January 2015 NYCU

Breaking Stories and Top Articles for January, 2015

Wow, another month is destined for the history books! If you think things change quickly on the calendar, though, consider the rate of change taking place with internet marketing.

If you’re to stand a chance of keeping up with trends, you absolutely MUST pay attention. (There is a term for online marketers who don’t stay in touch with developments: Broke!)

Let’s take a look at January 2015, to see what we can discover.

1. Facebook Announces a Call to Action Feature for Business

Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Facebook Marketing[/highlight]

Facebook CTA

photo cred: https://www.facebook.com/business/a/online-sales/calls-to-actions

Key Point: Long known to deliver higher conversion rates elsewhere in online marketing, Facebook upped the ante in their advertising portfolio and rolled out call-to-action (CTA) buttons for Pages. You’ve five actions to choose from: Shop Now, Learn More, Sign Up, Book Now, and Download. Moreover, you can direct the link to destinations on or off Facebook. Find out more about how the new Facebook CTA buttons work by checking out the Overview page: Facebook CTA Buttons.

 

 

 

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2. Speaking of Facebook – How About Private Chats at Work?

Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Facebook[/highlight]

Key Point: TechCrunch followed up on a speculative report from last year and blew the whistle on a new Facebook product aimed at competing with the likes of Slack and Yammer. Facebook At Work allows private conversations for workgroups and integrates with both iOS and Android mobiles. It’s still in beta on Android, but has been rolled out to Apple users – at least to those with a valid work account through an employer. Check it out for yourself in iTunes or read all about it on TechCrunch.

 

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3. 2014 SEO Trends Reviewed

funny pigeon attack

photo cred: http://www.smilefunny.com/media/621/Pigeon_attack/

Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]SEO[/highlight]

Key Point: Taking one last look at the year just passed, Forbes ran a synopsis penned by Jayson DeMers (@jaysondemers). Cited as significant to SEO were the Google+ decision to drop Google Authorship, Panda updates that rattled the search engine results pages (SERP), the Pigeon update and its effect on local search, the rising importance of security measures – with increased klout given to SSL-encrypted sites, and the long-anticipated arrival of Penguin 3.0. Advice for 2015? Keep your eyes on Google and expect the popularization of wearable computers. Here’s that article: SEO Trends.

 

 

 

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4. A 2015 Site Audit Checklist

Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Onsite SEO[/highlight]

Key Point: Geoff Kenyon (@geoffkenyon) updated his 2011 site audit checklist, and the Moz Blog published the tome (along with several Pro Tips). The primary changes, said Kenyon, were additional sections for mobile, international, and site speed. Here’s a StuKent tip: After checking out the Moz article, go get the field version from Google Drive: 2015 Site Audit Checklist.

 

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5. Addressing Problems Associated With Online Ad Viewability

Topics: [highlight type=”dark”]Online Advertising[/highlight]


Key Point:
 From quality issues to impression fraud and the resultant concerns over the effect on conversion rates, VentureBeat ran an article by Erik Pavelka (@cyclistep) that says advertising is to the internet what sewers are to a city (but in a good way). It’s the online advertising infrastructure, says Pavelka, that “binds and supports the digital economy.” If you’re ready to do some serious thinking about the state of online advertising, this is your chance. Read it all right here: Towards Quality Advertising Online.

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6. The ABC’s of Email Marketing

Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Email Marketing[/highlight]

email iconKey Point: Daniel Faggella (CLVboost) draws on his experience with email marketing and marketing automation to show Marketing Land readers how to “Scoop the bucket” and move beyond simply sending out email blasts. To get maximum return on investment (ROI), says Fagella, you have to pay attention to list segmentation, list-building, and consistency. After running your list through the cycle, simply rinse, wash, and repeat. How much easier could it get? Here’s that article: The ABCs of Email Success

 

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7. Three Tech Trends to Watch This Year

Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Technology[/highlight]


Key Point:
 This infographic by Google parlays search patterns into predictions about what’s coming down the pike. This year’s rendition highlights the movement towards connected platforms (wearable gear, smart TV, etc.), the increasing importance of mobile devices, and rising demand for on-demand services. What do these categories mean to marketers? Check out the infographic – there’s a paragraph about each at the bottom. Here’s the link: Tech Predictions for 2015

 

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8. Getting Google Analytics Data to Google Sheets

google analytics dataTopic: [highlight type=”dark”]Analytics[/highlight]

Key Point: There is no longer a need for Google Analytics power users to manually transfer data to Google Sheets to conduct analysis. A new tool now automates the process. With Add-ons for Google Sheets, you can pull data from Google Analytics right from your spreadsheet. Sweet! Read all about it here: Google Sheets Add-on … or, if you’ve read enough and just want to grab the tool, go here: Get it NOW.

 

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That wraps up our News You Can Use report for January 2015. If you see something we missed, that should have been mentioned, let us know. Your feedback is important to us.

Moreover, be a Stukent field reporter by keeping up with the news daily and sending us links to the stories you nominate for next month’s report. We’re listening!

The internet isn’t going to slow down for us … together, though, we can help one another keep up.

Be a Stukent field observer: When you find a news tip, send it in. Let’s help one another stay current. The internet won’t slow down for us … we have to keep up!

 

 

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