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Sharing a link on Facebook mobile isn’t easy. It’s a clumsy process that sends Facebook users to Google, a competitor for mobile advertising dollars. 

Now, Facebook is testing an “Add a Link” button that, according to this article, “gives users fewer reasons to leave the Facebook app, reduces the clicks needed to share content and diminishes the chances that the user will end up at Google. Instead of the four or five steps that might be required to find, copy and paste a link in a post, users can now add links with a single tap. Facebook is betting that the easier it is to share links, the more links a user will open and post and the more the social network will know about that user’s interests.” 

Facebook’s objectives: 1. Take traffic from Google and 2. Learn more about users’ interests, which will help advertisers better target their campaigns. 

Let us know if you’d like more information about advertising on Facebook or other social media platforms. 

Last month, we reported on the Google Mobile Friendly Algorithm Update that will begin this month. Many in the industry are calling this update “Mobilegeddon.” Sounds ominous! It is a fact that starting April 21st, Google will be expanding its use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. 

In a recent study, 44% of Fortune 500 web sites failed the mobile-friendly test and are at risk of being penalized in search results when that update rolls out on April 21st. 

You can do better than those Fortune 500 companies! Take steps now to make sure your website is mobile friendly. Click here for Google’s guide on Mobile-Friendly Websites. 

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Online preorders for Apple’s first smartwatch began on April 10th at 12:01 a.m. PT and sold out in under six hours. Nearly one million U.S. consumers preordered Apple Watch, though some of those buyers are attempting to cash in on the high demand and short supply—an eBay search for Apple Watch, as of this writing, returns over 1,600 results!

Users won’t be able to run a Google search on the tiny watch screen. But in the future...who knows? Click here for more details about the first generation Apple Watch. 

Every new social media platform that comes along...Instagram, Google+, Ello...you name it... is invariably the next big thing—the one that’s going to take down Facebook. Hasn’t happened yet!

A Pew Research Center survey, conducted in September 2014, found that: 

• Facebook remains by far the most popular social media site. While its growth has slowed, the level of user engagement with the platform has increased. 
• For the first time, more than half of all online adults 65 and older (56%) use Facebook. This represents 31% of all seniors. 
• Overall, 71% of internet users are on Facebook, a proportion that represents no change from August 2013. 
• 52% of online adults use multiple social media sites. Facebook acts as “home base”—it remains the most popular site for those who only use one, and has significant overlap with other platforms. 

It’s important to note that, according to the survey, “every other social media platform measured saw significant growth between 2013 and 2014.” Click here to read Social Media Update and then get to work on your social media campaigns. Call us if you need help. 

From Google’s Webmaster Central Blog: “Starting April 21, we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results.” In other words, make the necessary changes to your website or risk losing rankings.

Search Engine Land reports that the algorithm runs on a page by page basis, “So if you have 10 web pages on your web site and 5 of them are mobile-friendly and 5 are not, then only the pages that are mobile-friendly will benefit...Many websites have sub-sections or specialized pages that would be hard to make mobile-friendly, so webmasters do not need to fret about going 100% mobile-friendly by April 21st.” 

Click here to read Google’s Mobile Friendly Websites guide. 

Click here to check if YOUR website is Mobile Friendly or not.

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A study of over 100 million emails found that “Transactional Emails” (those sent to one person as a result of an action triggered by that person) have a click rate that is 42% higher than their newsletter counterparts. Click here to read 5 Things We Learned Analyzing 100 Million+ Emails.

In 2014, email marketing was cited as the most effective digital marketing channel for customer retention in the United States (source: eMarketer).

A new Facebook insights product called “Topic Data” will soon be available to a select group of marketers. Topic Data will show marketers what audiences are saying on Facebook about events, brands, subjects and activities. 

According to WSJ: Facebook for the first time is promising insights companies can use to develop products or decide which audiences to target. A business marketing a hair-de-frizzing product might use Topic Data to see demographic information about people discussing humidity’s effects on their hair. The company might use that information to improve marketing campaigns on Facebook or TV, or to identify potential customers they hadn’t previously considered. 

Facebook plans to “Iterate on Topic Data thoughtfully and deliberately, and look to expand its availability at a later date.” 

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In 2009, Google reached a deal with Twitter to include tweets in search results. That deal expired in 2011, right about the time that Google launched its social network, Google+.

Since then, Google+ has pretty much failed as a social network (but it is important for local SEO). And now, Twitter is often first to announce big breaking news stories.

Reportedly, Google will once again have access to Twitter’s firehose—the stream of data generated by Twitter’s 284 million users. Click here to read “Who wins, Who Loses in the Twitter/Google Deal.”

Twitter content indexed in Google search results: Just one more reason for every small business to be active on Twitter. All social media activity helps build your brand and because Google places a premium on authenticity, branding is a factor in rankings.

Email marketing (newsletters, nurture campaigns, the occasional notifications about products, services, promotions, etc.) keeps your business on the minds of your customers and generates leads and sales. Nurture campaigns can be set up to send automatically, but it’s important to audit your content and make sure it’s up-to-date.

According to a recent report from Mailjet, personalization is a big factor in improving email open rate and engagement, but only about 17% of U.S. marketers personalize email messages. Tailor your emails to customers based on information they’ve provided and their purchasing behavior and you’ll set yourself apart from other businesses that don’t take the time to personalize their emails.

Click here to read more about the strong ROI of email marketing.

While the NFL was broadcasting its halftime extravaganza, YouTube hosted one of its own. YouTube’s show featured zany stunts (such as a guy jumping into a pool of cheese), fake Super Bowl ads and other entertainment provided by YouTube celebrities.

Said Suzie Reider, managing director of brand solutions at Google, “The halftime show falls in nicely with this huge theme for us, which is the notion of brands as creators and the commercial as content...When you’re an advertiser, your ad sits on YouTube next to a piece of content.”

Click here to read more about YouTube’s offbeat halftime show. Click here to learn about advertising on YouTube.