December 2020 Newsletter
In This Issue
SEO Ranking Factors: Gamechangers or Differences of Opinion?
Things can get tricky when digital marketing experts contradict one another. SEO is always changing and so is optimization advice. So, what should you do when you don’t know who to trust? Check out our guide to ranking factors and the opinions surrounding them.
Google Adds 4 New Maps Features for Businesses
Google Maps is a great tool for finding businesses in your area. Following suit of other local business tools like Facebook and Yelp, Google has rolled four new features to help businesses connect with their customers and measure success.
- Messaging from Maps & Search
- Updated Performance Insights
- Community Feed
- Street User Contributions
Each of these tools allows businesses to answer questions more directly with their audience, gather feedback, or understand how to serve their clientele better. For more details about how to utilize these features, see Search Engine Journal.
Tip of the Month
Create a social media content calendar. Keeping up with new content for social media can get very overwhelming when running a small business. The moment you finish creating a post, you need to start another one practically right away.
There is no rule that says you have to post your content immediately after you create it. In fact, it’s better to plan ahead! Unless your content is time-sensitive, like for events or holidays, you can create it days or weeks in advance to make sure you don’t get sideswiped with the next social media deadline.
A social media calendar can help you plan exactly what kind of content you want to post without stressing out and there are plenty of tools, some geared for the types of creatives, that can help you manage your schedule. Follow the 4-1-1 rule for even less planning anxiety. You can plan and create posts on your slower days so that you don’t have to freak out when you’re busy and don’t have time to post.
Just for Laughs
A Software Engineer, a Hardware Engineer, and a Branch Manager were on their way to a meeting. They were driving down a steep mountain road when suddenly the brakes on their car failed.
The car careened almost out of control down the road, bouncing off the crash barriers, until it miraculously ground to a halt scraping along the mountainside. The car’s occupants, shaken but unhurt, now had a problem: they were stuck halfway down a mountain in a car with no brakes. What were they to do?
“I know,” said the Branch Manager, “Let’s have a meeting, propose a Vision, formulate a Mission Statement, define some Goals, and by a process of Continuous Improvement find a solution to the Critical Problems, and we can be on our way.”
“No, no,” said the Hardware Engineer, “That will take far too long, and besides, that method has never worked before. I’ve got my Swiss Army knife with me, and in no time at all, I can strip down the car’s braking system, isolate the fault, fix it, and we can be on our way.”
“Well,” said the Software Engineer, “Before we do anything, I think we should push the car back up the road and see if it happens again.”
Our best for your success!
