Be More Productive with These Tech Tips!

It seems every day brings more e-mails, more data, more information to sort through. Your workload increases but you can’t add more hours to the day. How can you push back?

Use these innovations to reduce overwork, streamline communication and increase productivity. Take advantage of technology. Make it work for you instead of driving your life.

1. Rein in e-mails. A leading report says businessmen and women receive an average of 121 e-mails a day. And that number will keep growing. Create a system to avoid being buried in the deluge. Allot only a certain amount of time to scan your emails each day. Find a system of deleting, saving, and acting on them that works for you.
   Consider reducing the number of emails you send out. Who really needs to be CC’d on them? Do you need to “reply all”? At times you can accomplish the work of a dozen e-mails by picking up the phone and speaking directly with the other person.
   
2. Streamline paperwork. Instead of stacks of paper on your desk, try stacks of files in programs that allow you to share with your team. Use Evernote to keep your thought, drafts, and research under control. Collect group files accessible to all team members in Dropbox.
   
3. Reduce travel time. Time is money. Instead of spending hours and days in airports, flying or driving, use technology to shorten the distance. Skype or Google Hangout allow up to 10 people to see each other and converse. WebEx and GoToMeeting are great for screen sharing. These techniques will provide efficient use of your time.
   
4. Contact information. Many people keep contact information in their smartphone making the data dial-ready. Another option is Jibber Jobber. Here you store more than phone numbers or other contact information. You can keep notes about your power lunch, log in relationships and tie the contact to other people or companies.
   
5. Unplug. Use the ever-present technology to help you take a break and unplug. Look for a parent control apps to limit the time you spend on your phone. Of course, you’ll have the passcode to let you over-ride the cut-off time. But it helps you see how much time you’re spending and insures you unplug for a while.

Break Time (Mac) or Workrave (Windows) can assist with taking breaks and managing your schedule on your computer.

Also consider turning off e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, and other notifications. The constant dings divert your attention from work. When you have periods of no technology, you allow your brain to think more deeply and find better solutions.

Technology simplifies our lives in many ways — we scan and digitally file material, we research easier with Google search, and our smartphones with their multitude of applications can speed up work. Rather than have technology encroach into our lives, chose the best parts to streamline your communications. Then free up your time for your most productive work.

by Joel Garfinkel

Why Modern SEO Requires Almost No Technical Expertise

The Internet is complicated. If you think about the innumerable calculations that go into every Google search just to bring you the perfect information for your request, it can almost be overwhelming. Trying to appeal to every line of code in Google’s core algorithm to rank higher would be virtually impossible, even for the most advanced programmer.

Fortunately, you’re not a Google engineer, and you don’t need to be in order to rank higher in search engines. Because the early days of SEO leaned on backend coding tactics and deceptive tricks to get sites ranking higher, there’s a modern-day misconception that SEO success can only be achieved through a combination of technical proficiency and extensive experience. This simply isn’t true.

While there are some architectural strategies and coding tactics that you should employ as part of your strategy, for the most part, modern SEO can be implemented without any prior experience, and without any technical knowledge of how websites -- or Google’s algorithm -- work.

As an illustration of why technical expertise is no longer an absolute necessity, consider this: Google’s search algorithm is completely undisclosed. No search marketer, now or ever (save for a handful of former Google engineers, perhaps), has ever had access to the actual lines of code that determine which businesses rank where.

All our combined knowledge of SEO, from offsite to onsite and from 2000 until now, has come either as the result of an experiment or as a result of Google telling us what its algorithm looks for. These are non-technical inferences, and are often boiled down to generalities, such as “write quality content” or “reduce your bounce rate.”

Ultimately, there’s only one motivation that drives Google: the experience of its users. It wants its users to be happy so they’ll keep coming back to Google. So Google favors sites that make their visitors happy in turn. Ignore all the technical terms, all the details of execution and all your preconceived notions for a moment and focus on this: the happier your users are when they visit your site, the higher you’re going to rank.

Modern SEO really is that simple. That being said, there are a few key ways you’ll need to make your users happy.

1. Offering a good onsite experience

This includes a number of different factors, but none of them require much familiarity with web design or development. Make your purpose known. Make your site aesthetically pleasing. Make it easy for your users to find exactly what they’re looking for. Make your site fast, and optimized for any device (this one you may need a coder’s help for, admittedly). Make your navigation simple. These principles are basic, and if you follow them, your users will have a better time.

