ThirdSlash https://thirdslash.com Thu, 13 Feb 2025 13:27:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://thirdslash.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/cropped-thirdslashfavicon-1-32x32.png ThirdSlash https://thirdslash.com 32 32 How Will AI Shape PPC Trends in 2025? https://thirdslash.com/how-will-ai-shape-ppc-trends-in-2025/ https://thirdslash.com/how-will-ai-shape-ppc-trends-in-2025/#respond Wed, 05 Feb 2025 12:41:21 +0000 https://thirdslash.com/?p=14413 The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into paid per click (PPC) advertising has changed how businesses connect to their target audience in significant and exciting ways. In the next 5 years, AI will take PPC campaigns to a whole new level, and fundamentally change the way businesses approach advertising, strategy, optimization and ultimately, how businesses succeed with their advertising campaigns. With all of this data, AI driven tools allow advertisers to use it like never before, running efficient, super personal campaigns that are unique down to the individual user level.

Progress in the evolution of AI in the PPC space has been its capability to analyze huge amounts of data real time to give us insights, which were once not possible to achieve. Those who embrace these advances will stay competitive, with campaigns that are more engaging, and more effective, and in line with user expectations. Future ads will be created, delivered, and optimized better and better through AI, helping advertisers get the most out of their results and improve the user experience.

Dynamic Ad Personalization: Precision Like Never Before

Google Ads Poster

As AI develops in the future, PPC campaigns will be able to provide highly personalized ads to every specific user. To make this shift, AI will be able to analyze user behaviour, search intent and history of purchase in real time.

Now suppose a user wants to search for fitness equipment. Advertising will become powered by AI which can effectively come up with ads showcasing the relevant product in addition to adjusting based on each stage of the buyer’s journey. AI-powered ads from all parties involved will deliver messages to the user whether they are in the research phase or are ready to buy.

These capabilities already exist in tools such as Google Ads’ Responsive Search Ads, yet will be taken to an even more refined level by 2025, with ads hyper relevant and true to context.

Predictive Analytics: Staying Ahead of Trends

Predictive Analytics On Laptop Screen

As with all things, artificial intelligence will perfectly predict customer behavior in PPC campaigns. With predictive analytics, advertisers can see what customers might want or do next, to build proactive strategies.

For example, AI can assess historical data and real-time signals to detect user engagement trends, predict spikes in demand, and automatically adjust bids. It makes sure that the campaigns always align with the poach and will prevent ad spend from being wasted and ultimately conversions.

Predictive analytics based services such as Adzooma and Marin Software are already gaining momentum with predictive analytics and 2025 will see it become a norm in all the PPC tools.

Voice Search Optimization: A Rising Priority

Voice Search Icon

As voice search becomes more popular, AI will be key to the adaptability of PPC campaigns to it. By 2025, virtual assistants such as Alexa or Google Assistant will mean that more users will search through a virtual assistant by voice, and this means that ads will have to match around conversational queries and conversational queries.

Advertisers will use AI to parse through voice search data, generate long tail keywords, and to create conversational ad copy that speaks to how users talk. This will help improve the performance of your ads and will also enable new targeting options when you target devices and platforms for voice specific ads.

Automated Campaign Management: Efficiency Redefined

The PPC campaign management will become more automated and this means advertisers will no longer have to task themselves with manual compositions instead. AI will handle:

  • Bid Adjustments: Deciding real time bids using users’ behavior and competition in the market.
  • Ad Testing: Scaling the best performing ad variations automatically and finding variations.
  • Budget Allocation: Moving budget across campaigns, keywords and platforms maximizing ROI in each bucket.

These days, platforms such as Smart Bidding in Google Ads already provide automated solutions, but by 2025 AI will be providing smarter and more precise campaign management, reducing waste and increasing results.

Enhanced Ad Quality with AI Content Creation

AI Content Creation

PPC campaigns will also be influenced by AI in the creative part. AI can analyze user preferences to generate ad copy, visuals, and even video to serve targeted ads to users based on their interests. Ad campaigns not only work but have the potential to resonate emotionally with users.

You may already know that there are tools like Copy.ai and Jasper that can already create compelling ad copy working off of only a few inputs. Within a decade from today, these will mature to build extremely engaging, context aware content that increases CTR and conversion rates.

The Role of AI in Cross-Platform Campaigns

The more platforms there are in the digital space, the more difficult it will be to manage your PPC campaigns across. It will simplify this for AI by drilling down through the data, combining several channels like Google, facebook, instagram, and linkedin to track your performance via a single dashboard.

Using AI, advertisers can see what platforms are producing the most results, and spend accordingly, optimizing across channels too. It is this holistic view that will be crucial for integrating these campaigns to clearly come across against the background noise of whatever it is that audiences are online on.

Future-Proofing PPC Strategies with AI

Businesses need to embrace AI powered tools and techniques to stay competitive in the fast evolving PPC landscape. But advertisers that take advantage of AI will reap increased efficiency, further audience insight, and a competitive advantage in reaching the marketplace.

By 2025 AI will no longer be a luxury but a necessity for successfully running your PPC campaign. AI will have a great impact in digital advertising on how it will be done through predictive analytics, automated bidding or personalized ad creation.

For businesses looking to stay ahead in the PPC game, partnering with an experienced agency that understands AI-driven strategies is key. Take your campaigns to the next level with tailored solutions that maximize your ROI and keep you ahead of the curve.

