is the largest untapped resource for brands. It's not hard to see why: This roundup has inspired 17,101,669 views since upload in December of 2017. In 2017, the first UK bank tapped into this incredible resource with a campaign from Santander, centred around prosperity in happiness and the joy of everyday life. And the results? "Our communications awareness scores are up as is our brand image, which for us means consumers will consider us for a current account,"  Rachel Baynes, Head of Marketing and Communications Many big brands are following suit. This month, utility giants British Gas are using comical UGC clips to connect with customers with their "You can't control everything" social marketing campaign to highlight their Smart Meter service. At Christmas, Sainsbury's tried to capture this authenticity by abandoning their usual big production seasonal ad for a video casting diverse British people from all over the country singing a festive tune in their living rooms to their local stores. With your consumers providing an incredible creative source of organic video content just waiting to be licensed and unleashed, we're sure to see more in 2018. Get real and explore the Jukin Media library today for hand-selected, cleared, and brand-safe UGC videos from around the world. Read the full article

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Scam Alert: Con Artists Move to Facebook Messenger

What'll the scammers think of next?

  September 08, 2017

Reprinted from the BBB Scam Tracker site You probably know to watch for scams in your email inbox, on the phone, and in a text message. However, if you are on Facebook, look out for scams using Messenger. BBB is seeing an increase in reports of scammers reaching victims through Facebook Messenger. Click the image to learn more! Click to Post

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This is why your site visitors bounce

This is why your site visitors bounce

Your goal when you started your business was not to have a website. It was to help or supply people in the unique and amazing way only you can. But if people are coming to your site and leaving in the first couple seconds otherwise known as “bouncing,” these are two of the primary reasons why… Your website does not clearly lay out why they want to do business with you. According to Donald Miller at com, if your site viewers can’t see what benefit you offer in five seconds or less, your website is losing you customers. What can YOU do to FIX it? Organize the information on your home page so the first thing they see is that you know and understand their pain points and you are their solution. Do that well and they'll stick around long enough to learn all the other reasons they want to contact you. Slow page-load times. Very few people are going to wait more than 4 seconds for any web page to load. And slow page loads really hurt your Google ranking. Fix that typically technical problem with Google PageSpeed Insights and similar tools that will give you tips and recommendations to speed things up. Your website is a marketing tool. So sharpen it. Make it the most focused and effective piece of communication you’ve ever seen. If you want to talk about decreasing your bounce rate, comment below or drop me an email. I’d be glad to help. Click to Post

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Social Media Cheat Sheet 2017

Knowing the right size to make your Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook or other social media headers, photos, and other content is a challenge because the social media platforms are always making changes. I'm so glad I found this article by Louise Meyers. It puts all that great information in one convenient place. Click to Post

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There seems to be a “new” direct response marketing fever running through all things online and social nowadays. That’s good news!! Finally, the rest of the world is catching on to what we’ve been doing for decades – direct response (DR). It’s not about the awards. It’s about engaging the right audience with the best return on investment.

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Why is integrated media smarter? Before I answer tIntro to Integrated Mediahat question let me give you a little background. First, this isn’t the first time the mixed media or integrated media parade has passed through town. In the 1960’s each advertising medium was selected, used, and evaluated on its own merits. TV, for example, was judged independently of all radio, newspapers, magazines, and billboards. Its impact and worth were measured by market awareness. How many people saw that Peposdent spot? How many people know the Dove soap slogan? How many people know what a Volkswagen is? Radio, newspapers, magazines, and out-of-home advertising (billboards, buses, etc.) were each their own independent entities planned and purchased by different people.

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Finally, the rest of the world is catching on to what we've been doing for decades - direct response advertising (DR). We're not the only people who've been doing DR for as long as we have. Some were doing it many decades before we even started. But with the emergence of so many highly trackable media (PPC, AdWords, email blasts, etc.), the marketing world has woken up to the whole DR philosophy which states, “Results are alDirect Response Advertising - How to make every penny you spend on advertising count.l that matters.”

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The Customer Experience Series is supported by Webtrends. Get insider tips and a step-by-step guide to acquiring, engaging and nurturing fans. Download the Playbook. We all know social media is an important tool for brand awareness and customer acquisition -- but how exactly are you supposed ...

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I was shocked to read the other day that a survey of 243 Chief Marketing Officers revealed that 57% of them don’t set up budgets according to any kind of Return On Investment metrics. 68% say they base budget decisions on historical spending levels. And 28% said they go with gut instinct. 7% said most of or all their spending decisions aren’t based on any metrics at all! Seriously!!?? Click on the link to read more.

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It’s time you loved your media. Seriously. Right now we have the ability to not only measure most media very closely and accurately, but we can use those measurements to fine tune our approach to make our media ever more effective. The media guys in the time of Mad Men (the 60’s) would have killed for the kind of data we can pull on each and every campaign for free, let alone the smorgasbord of paid-for analytics we have.

And here are 5 more reasons why you should love your media...

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Because I’ve bought media from them, I get a newsletter from our local NBC affiliate (KXAS/5) every month that is always full of good news. It sometimes really makes my day and I want to thank them for it publicly. Since news organizations are inclined to lean on the very negative side of events in the community and the world it’s really refreshing to get this newsletter. These are the headlines in this month’s issue...