Month: February 2019

Categories
Digital Marketing

Is Your Website ADA Compliant?

I’d like to preface this post by reminding you all that I’m not a lawyer. If you have any doubt as to whether or not your website’s online presence is in compliance with ADA law, please consult your lawyer.

That said, most of us want to make visiting our business a great experience for people from all walks of life – and all ability levels. This means making not only our storefronts accessible, but our online spaces, too.

While we should strive to make our sites easier for everyone to use, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) actually stipulates that certain businesses must have compliant websites. Here’s what you need to know.

How the ADA Applies to the Internet

The Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, first came into law in 1990. At the time, the internet as we know it today did not exist at all. There was no thought given to evolving technology and no one could have predicted the future web landscape.

While the ADA gave people with disabilities the right to sue brick-and-mortar businesses not fully accessible to them, it didn’t originally cover web content. Now, it does – and we’re seeing lawsuits from web users who feel their needs aren’t being considered.

What issues are we seeing?

Let’s say, for example, someone who is vision impaired visits your website. There are screen reading tools that can transcribe your written text to audio, but they won’t automatically acknowledge or describe any of the other visuals on your website, like images.

A hearing impaired person can read the text on your website. They can’t enjoy your video commentary unless it is transcribed to include subtitles.

In short, businesses who are regulated by ADA guidelines must comply completely. This means they must be accessible in their stores, online, by mail, or via the phone. Anyone who wants to make a purchase from a business is protected, no matter which means of purchase they choose to take advantage of.

There are several examples (including the National Association of the Deaf v. Netflix) in which a business selling products have had their websites deemed “places of public accommodation.”

Which Businesses Need an ADA-Compliant Site?

Any business considered a place of public accommodation has to be ADA compliant, online and off. This is where they grey area comes into play. People running a blog or informational website, without sales considerations, likely don’t have to be.

Should they be? They’d certainly win more friends and influence more people, not to mention helping to make our world more accessibility-friendly.

According to the Bureau of Internet Accessibility, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) often struggles with how the ADA applies to websites. The department acknowledges that the wording of the legislation isn’t specific, but at the same time notes it’s broad enough to include websites in the legal definition of a business.

The ADA contains two titles pertaining to businesses and the question of websites. The DOJ claims that businesses falling under either must be accessible online:

  • Title II – This section talks about discrimination based on disabilities in both local and state government offices.
  • Title III – This section talks about discrimination based on disabilities in “places of public accommodations.” Examples include doctor’s offices, theaters, restaurants, and museums.

How to Make Your Website ADA Accessible

So you’ve decided your website needs to be accessible. What next? You need to take different user types and variables into consideration as you work to create accessible content.

The DOJ has referenced the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 when discussing how to make the appropriate modifications. This framework ensures all content is perceivable (accessible to a person’s senses), operable (within a person’s abilities), understandable, and robust enough to be used with or without assistive devices.

Not sure how to get started? The first thing you should do is find an auditing tool; most install as simple browser extensions and/or work by scanning a URL link for issues (like a lack of captions). These tools will make it easier for you to determine what areas are compliant and which need work.

The harsh reality is that bringing a website into ADA compliance can be time-consuming and costly. A lot of companies choose to work with agencies, for both auditing and actually implementing changes. This simplifies the process and ensures you have expert eyes watching at all times.

Self-adjustment is rarely easy for entry-level site owners. Costs may range into the thousands or higher depending on the type of content you work with. Unfortunately, this sometimes leaves business owners stuck between a rock and a hard place.

If You Can’t Afford It All…

If you can’t afford full accessibility right now, you shouldn’t give up on accessibility altogether. Instead, focus on the minimums and add accessibility in the future.

At a minimum, your website needs to:

  • Have text captions and/or alternative images that describe what is being shown. This allows screen readers to help users who can’t see images understand what is on the screen.
  • Have labels on web form slots so assistive devices can explain what they represent or want the user to input.
  • Feature color schemes that contain enough contrast so that buttons and other features are identifiable.
  • Have written transcripts for all content that is otherwise made up of audio or visual elements.
  • Have a clear, consistent layout from page to page so that menus and other features are easy to find and use.
  • Feature images that are not animated. Flashing images should not flash more than three times in a second, as this can be a seizure risk.
  • Be keyboard-friendly for those who can’t use mobile devices, touchscreens, or a mouse.

The ADA offers an online checklist to help you verify which points you’re meeting or missing along the way. They recommend looking at it like this: if you answer “no” to even one question, your site is probably (at least partially) non-compliant.

Remember – if you’re ever in doubt, consult a lawyer. It’s far better to be safe, rather than sorry, especially where lawsuits are concerned. While private lawsuits usually only force businesses to comply, you may still have to pay the suing party’s legal fees. If you ignore compliance requests, the DOJ can then seek additional punishment in the form of fines and other penalties. It’s simply not worth the risk.

Categories
SEO

6 Reasons Your Pay Per Click Campaigns Are Failing

Not getting the results you hoped for from your PPC campaigns? Seeing either little-to-no results or high costs per click? While it’s easy to blame the niche or the internet as a whole, the reality is most of the reasons you aren’t seeing a return on investment (ROI) are things you can control. I’ll help you better understand this complex issue in today’s post.