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How Can You Recover from a Google Algorithm Update Penalty? https://thirdslash.com/how-can-you-recover-from-a-google-algorithm-update-penalty/ https://thirdslash.com/how-can-you-recover-from-a-google-algorithm-update-penalty/#respond Mon, 03 Feb 2025 13:11:17 +0000 https://thirdslash.com/?p=14406 Google updates its search algorithms to give better results but they create major issues for websites that do not match those standards. When your site rankings or organic traffic suddenly decline this shock feels overwhelming yet you must apply practical strategies to handle it. To recover from a Google algorithm penalty you need to study the recent updates while adjusting your website to match these standards.

Understanding the Impact of Google Algorithm Updates

Google updates its systems to match what users want while choosing material that matters most. Google updates that include Penguin Panda Core Web Vitals and Helpful Content updates reward reliable websites and punish unprofessional content practices.

When you find decreased website performance, look first at possible manual or algorithmic penalties alongside any technical problems. Google Search Console and Google Analytics allow you to spot website changes so you can begin your recovery process.

Audit Your Website to Identify Problems

SEMRUSH Tool Used For SEO Audit Tool

To build an effective recovery plan you must thoroughly examine your website. Begin by examining your website for structural problems including weak content and bad backlinks with any technical issues. Our website audit shows you which parts of your site Google targeted during its update.

Work to enhance your site content when it gets hit by thin or duplicated content penalties. When your backlinks show problems, focus on getting rid of or ignoring harmful links. Tools SEMrush, Ahrefs and Screaming Frog help you view the key details about your website’s performance and health.

Improve Content Quality

Google reduces website rankings when it finds poor or off-target content, so consistently updating and improving your key text is key to success. 

Rewrite Thin Content: We should replace short or useless content with articles that answer visitors’ needs directly.

Focus on Search Intent: Make your content match what users search for. When making content, don’t just repeat phrases like “SEO services” help readers get solutions under SEO topics.

Use Engaging Formats: Add visual materials, like graphics, video clips, and pictures, throughout your site to help readers stay involved and have an easier time.

Clean Up Your Backlink Profile

Ahref's Backlink Checker

When it comes to SEO, only useful backlinks help your website rank better. When your website gets too many bad links, search engines may take action.

  • Use tools like Ahrefs or Moz Link Explorer to identify harmful backlinks.
  • Disavow low-quality links through Google Search Console to prevent them from affecting your rankings further.
  • Focus on earning high-quality backlinks through guest posting, creating shareable content, or collaborating with reputable websites.

Optimize Technical SEO

Technical issues can also trigger penalties, especially with updates like Core Web Vitals emphasizing site performance. Address the following areas:

  • Page Speed: To make your site load faster, compress your photos and run checks with GTmetrix or Page Speed Insights.
  • Mobile Optimization: All devices need to run your site successfully since Google now indexes sites on mobile phones first. Run your site through Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to ensure it shows correctly on all mobile devices.
  • Fix Crawl Errors: Check if Google Search Console shows every important page of your site as indexed.

Fixing technical problems in your website makes Google see you as more able to match the good user experience they want.

Future-Proofing Your SEO Strategy

Recovering from a penalty is just the beginning. To ensure long-term success, focus on creating a robust SEO strategy:

  • Stay Updated: Follow industry news from trusted platforms like Search Engine Journal and Moz Blog to learn about upcoming updates.
  • Diversify Traffic Sources: Don’t rely solely on organic traffic; invest in paid ads, email marketing, and social media to reduce dependency on search rankings.
  • Regular Audits: Perform regular website audits to stay ahead of potential issues and maintain compliance with Google’s guidelines.

Conclusion

After getting hit by a Google update, bringing your site back up takes effort but can definitely be done well. You can improve your site’s performance after a Google penalty by checking everything, making sure your content is great, cleaning up your backlinks, and fixing technical problems.

Keep moving forward with SEO by watching updates, adjusting as needed, and making your website useful for everyone. By working hard every day, you can come back stronger and rank higher in Google searches.

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4 Important Benefits of SEO for Small Businesses in 2022 https://thirdslash.com/4-benefits-of-seo-for-small-businesses-in-2022/ https://thirdslash.com/4-benefits-of-seo-for-small-businesses-in-2022/#respond Sat, 21 May 2022 10:10:52 +0000 https://thirdslash.com/?p=12748 We are in 2022, and the use of digital media for business marketing is more than ever. Business owners have multiple options to market their products and services to potential customers. Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of such marketing options for businesses.

Small business owners need to understand the importance of SEO for small businesses. However, understanding SEO is not easy. Technical knowledge of websites and search engines is required. This article will tell you what SEO is and its importance in your business strategy.

Importance of SEO for Small Businesses

SEO is the process of improving the website’s position in search results. Your potential customers look for some products or services on Google that your business offers. If your website is ranking higher (preferably on the 1st page), it increases the chances of potential customers clicking on the website. This improves the chances of prospects purchasing your product or service.

Benefits of SEO for Small Businesses

SEO helps your business to establish a strong presence on the internet. B2C and B2B companies can take advantage of the online traffic to improve their business. There are many SEO case studies that show the growth achieved by businesses. SEO offers many benefits for small businesses.

1. SEO Increases Website Traffic & Customer Conversion Rate

Nowadays, People use the internet when they need something. Google owns a major share of the search engine market. According to Hubspot’s ‘Google search statistics’ report, daily searches on Google were about 5.6 billion in 2021. 

