Hello and Happy Tuesday!
This week in Internet marketing, we’ve gathered some of the most interesting and thought-provoking articles from across the web. We’re looking at website design trends for 2017, as well as tips to improve Facebook ads, and how to rank locally in 2017. We’re also looking at important metrics for your content strategy, as well as how to take advantage of Valentine's Day.
13 Web Design Trends to Watch in 2017
Website design trends evolve year over year. While it's crucial that your website optimize for mobile, maintain a positive user experience and drive conversions, there are also some design elements to keep in mind for 2017. Keep your website clean and minimalist with bold typography, and incorporate movement with high quality videos or GIFs. Overlapping images, colour gradients, and stacked layers of colour will add depth to your website. Illustrations, geometric shapes and patterns, and modular designs are also growing in popularity.
11 Reasons Your Facebook Ads Aren't Connecting With Consumers
Facebook ads are a powerful tool for driving conversions. In order for your ads to be effective, it's important to get personalized in your strategy. Be sure to include an image in your ad, but avoid stock photographs or irrelevant images. Your images should look organic in Facebook's feed while still grabbing the user's attention. Use demographic and psychographics to effectively target users and include customer testimonials, contact information, terms and conditions, and modern website design, for example. Create urgency in your offer, discuss the features of your product or service and avoid complicated jargon. Perform A/B tests to ensure that your campaigns are continuously improving.
Local SEO in 2017: 5 Simple Ways to Dominate Local Search
Optimizing your on-page and off-page SEO strategy is crucial to ranking locally. Customize your title and meta description tags to include your business's location or service areas. Claim your business listing through online directories and citations, and ensure your business's name, address and phone number are consistent. It's crucial to claim your Google My Business (GMB) listing, and optimize it by including business hours, a description, payment accepted, photos and more. Lastly, encourage customers to leave reviews on your Facebook and GMB page.
9 Content Marketing Metrics You Must Track for a Better Strategy
In order to ensure your content marketing strategy is successful, there are several metrics you should track. Track social shares to see which content is driving engagement, and analyze the source and volume of your traffic to determine which channels are the most effective at driving users to your page. Enable comments, use social media and accept guest contributions to improve customer retention rates, and be sure to track your click-through rate (CTR). Monitor backlinks to see which content is most often cited, and measure time on page to see which topics maintain the user's attention. Lastly, track bounce rate to understand why user's navigate away from your content.
How Digital Marketers Can Take Advantage of Valentines Day
If you're looking to take advantage of Valentine's Day shopping, this article outlines a few tips to keep in mind. Analyse your target audience, keeping in mind that Valentine's Day gifts often go beyond just romantic partners. Market toward those who gift to coworkers, family members, classmates, friends and pets. Optimize for search terms like jewelry, valentine's day, engagement rings and more, and ensure your website and ads are optimized for mobile to drive engagement and boost CTR. All of these tips will help you to improve your Valentine's Day digital marketing strategy.
Check out these additional articles for more Internet marketing news!
3 Not-So-SEO-Friendly Trends to Watch Out For
Google's People Also Ask Feature Officially Gains Dynamic Loading