2. Writing good content

Content has been a major pillar for SEO for the past decade or so, but you no longer need to pay attention to the keyword phrases you include or how often you include them, nor do you need to present your content in a specific way. You just need to make sure you’re choosing interesting, relevant topics, and writing about them in an original, informative way (free from error, of course). An English degree might help you write more eloquently, but as long as you’re writing high-quality material that’s relevant for your industry and adds significant value for your readers, you’ll be in good shape.

3. Getting others to acknowledge you as an authority

Google looks to outside sources to determine how much of an authority you are in your respective space. In the old days, taking advantage of this meant sneaking in links to as many sources as possible. Today, there’s no need for such tactics. Instead, it’s about building relationships, person to person, which anybody can do with enough time and patience. Build relationships with outside blogs and other publishers, and eventually they’ll help you get published. Write enough quality content, and other sites will link to yours naturally. Make your site a magnet for inbound links, which Google sees as “votes” for your site’s credibility, trust and authority.

4. Rising in social popularity

Your popularity on social media also plays a role in how you rank in organic search results. For example, correlation studies have consistently shown that if you have 1,000 highly active followers on Twitter, you’ll rank higher than if you have no Twitter account at all. While correlation doesn’t equal causation, there’s certainly no harm that can come from building your brand in social media channels. In fact, there are only major benefits.

Social media marketing is a bit of a science, but the fundamentals are clear and easy to understand: establish a presence, engage with people often and syndicate great content whenever you can. Eventually, the audience will come to you naturally. For more insights on social media marketing, grab my ebook, The Definitive Guide to Social Media Marketing.

5. Earning local relevance

It’s also important to be reviewed well on third-party sites such as Yelp and TripAdvisor, especially if you’re shooting to build your relevance as a local business. But this, too, requires little to no technical expertise.

Claim your profile on as many of these sites as you can (the setup process is relatively simple), then let your customers do the rest of the work for you. Make your presence on these sites known, and people will start filling out reviews on their own. All you have to do is give them the greatest in-person experience you can and learn from any constructive criticism you receive in the meantime.

Modern CMS systems

It’s also worth mentioning that most modern content management systems (CMS) have been created or modified with the intention to streamline the SEO process. Most important backend configurations are automatic, and most other code-specific entries are presented in an interface that’s easy to understand and even easier to update. As long as you’re following a modern system of web development, the technical side of SEO is easier to understand than ever before.

Ultimately, modern-day SEO can be boiled down to one principle: make your users happy. If users come to your site, get what they’re looking for and have a good time doing it, Google will take notice, you’ll rise in rank, and if more users have the same experience, the whole process will continue. Technical proficiency helps, but the common-sense style approach to content marketing and user experience optimization often performs just as well in increasing your overall rank.

by Jayson Demers, Founder and CEO, AudienceBloom

12 Hacks to Keep Visitors on Your Pages Longer

Conventional wisdom suggests that a “good” bounce rate (aka, the number of visitors who check out a single page on your site and then leave) falls between 30 to 50 percent. But if you ask me, anything over 25 to 30 percent represents an opportunity to reach more potential customers through the implementation of design and user-experience hacks that keep visitors on your pages longer.

Here are 12 to start with today:

1. Declutter your design.

This isn’t 1996. Geocities is dead. So if your site is still packed full of animated images, excess design features and other modern no-no’s, it’s time for a redesign. According to Tony Haile, the CEO of Chartbeat, you have just 15 seconds (or less) to convince new visitors to stay through the power of your site’s design alone.

2. Cut your number of fonts.

One immediate signal to readers that your site -- and, by extension, your company -- is out-of-date? The number of fonts you’ve used. If you’ve got more than two or three on your homepage, trim them down to create a more modern look.

3. Try a larger font size.

On a related note, the size of your fonts may also be affecting your site’s “stickiness.” An article published in Smashing Magazine suggests that anything less than 16 pixels could impair your site’s readability.

4. Apply visual breaks to your content.

Font size is important but big blocks of unbroken text are unacceptable in any circumstance. Quickly improve your site’s readability by adding headings, sub headings, bulleted lists and numbered lists to break your content into easily-digested segments.

5. Add images of people.

Medelia Art conducted an A/B test that pitted homepage images of artists’ paintings against photos of the artists themselves. The result? Aconversion rate increase of more than 95 percent when the artists’ faces were shown. The bottom line is this: people like to look at faces and they trust them more than stock graphics. Add them to your site today.

6. Upgrade your images.

Of course, faces aren’t appropriate in all places but that doesn’t mean the rest of your site has to rely on cheesy stock photography. Tools likeCanva and PicMonkey make it easy to customize your images, and the impact can be significant. One Brafton client saw a 14.3 percent decrease in bounce rate just by adding custom visuals to their blog posts.