If people search for services or products related to your business and your website ranks at the top, it will increase the chances of making a transaction. A perfectly SEO-optimized website will drive higher organic traffic. The traffic obtained from organic channels is highly targeted. I.e., There is a good chance that the visitors coming to your website from Google will have a higher conversion rate.

You need to develop a keyword-targeted strategy to rank for these keywords. You can also hire companies that offer affordable SEO services for small businesses. They will create an effective strategy for your business.

2. SEO is an Affordable Marketing Strategy for Small Businesses

SEO is one of the best affordable marketing options for your small business. Once your website starts ranking for targeted keywords, you get free clicks on the website. 

There is some cost involved in ranking for these keywords. But the return on investment is significant. But, it is advised not to go for cheap SEO services. Even though very cheap services cost less, they will not guarantee the quality of work. It can also attract a Google penalty for your website. It is crucial to choose a  professional digital marketing agency.

3. Local SEO Helps You to Increase Brand Awareness

Local SEO improves your online presence for a specific area. Local SEO will be helpful if your business has a physical location or operates in a specific geographical area. Google business profile is a service offered by Google free of cost. You need to set up & verify your Google business profile.

You need to optimize your business profile to improve your search results and Google maps ranking. Read about the hacks to rank your Google business profile on top. Your listing will start to rank for relevant keywords. This will help to build brand awareness locally.

You can also track the leads obtained from Google business profile. Here you can see calls made to this particular business from Google business profile in Apr 2022.

4. SEO Gives a Competitive Advantage Over Your Competitors

With the number of small businesses starting every day, competition is more than ever. Businesses need to allot marketing budgets for digital channels to generate leads/revenue. An SEO-optimized website will rank higher on Google compared to an unoptimized website.

SEO needs time and consistent efforts. The Sooner you start doing SEO, the better your chances are to stay ahead of your competitors.

In 2022, many businesses are investing in SEO. If you miss this opportunity, the gap between you and your competitors might increase.


Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Does SEO work for small businesses?

A. Yes. SEO work for small businesses. Businesses can achieve higher ROI and growth with the help of SEO. However, consistent efforts are required. Content is the king. Blog posts should be published on the website regularly. A customized SEO strategy can generate results for small businesses.

Q. How do I get my business at the top of Google search?

A. You can perform the following things to improve the ranking of your business on Google.

  • creating in-depth content that will provide value to users
  • Acquiring backlinks from relevant websites
  • Implementing the best on-page SEO tactics
  • Ensuring that the website is mobile-friendly

Q. Is SEO or PPC better for your business?

A. PPC stands for pay-per-click, where websites bid for keywords, and their ad is shown when users search for related queries. Both methods can generate results for you if appropriately implemented. SEO is a slow process but can generate free traffic, lowering the CAQ. This is one of the reasons for the importance of SEO for small businesses.
PPC can generate quick results for you. But a good strategy needs to be in place to avoid losing money. A lot of research should be done for selecting and bidding for keywords. PPC services for small businesses can offer practical strategies for you.

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6 Hacks to Rank your Google Business Profile on Top in 2022 https://thirdslash.com/6-hacks-to-rank-your-google-business-profile-on-top-in-2022/ https://thirdslash.com/6-hacks-to-rank-your-google-business-profile-on-top-in-2022/#respond Fri, 20 May 2022 13:08:03 +0000 https://thirdslash.com/?p=12693 Google is the go-to website for every difficulty we face in our day-to-day lives. That is what makes google the most visited website among all the others. Google currently holds most of the search engine market share, making it the leading search engine for all your needs.

In today’s online era, Businesses are aggressively targeting & focusing on google to break in and have a presence in the online market by grabbing the top search spot that will attract a high number of users and visitors to their websites from all over the world through Google searches and google maps.

Another important way to attract new customers to your business website through Google search and Maps is by creating a Google Business Profile (previously known as Google My Business). Google search and local SEO has become an integral process for a business’s successful digital marketing strategy.

What is a Google Business Profile?

Google Business Profile or Google My Business is a free business listing tool from Google for businesses of all sizes, including large-scale businesses, small-scale businesses, and local businesses. Google Business Profile is the best suit for businesses looking to have a strong presence locally or give hyper-local services.

Creating a Google Business Profile allows you to share details and photos of your business, including physical business location, services you provide, and products you sell. Sharing this information with your clients will let them know more about your business.

A great way to increase your visibility across Google is another benefit of creating this free Google Business profile. Your business information that you have added to your Google Business Profile may appear on all other Google Platforms like Google Search, Google Maps, and Google Shopping giving you a better chance of driving more traffic and getting more business through by implementing this SEO trend.

Is Google Business Profile Listing a Free Service?

Creating your business profile on Google Business is FREE. A Google business profile can help you connect with the customers interested in your services or products that you sell. A well-optimized and regularly updated Google Business Profile can help you increase your business revenue by giving valuable insights about your client base and interests. Users can also get in touch with you through contacting and messaging directly through the contact number that you have updated on your listing.

Why Is It Important to Have A Google Business Profile? How Will It Help Your Business?

Get Discovered: Having a Google Business profile helps you get discovered in Google searches and on Google Maps. It also helps ensure that people find your business profile when searching for products & services like yours in their locality. Your Google My Business listing profile guides users about where and how they can find and visit your business. Google Business Profile also improves and boosts your local rankings. When people look for a nearby business using Google Maps for a specific service or product, there are more possibilities for a local business listing to appear.

For Ex.

