November 2019 Newsletter
In This Issue
News Flash! Supreme Court Paves Way, ADA Compliant Websites a Must!
Back in June, our newsletter contained an article about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and noncompliant websites. We noted how more and more lawsuits were being won against business websites that are not ADA compliant.
Fast forward to November 4, 2019. The Supreme Court declined to hear Domino’s Pizza’s appeal on this matter after a federal appellate court ruled that a blind customer can sue the chain for non-compliance. This ruling may well reshape ADA in the digital space.
In the Domino’s case, it was considered a place of public accommodation and thus required by law to provide auxiliary aids and services, making materials accessible to visually impaired customers. The court applied this ruling to its website and app as well. Whether this will now apply primarily to retail sites or to all businesses is yet to be determined.
Here are some of the most common requirements for ADA-compliant websites:
- All functionality of the website should be accessible by use of a keyboard, especially navigation menus
- All images should have alt attributes
- Video content should have on-screen captions
- All website text content should be readable by screen readers (includes PDF files, infographics, and more)
- Web pages should not contain anything that flashes more than three times in any one second period (this is to prevent seizures)
A complete list of guidelines can be found here. To begin taking steps to help your website meet ADA requirements, contact Top Of The List!
Google’s E-A-T Guidelines
Google’s E-A-T guidelines are working their way into search algorithms like never before. Does your website have both a Terms and Conditions document and a Privacy Policy? Can you access the home page from all other pages with just one click? These are just two of some very important things Google wants to see on websites. Your site will experience lower rankings without them. Bev Mapes helps simplify these rather complex guidelines and then offers Top Of The List’s internal E-A-T must-have lists. Time to get busy feeding the Google bots!
Nicole Vesota, Google Ads Certified
We’re proud to announce that Nicole Vesota at Top Of The List has recently earned her Google AdWords certification. This professional accreditation includes four Google Ads certifications:
- Search Certification – Our clients’ specific marketing objectives are realized by building and optimizing PPC search campaigns the right way. Using automated solutions like Smart Bidding and Audience Solutions also help boost their campaign performance.
- Display Certification – Our clients get the most from their display ad investments with Nicole’s effective Display strategies and campaigns geared for specific marketing goals.
- Video Certification – Telling effective stories on YouTube with Google Video advertising solutions is an at-scale approach to help our clients reach more potential customers along the purchase journey.
- Google Shopping ads are quite a bit different than other ads. Nicole has displayed her talent in creating and optimizing Client shopping campaigns that maximize the quantity of both reach and conversions.
Congratulations, Nicole!
Tip of the Month
Change your content with the seasons. Search engines love updated webpages and seasonal changes are a great excuse to add content to your site. Many eCommerce sites already take advantage of this strategy in their marketing, but even the simplest sites can take advantage of a new time of year. Videos, blog posts, images, and social media updates are all opportunities to connect your business to the season. Give your mascot sunglasses and a beach umbrella in the summer or create a video about your bakery on National Cupcake Day. Whatever you decide to do, you can’t go wrong as long as you stick to your brand identity and have fun! Contact us if you’d like some help. We can help you make the most of this valuable approach!
Just for Laughs
A foreman sent out two groups of men to put up telephone poles along a new highway and asked them to report at the end of the day. The crews were gone all day and returned just as the sun was setting.
The foreman asked the leader of the first group how many poles they had installed. The reply was eleven. The foreman patted the guy on the back and said, “Not bad.” Then he went to the leader of the next group and asked him the same question. Two was the reply.
“Two! All you installed were two?! The other group installed eleven!” The foreman exclaimed angrily. “Yeah,” the leader answered, “But you should have seen how much they left sticking out!”
Our best for your success!