7. Add statistics.

A funny thing happens when you add statistics to your site’s content: people trust it more, regardless of what the data says. And that makes this an easy way to beef up your content quickly in a way that’ll reduce your bounce rate at the same time.

8. Use comment-provoking questions.

Encouraging visitors to leave comments is an easy way to improve your bounce rate, as the act of leaving a comment typically causes visitors to be redirected to another page or triggers a page refresh -- both of which count as multiple page views. Get the conversation flowing by ending every post on your blog with a probing question that prompts comments.

9. Leave two to three internal links in your body content.

Many bounces occur after readers get the information they need from their landing page and then hit the “back” button. Prevent these bounces by including two to three internal links in the body content of all your pages and blog posts to encourage these would-be bouncers to stick around and engage with more of your work.

10. Open external links in new windows.

Having external links open in the same windows takes visitors away from your site -- something that’s counterproductive to keeping them on your site longer. Keep their attention on your content by setting all your external links to open in new windows.

11. Use exit intent technology.

If none of the above hacks work to keep readers on your site, consider an exit intent program that’ll trigger an offer pop-up as viewers move their mice towards the “back” button. One daily deals website use this type of technology to increase conversion rates by 13 percent.

12. Tell a story.

If all else fails, use the oldest trick in the marketing book - tell a great story. Not only does story-based content differentiate your site from your competitors (giving your visitors something intriguing to hold their attention), it helps break through the mental barriers we all have against being sold to. And in an era where we receive roughly 5,000 marketing messages a day, this is critically important when it comes to reducing your bounce rate.

by Alex Basinsky, copfounder of Picreel

A Business Name vs. a Trademark: Do You Know the Diffference?

As an entrepreneur, you understand the importance of protecting your business name. Think of the sales you might lose if another company opened up using your same name. If you’re building a brand, investing in advertising and hoping customers can find you, you’ll want to make sure you’ve properly protected your business name so no one else can use it.

But what exactly is the best way to do that? 

Oftentimes, new business owners are confused about the difference between registering their business name with the state and filing for a trademark. Here, we’ll break down the differences so you can determine which approach is right for your business.

1. Registering a business name with the state

When you apply to be a corporation or an LLC, the secretary of state’s office is going to check to make sure that your proposed business name isn’t already in use by another company in your state. 

Every state has its own laws about just how different a name must be from other business names. For example, some states will allow “Mandi’s Florist” when there’s already a “Mandy’s Flowers” registered. Other states will reject it and consider “Mandi’s Florist” deceptively similar. 

Once your LLC or corporation application is approved, your name is protected in the state: No other business will be able to form an LLC or corporation with the same name in that state. However, there’s nothing to stop a business that operates as a sole proprietorship or partnership from using your name in the state. It just won’t be able to register as an LLC or corporation with that name.

In addition, registering your name with the state has no impact on what happens in the other 49 states. If you incorporated your business in New York, another business can use your same name in New Jersey or Connecticut. And, it can even incorporate or form an LLC in other states with with the same name.

Depending on your business type and model, brand protection at the state level might be sufficient. For example, if you are opening a local restaurant or other establishment, you might not mind if another business uses your name in a completely different state. There’s little chance that a customer will confuse the two. 

However, if you plan on expanding nationwide, selling your products/services across the country, or are just concerned that a partnership might use your name, then you should protect your name on a federal level with a trademark. 

2. Filing for federal trademark protection

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design (or a combination of any of these) that identifies the source of a product or service and distinguishes it from competitors'. Trademarks can be granted on distinctive names, logos and slogans. 

Trademarks are granted at the federal level by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The owner of a trademark has exclusive rights to the trademark and can prevent anyone else from using it. And these rights are protected at the state and federal levels.

When applying for a trademark, expect to pay $275 per class (a little more if you have an expert prepare the paperwork for you). Processing time can take upwards of six to 12 months with the USPTO. The process is more expensive and involved than registering a business name, but it provides you with exclusive rights in all 50 states. And, unlike copyrights or patents, trademarks have an unlimited lifespan so long as you comply with the renewal requirements. 

If you do choose to apply for a trademark, you should conduct a free basic search to make sure no one has a pending application with the USPTO for your proposed trademark (or something close to it) in a similar capacity. The next step is to conduct a comprehensive name search to check if someone is using your proposed name at the state or county level. 

Why search beforehand? If you apply and your proposed name is already in use, your application will be rejected and you’ll lose your application fee and the time spent preparing the application.

Final thoughts

Some businesses are sufficiently protected by registering their name with the state; others need exclusive rights in every state. As you’re building out your business, think about your particular brand protection needs. Then take the right legal steps to enforce them.

By Nellie Akalp