Google Business Profile

Update Business Information: Google Business profile helps you regularly update your business information like address, business hours, contact details, business description, business opening date, photos, and other important details. It will also help you post updates about your business like expanding services, temporarily closed, or sharing any achievement or award that your business receives. Google Business Profiles have strong local SEO, which will rank the updated information that you share above the third-party sites that might have out-of-date details.

How to Edit Google Business Profile

Gain Trust Through Reviews: Reviews are a major source of social proof that can help you build trust and credibility in your business. A section of Star rating with space for detailed reviews by Google allows your customers to share whatever they feel and the experience they had about your product or service. All these ratings and comments will help your future potential customers decide whether they should choose your business or not.

How To Easily Set Up Your Google Business Profile?

Now that you know how much potential Google Business Profile provides to your marketing efforts for promoting your business online, let’s move ahead knowing how to create a new google business profile that will assist and boom your online presence along with the efforts that you may have put into Paid Media Marketing or Social Media Marketing.

The steps given below will help you create a new Google Business Profile for your Business.

Step 1: Sign in to your Google Business Profile

If you’re already logged in to a Google account, you will be automatically logged in to Google Business Profile Manager. If you don’t have a Google account, go to google.com/accounts to create a free account for your business with any email address.

Step 2: Add Your Business (Business Name & Category)

Enter your business name in the blank field to check if a Google Business Profile already exists for your business or not. If it exists, go ahead and claim your business profile. If it does not appear in the drop-down menu, click Add your business to Google. Moving ahead, select the closest relevant business category for your business and go to the next step.

Create Google Business Profile

Step 3: Enter Your Location

Add your business address to your profile If you have a physical location where you want your customers to visit you. You will also be asked to adjust and add a marker for your exact location on the map when you add your physical address.

Online Business Location

If you don’t have a physical location where your business is located, but your business offers deliveries or in-person services. In such a case, you can list the service areas where you offer your services. Move ahead to the next step when you are done.

Online Business Areas

Step 4: Fill in Your Contact Information

Add a phone number, website address, or both on your Google Business Profile to make it easy for your customers to get in touch with you. You can leave the phone number field empty if you don’t want your customers to contact you. If you don’t have a business website, you can select the “I don’t have a website” checkbox below the current website URL field.

Business Contact Information

When you are done adding your contact info, click Next.

Step 5: Get Your Google Business Profile Verified

Enter your complete physical address in the blank fields provided. This step is done to verify your business. It will not be displayed on your Google Business Profile or shared with the public.

Verify Google Business Profile

Step 6: Customize Your Google Business Profile

Add and update all your business-related information to your Google Business Profile. Add and list all the products & services that your business offers along with the service description.

Also, make sure to add a business description to your business profile. The business description field is where you can share relevant and helpful information about your business with your potential customers. Details about the types of products and services you offer, history about how you started your business & what was your idea behind it, or about your business mission.

Your business description should help customers understand and have a clear idea of whether they should consider your services for the betterment of their brand or not.

How to Optimize Your Google My Business Profile

After setting up and claiming your Google Business profile page for your business, the next step is to properly optimize the data and information you’ve added to the page. 

Add as much information as possible on your Google Business listing as it will help your customer know more about your business. In the search results, when people find your business, the next they will do is click on your business to know more about you and what products/services you offer. They will look out for business descriptions, contact details, website addresses, listed products & services, photos & videos.

But before all this happens, your business needs to be listed in the top search results. For Local search rankings, google considers relevance, distance & prominence as the three important factors. (This can be a very helpful SEO Tip for small businesses)

  • Relevance – It checks how relevant is your business for the keywords or search query the user is looking for? If it fits what the user is looking for, it will show your business name and other business information in the local search results.
  • Distance – If a user near your business area is looking specifically for a nearby business to fulfill his needs, your business will be shown in the search results. For example, If someone searches for “SEO Company Mumbai,” all the nearby business profiles listed in Mumbai for “SEO Company“ will appear in the search results. This strategy is hyper beneficial for local service businesses such as plumbers, electricians, and HVAC contractors.
  • Prominence – It checks for how well-known your business is, based on the number of backlinks, number of reviews, review ratings, etc.

Let’s focus on these steps below to increase your business profile score for all the above factors for your business listing to rank higher.

Complete All Necessary Fields of Your Google Business Profile

Having a completed Google Business Profile increases the possibility of making your business more reputed among other businesses. This, in return, encourages the users coming to your profile to visit your location.

Google says that business profiles with complete and accurate information are easier to match with the right search terms. Having a completed business profile also improves your score for relevance which google considers before ranking your listing.

The importance of having a completely updated business profile is to tell the visitors about your business, where it is located, and when they can visit you.

Verify Business Locations

A verified business profile has more chances to appear in local search results in Google Maps and Search. If you have already asked for verification, Google will send you a postcard with a verification code to your registered address.

Google Business Profile Verification

If you have not verified your business profile during the account creation steps, go to your profile dashboard and request verification of your business profile by postcard.

Google Business Profile Postcard Verification

Add Images & Videos To Your Business Profile

A Google Business Profile includes a logo and cover photo section displayed at the top of your business listing in search results.

Google Business Profile Images & Videos

Use consistent images that you have posted on your website & social media profiles to make it easier for customers to recognize your brand. Keep adding more images and videos to showcase your business location, work environment, and team activities.

How to Add or Edit Photos on Google Business Profile

1. Go to your business profile dashboard – http://business.google.com/. Click on Photos in the left menu or click on Add Photo.

Add Photos to Business Profile

2. First, start adding your logo and cover photo. Add business location photos with your business name tagged, and add your team photos & business event photos.

3. To add videos to your business profile, click the Video tab on top of the photos page.

Add Videos to Business Profile

Include High-valued Keywords in Your Business Profile

Adding keywords means not stuffing as many keywords as possible into your description. Keyword stuffing is a very bad SEO practice. You have to focus on using the right & important keywords necessary to improve your business relevance. You can use Google Trends or Keyword Planner to list your business’s targeted keywords. Naturally, adjust the keywords in your Google Business profile’s business description. Don’t make your description sound like keyword stuffing or using irrelevant ones. This can badly hurt your search rankings.

Ask your Clients for Genuine Reviews and Post Relevant Questions & Answers on your profile

People usually get influenced by a product or business by knowing what others say about it. A Google review can be the deciding factor that tips prospective customers in your favor. Having important keywords in your reviews can also improve your Google ranking.

You can ask your client for a review after giving them a great experience of your business. Ask your customers to review your business with Google’s direct review link.

Google Business Profile Customer Reviews

Respond professionally to positive and negative reviews. When responding to a negative review, keep it simple and be honest by offering an apology to your customer.

Keep your Google Business information up to date

Keep your business profile updated when you change your business hours, contact information, etc. Not keeping your profile updated with important information will annoy your customers more.

If you have any different working hours for holidays or special occasions, update them and check if they are reflected in your Business Profile.

Also, create and post the latest updates, product offers, business events &  informational posts on the Google Business profile.

Add special features and attributes to your business.

Business Special Features and Attributes

If this sounds too confusing for you, get in touch with our experienced Digital Marketing Team.

ThirdSlash is a Digital Marketing Agency in Mumbai helping small & medium businesses over the globe drive engagement by giving SEO Services & Paid Search Marketing Services. We help you drive traffic to your website by boosting your business’s online rankings and getting you the top spot in search results. Check out our successful SEO case studies to know more.

Get started with us today!

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What actions can a user take through your Google Business Profile?

A. A user can take multiple actions through your Business profile, such as visiting your website, contacting you on your phone number, texting you on your profile, requesting directions, and requesting answers by asking a question.

Q. What are the key elements to a successful GMB account?

A. Key elements for a successful GMB account are:- Enter complete data about your business in your profile, include keywords, keep the accurate business working hours, add photos & videos about your business, and ask your customers for genuine reviews.

Q. How will Google Business Profile reviews help your business? 

A. People usually get influenced by a product or business by knowing what others say about it. A Google review can be the deciding factor that tips prospective customers in your favor.

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Everything About the New Social Media Viral- FaceApp https://thirdslash.com/everything-about-the-new-social-media-viral-faceapp/ https://thirdslash.com/everything-about-the-new-social-media-viral-faceapp/#respond Fri, 16 Apr 2021 18:23:17 +0000 https://thirdslash.com//?p=1100 For the past few days, you must be watching the new social media sensation “FaceApp”. From celebrities to politicians and even common social media users are using this new AI face editor, which originally went viral in 2017, but made a new comeback. According to Forbes, presently there are more 100,000 million downloads of FaceApp. Although like all other viral apps, this too will end up vanishing in a few days, there has been much news of this app already making damage. 

According to experts, by downloading this app, users are granting full access to their photos they have uploaded. The company can use this app for its benefit like training their AI facial recognition algorithm.

What is FaceApp?

FaceApp is relatively an Android and iOS mobile app that was originally introduced in 2017. Falling under the category of Photo & Video, the app currently the social media sensation. 

However, the app also came under the fire for ‘ethnicity filters’ changing the skin tone of the user. This is where controversy broke out and the company had to pull out the filters from the app. 

The app having image recognition utilizes Deep Learning technology recognizing the key features of the human face. By using Deep Learning, image recognition takes sample data through deep neural networks for learning the nuances of the human face.

How bad is FaceApp for Privacy?

Lately, digital experts are warning the negative effect of this app, where they are warning users of giving FaceApp access to photos. Here is how the app is bad for your privacy-

  • You take an image, and the app starts processing
  • It gets processed on FaceApp server at St. Petersburg
  • You then get an image made by AI
  • The photo then is saved on the FaceApp servers

According to Peter Kostadinov from Phone Arena, this is the most dangerous thing and big data hack. “Some faces might end up on a commercial somewhere in Moscow because the AI is reading each and every expression off your face,” he said.

Although FaceApp CEO, Yaroslav Goncharov has denied the data access allegations. According to him, only a single picture specifically chosen by the user would be uploaded from a phone and the app did not harvest a user’s entire photo library. Security researcher backed this claim. He further said, “FaceApp performs most of the photo processing in the cloud. We only upload a photo selected by a user for editing. We never transfer any other images from the phone to the cloud.”

Not on our Control

Since we are in social platforms, we are anyways providing access to platform owners to our details. The best example is Facebook who is harvesting the data, which can be used in various ways. This data isn’t stored safely, privately and securely. Once you upload anything on the social platform, you are secretly giving license to companies without reading the terms and conditions. 

If you don’t want to get into this and planning to install FaceApp, then think twice. FaceApp can be dangerous in many ways and you are solely responsible for it.

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Top 6 SEO Trends to Look Forward in 2020 https://thirdslash.com/6-seo-trends-to-look-forward-in-2020/ https://thirdslash.com/6-seo-trends-to-look-forward-in-2020/#respond Fri, 27 Dec 2019 00:00:40 +0000 https://thirdslash.com//?p=1412 SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is evolving year-by-year, bringing something new to web owners. With every new change- web owners, content experts, and digital marketing experts struggle hard to get on board. In 2019, many new SEO trends changed the way we use the search engine and develop content. In 2020, there will be new trends, which you must consider implementing. Adopting these new trends can be the seed of growth. It can further lead to-

  • Higher rankings on SERP
  • More organic traffic to the website
  • The increased conversion rate of customers

Strategically using SEO can help your online business to grow organically. As an SEO expert, you are expected to stay updated with the new trend and implement the same. We will now look into upcoming top SEO trends, which you can implement on your marketing strategy for a positive outcome.

1. Rise of Local SEO

Well, this is not the new trend to watch out. However, the rising shift from web to mobile will make local SEO stay on top. If your business is on the first page of the SERP, then being in geo-targeted ads will be vital to increase the traffic. Many studies have found that 3/4 of people searching for information do not go past the SERP. This means, if your company mainly relies on local business without considering Local SEO, it is time to do. Here are some ways to do-

  • Post your address on the website with the map
  • Target local location when choosing keywords for SEO and PPC. 
  • Focus on off-page SEO

2. Voice will remain

Siri that was launched in 2011 has exploded in the market, giving businesses to offer something new. If you want your business to grow using an innovative solution, then you need to implement a voice search. According to the report from eMarketer, more than 100 million people will use a voice assistant in the US and soon will spread in other countries. Voice search is quicker than text, making it a search-friendly option.

3. Mobile Indexing at High Level

Rolled out in 2018, mobile-first indexing was flagged where websites in the mobile versions were welcomed. If you are building a website, then it should carry high-quality content, an AMP version, and mobile compatibility to survive in the competition. 

4. Viral Content

We are living at the time of memes and viral content production. Each online business uses a viral content method to promote the brand and reach out to the maximum audience. Moreover, people are inclined towards visuals to reach infographics and video content than the article. In case your content is excellent in terms of visuals and information, then other sites will post the same. For instance, if you are running a digital marketing company and created an infographic titled “Most happening digital marketing strategy in 2019” with examples, then other websites will post your infographic and link to your site. This will boost your website SEO.

5. Mobile First

More than half of all internet traffic comes from mobile devices. In 2020, this figure is set to rise since the number of internet users and smartphones is set to rise. Moreover, Google has also decided to shift its algorithm towards mobile-first indexing. Websites having low resolution, low readability, and low navigation do not fare well with the search engine. If you are moving from the desktop version to mobile, then design your website accordingly. You can implement below things-

  • Accelerated Mobile Pages are responsive which translates to higher rankings
  • Larger typography and bigger buttons

6. Long-Tail Keywords

More than half of business owners fail to understand the importance of long-tail keywords or keyword research. Also, have no idea about how long the keyword should be for the content purpose. For an SEO point of view, long-tail keywords matter the most. In 2020, the trend of long-tail keywords is set to grow where search engines will push the content of the website used long tail keywords rightly.

Long-tail keywords do make up the majority of user searches because it is how people naturally type. For example, the Headphones keyword is added with “Best headphones under $100. Long-tail keywords also help in getting higher conversion rates compared to short-tail keywords.

Conclusion

SEO can either make or break your business. Staying updated as per the trend is essential. More than 40% of traffic comes from organic results. In 2020, it would be exciting to see how SEO will bring a massive change in online business.

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8 Budget-Friendly SEO Tips for Small Businesses https://thirdslash.com/8-budget-friendly-seo-tips-for-small-businesses/ https://thirdslash.com/8-budget-friendly-seo-tips-for-small-businesses/#respond Tue, 03 Dec 2019 11:26:28 +0000 https://thirdslash.com//?p=1396 For many small businesses, the cost of marketing and optimizing the website is beyond the required budget. Owners come into the market with a limited budget, unable to spend much on marketing. Monthly spending for SEO and other marketing services may not fall under the necessary budget, but that does not mean you have a small presence. You do not have to allocate a considerable budget for SEO when it can be done within a low amount or no amount. Using the right tactics is the best way to save money for online marketing. 

One of the significant benefits of using SEO tactic is to improve the visibility in the search engine. With the blend of on-page optimization, link building, and social media marketing, SEO can be a successful strategy. If you do not have the required budget to hire a digital marketing company for SEO implementation, then this blog is for you. We now take you to 8 budget-conscious SEO tips to implement for small businesses

1. Presenting Enough SEO boosting Content

Each of your websites should contain SEO optimized content having limited word content. Each content on the website should carry thorough information that can also make sense for the search engine to rank your site on top. Do check how competitors are posting content on their site and why search engine pushes their content on the top. 

2. Discard Duplicate Content

Usually, search engines do not penalize websites for duplicate content on the website. However, some content duplication on the site can confuse the search engine bots and get your site ranked lower on the page. To find if there is any duplicate content on your website, visit Google Webmaster Tools and go to Search Appearances > HTML Improvements to see which materials are duplicate. Removing them can help search engine bot to push the right content to the top search page.

3. Giving your Website a Facelift

According to one survey, nearly the staff itself build 40 percent of SMB websites. This is because small businesses do not have enough budget to hire a professional agency. This is why many small businesses face issues in succeeding. However, making the website look appealing is not that hard. Look for a digital agency that charges less and gives your website a facelift using SEO technique. Giving your site a professional touch can help to work well in a search engine. 

4. Optimizing website Pages

Usually, search engines take their cue from the title, URL, headings, and content of each page to know about your site. One of the cost-effective methods of SEO is by creating separate pages for each product and use appropriate keywords. However, make sure you do not overstuff the content with keywords in an attempt to get a better ranking. Search engines are becoming smarter than before and will penalize your website is not optimized well.

5. Creating Back-Link

Creating links and back-link is the most effective and cost-effective web optimization tricks. For instance, you are mentioning a product in the blog post and linking it back to the brand. Including quality links from other websites on your pages will also work best. Creating backlinks is the best way to gain traffic for your small business. 

6. Making Business Information easy to find

Another useful SEO tips to follow is to make it easy for people to contact your business. Always place your business email address or phone number in the header and footer to ensure it is visible to people. As a part of SEO strategy, adding contact details on your site will help to index on the search engine. 

7. Search for the Mystery Link Donors

One of the easy ways to gain backlinks to your website is by conducting Google search for the brand or business name of the individual site that has mentioned your brand but fails to provide a backlink. Connect with the website owner and ask to add the link to mention your brand.

8. Optimizing Videos for better Search

Videos, similar to images if well optimized, can bring good traffic. Creating appealing video content on your site and optimizing it well can help in bringing good traffic. Create a title, file name, and description-having keywords that will work best for your website. You do not have to hire a professional and pay extra for video optimization. Once you learn the method, you can do it by yourself. You can even add videos on YouTube, which offers a field to add a description of your video and product. This will help in gaining better traffic to your traffic and is an effective SEO method.

Conclusion

Following the above-mentioned budget-conscious SEO tips will work effectively for small businesses if used with strategy. Even though these tips require no monetary investment, but does require your time. Connect with the right digital marketing team that can assist in getting the best out of SEO with the lowest of the budget.

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NoFollow Link Update – Google Introduces 2 New Link Attributes in 2019 https://thirdslash.com/nofollow-link-update-google-introduces-2-new-link-attributes-in-2019/ https://thirdslash.com/nofollow-link-update-google-introduces-2-new-link-attributes-in-2019/#respond Fri, 13 Sep 2019 11:46:29 +0000 https://thirdslash.com//?p=1259 Recently, Google, the search engine leader announced a major change in its NoFollow links (rel= “nofollow), which will now be seen as a “hint”. Earlier, these HTML attributes were limited as a directive, which means Google followed the NoFollow, period. Now, with the latest update, Google adds two additional link attributes, to follow more context about the content. Until this new change is implemented completely, any like with rel=the search engine giant under search algorithms would not count “nofollow” attribute added. 

What is NoFollow Link?

Introduced by Google in 2005, NoFollow is an HTML attribute added to links. It was originally designed to fight against spam comments on blogs. Moreover, it was originally evolved to use on advertising links and for generated links that aren’t trustworthy. 


nofollow screenshot

How these new attributes function?

In this new NoFollow attribute update for sponsored content and user-generated content, there will be three functions-

  • rel=”sponsored”- The new attributes will help in identifying links on sites creating advertisements, sponsorships and components agreements
  • rel=”ugc”- The UGC attributes value is for links within user-generated content including comments and forum posts.
  • rel=”nofollow”- This attribute is for cases where you want to link with a page that doesn’t fall under the endorsement. 

Official statement on NoFollow attributes

When nofollow was introduced, Google would not count any link marked this way as a signal to use within our search algorithms. This has now changed.

All the link attributes — sponsored, UGC and nofollow — are treated as hints about which links to consider or exclude within Search. We’ll use these hints — along with other signals — as a way to better understand how to appropriately analyze and use links within our systems.”

How this new change can benefit Google?

Since Google introduced two new NoFollow link attributes- one indicating nofollow link from user-generated content (UGC), second indicating that nofollow link is on sponsored content.

For Google, this is beneficial because both can help with link calculations. The sponsored link that No Follow comes up with will give Google a strong hint not to give any PageRank. Further, it contributes to Google’s understanding towards the web page.

3 Main Reasons behind this NoFollow Update

  1. Because traffic is down and less people on forums, creating links
  2. Because blogging is down and less bloggers publishing and creating links
  3. Videos and audio content aren’t producing links as before

With this new update, there will be a change in SEO too. The announcement will change the way links for ranking calculated. This change will also help search engines to count the links, which were not followed.

Impact on SEO with Google’s NoFollow, Sponsored & UGC Link Attributes

This major update by Google in its 14 yrs. old unfollow link, there will be a huge impact on SEO campaign. Here are some changes the user can witness in SEO-

  • Link Attribution can be done in three ways- “nofollow”, “sponsored”, and “ugc”. These three carry different meanings.
  • Under ranking, Google will now treat each of Unfollow attributes as “Hints”. This means, there will be an impact on site ranking.
  • Google will continue to ignore Nofollow links for crawling and indexing purposes, but will strictly follow from March 1, 2020.
  • For publishers, Google won’t offer any incentive for changing. However, the publisher will need to reconsider its strategy.
  • To avoid penalties, Pain Links should use “nofollow” or “sponsored” attribute
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How to Craft Page Title Tags for Better Ranking? https://thirdslash.com/page-title-tags-for-better-ranking/ https://thirdslash.com/page-title-tags-for-better-ranking/#respond Fri, 16 Aug 2019 10:52:58 +0000 https://thirdslash.com//?p=1119 Ask any SEO expert, you will know the importance of Title Tag. Title Tag is the first thing users look into search results. It is also an important factor because Google uses it to determine the topic of the page. Search engine results display the title tags, HTML title tag, as clickable links for a given result and are important for usability and SEO. Title tags are used in three places like search engine results page, web browsers, and social networks. It is assumed that the title tag of a web page is accurate and describes the page content well. Google search engine generally displays a title tag with some limitations and hence keeping the title under the limit helps to display the tag correctly in a search engine. 

Page title

What are Title Tags?

Title tag belongs to Head section-specifying title of the webpage. It appears in the headline in the SERP and on social networks. Google usually displays 50-60 characters of the title tag title tags has to be clear in all sense to provide complete idea about the idea behind the content.

Below are some of the ways to optimize the title tags for better SEO and user experience  :

1. Title Length

If the title is way too long, google search engine may cut it off to a prescribed length of 60 characters or 600-pixel container whichever is lowest. The best practice is to avoid all capital letters in the title of the page. All capital titles are hard to read and take more space on the display. It also depends on the search engine to display the title and suffix with ellipse “…”. Though longer titles may work for social sharing it’s good to be mindful to be how the title appears in search engine. 

2. SEO keywords

The rule is not to do SEO keywords overdo in the title. There is no restriction in google for long titles, but overdoing the SEO keywords may result in bad user experience. The best practice is to avoid titles that are just a list of keywords or repeated variations of the keywords as a google search engine understands the variation of the keywords.

3. Unique Page Title

Assigning unique title for each page helps search engine to understand the uniqueness of the content for each page, resulting in higher click rates. It may seem impossible to craft a unique title for each page, but CMS and code-based templates facilitate, unique titles for almost every important page of the website. The best practice is to avoid titles like “Home”, “New Page”, “Product Page” etc. 

4. Important Keywords

Some user study experience has shown that people scan two initial words of the headline. The best practice is to have keywords closer to the beginning of the title and these keywords have more impact on search engine results.

5. Branding

In case of a well-established brand, adding the brand name in the title of the page may help to increase the click rate. The best practice is to add the brand name at the end of the title except for home page or about page where the brand focus is required. Google may automatically add the brand name to the title, so keep an eye on search engine results. 

6. Customers First

The focus while writing a title tag is on the customer. The best practice is to focus on user experience as well as optimization and keyword usage. The title tag must convey positive and accurate message possible. 

With all the best practices mentioned above, title tags are not complicated; they just take a bit of effort and time. Aim to continuously test and improve. To get the most of your web page, never neglect small things like Title Tags to get a bigger picture. Such small changes can help in improving user experience and bring more traffic.

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6 Facebook Marketing Ideas That Work Best in 2019 https://thirdslash.com/6-facebook-marketing-ideas-that-work-best-in-2019/ https://thirdslash.com/6-facebook-marketing-ideas-that-work-best-in-2019/#respond Thu, 15 Aug 2019 08:54:36 +0000 https://thirdslash.com//?p=1218 According to the DMR report, more than 65% of Facebook user log on daily to check the regular feed. For brands and individual, this social media is the major platform where they can promote service and life. For business marketers, it is critical to have an active Facebook presence and be ahead in the crowd. Presently, there are more than 1 billion daily active Facebook users, and so marketers need to be very smart in terms of strategies to grow their audience.

If you are looking forward to market your business on Facebook, then we bring you with 6 such Facebook marketing ideas

1. Targeting Specific Audience

One of the best things about marketing on Facebook or any such platform is you can target a specific audience. On Facebook, you can target French and English speaking women between the ages of 31-56 living nearby. Facebook has the ‘ad targeting’ feature allowing the marketer to market target audience. The feature also offers marketer with dedicated time and resources to analyze customer base. However, you need to make sure that you target the right audience as per the product you are promoting.

2. Create Engagement with Contest

Engagement is the key to successful digital marketing agency. Many brands are running their campaign on Facebook. Therefore, you need to be very accurate and offer something beneficial to your audience. Running a contest with an attractive incentive is one of the best ways of engagement. You can run any contest to bring the attention of users.

3. Marketing through short videos

Video marketing is certainly the most effective way to reach out to the maximum audience. You might have already used this method, but still cannot get the desired result. There are two reasons between the two-

  • Your videos are quite long
  • They are not much engaging

Facebook users want engaging videos that have fun and keep them hooked thoroughly. Users are spending time on a social platform to find something exciting and have fun. If the brand is not offering what they want, they will not consider following the same. The average daily video views on Facebook is about 8 billion currently. Marketers need to create video engagement content to target audience.

4. Boosting Facebook Page Posts

Whether you are using posts filled with content, offers & contests or promoting an event, use The Paid Social Strategy to make it reach the wider audience. Recently, there was an update for brand advertisers where it mentioned about cutting down the organic post of pages unless shared with customers. However, you can boost your business posts for little as $1 per day. This will help in reaching the right audience.

5. Promoting to a look like an Audience

There is a diverse user base on Facebook, so there is a chance of people similar to your customer who are active on Facebook. The advertising platform helps to match these users with a customer email list. This new audience created is called a Lookalike Audience. This audience shares similar characteristics with current customers allowing promoting content and products.

6. Taking advantage of Facebook’s Pixel Data & Custom Conversions

Facebook Pixels is the best marketing tool. Pixel is the Facebook code that you place in your website’s HTML that triggers every time someone acts on your website. The tool lets you build custom conversions from the action of the sites. The action then is recorded within the pixel data on Facebook.

Conclusion-

It is important that you hire a professional team of social media marketers working efficiently on Facebook brand promotion. 

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