Your Keywords are All Wrong

It’s not that your keywords are all wrong; it’s that you’re probably using too many. As you assess your campaigns, take a look at which are actually converting. Take the top 12 percent and redirect your budget to those and those alone. Seriously. Ditch the rest.

Most research statistics reflect that the top 12 percent of your keyword list gives you most sales. The other 88 percent are eating up around 60-some percent of your total marketing budget.

What a waste!

It’s still important to experiment and test new keywords. Make sure your campaigns aren’t limited to broad-based keywords. Include longtail terms that are specific to your niche, products, and target audience as well. The goal is to find the best performing keywords and direct your budget accordingly.

Your Bid Budget Needs to Be Adjusted

We’d all like to believe that setting a low bid for clicks is the way to go. It will save you money, right? Well…yes – and no, too.

In the beginning, you should actually allow for a higher budget — possibly even higher than Google recommends for your keywords.

A lack of clicks makes it impossible to determine which of your keywords are performing better (see above). The more clicks you get, the easier it is to collect the data you need to analyze your campaign.

Let’s say, for example, the recommended budget for your keyword is $12 per click. Instead, set your budget at $30 per click. You’re not likely to end up paying that $30; you’ll probably spend a few dollars over the initial $12.

Consider this an investment. Take the data you get in that first week, adjust your budget, and watch your visibility improve.

Your Ad Text is Weird

You only have a limited amount of space for your ad text, so at first it may seem like you need to get creative. This really isn’t always the case. You are better off with clear, concise wording that describes exactly what you have to offer than something witty but vague. Save the creative word play for your landing page.

This next tip matters: the text you use needs to be clear and concise, but it also needs to directly relate to what your audience will see. Don’t, for example, set up an ad about warm winter boots and then send your customers to a landing page advertising your spring special on cute flats. No one likes feeling misled. Your headline and your destination need to match.

Your Landing Page is Tripping People Up

It’s not uncommon for a subpar landing page to be the true culprit when it comes to a lack of conversions. Your PPC ad may be great, but you won’t see any sales if the ad drives traffic to a boring, slow, or unorganized destination. It takes the average web user a mere 10 seconds to decide if the page they’ve landed on is worth exploring. It better not take more than half that time for your entire page to finish loading.

Your landing page needs to load quickly and feature relevant content. Contrary to popular belief, less is more when it comes to content. Vibrant graphics, great video, and easy-to-navigate text are key. This doesn’t mean you can’t include a lot of info, especially if it’s necessary, but what you do add should be organized and skimmable.

Don’t forget to test landing pages, too. Create a couple of different versions and conduct regular A/B split tests. Direct your ads to the one that does best while you adjust the second version or come up with something new. You may even find you have different landing pages for different keyword groups, based on the way those individual audiences react to the unique ways you present information.

You’re Asking for Too Much

What’s your actual goal? Do you want a potential lead to call you for information? Do you want them to download a free form? Should they click on the landing page to complete a purchase online? Maybe you want them to sign up for an email list so you can continue to cultivate the sale.

I’ve seen a lot of landing pages where all of the above are incorporated in different areas. The truth is your visitors aren’t going to perform multiple actions. They’re looking for clear, concise instructions and will likely do one thing for you. Be clear about what that thing is and your action conversions will skyrocket.

Your Audience Targeting is Off

Your marketing team has probably spent a lot of time discussing company goals. You have great ad campaign ideas, timelines for rolling out new products, and targets for conversions.

So what’s the problem?

It’s all about you. Your customers don’t care how many widgets you want to sell this quarter. They don’t even care about your cute marketing graphics. They want to know what on earth your widget is going to do for them. Why do they want it? Do they really want it? What would they rather see instead?

Your landing page needs to answer all of these questions and more. It also needs to offer solutions for potential customers who have more questions. Can they trust you? Can they speak to someone with additional questions or concerns? Make sure your customers are receiving the educational information they are really looking for.

Boosting PPC conversions isn’t difficult, but it can be time consuming. You need to be dedicated to assessing, reassessing, testing, and adjusting your campaigns on a regular basis. Your keywords, ad text, audience demographics, and landing page layout should all be subject to regular scrutiny. The more flexible you are, the less likely your campaigns are to completely flop.

Categories
SEO

How to Get That Coveted Google Featured Snippet Spot

Let‘s preface this article with a small task (no hard labor, we promise).

Bring up Google search; type in “how to tie a shoe.” Hit search.

Now, look at the top of the page. Instead of showing regular results when people ask “how to” questions, Google now includes the featured snippet — a clear, concise answer to the posed question. These are usually short, surface-level explanations that get right to the point.

Why snippets? It‘s all about being useful to the searcher. Users get the information they need quickly, making them far more likely to click through and explore connected websites in more detail. In regard to SEO, this should and does change your goals slightly. Instead of focusing on only the top search result, you should target Google’s featured snippet spot, too.

So how do you land one of these coveted spots? There’s nothing you can do other than create good content, really, but most research shows that ensuring you optimize your pages for Google can help. Whether that means specially-formatting a question, recipe, DIY, or something else, we’ll teach you how to do that in this post.

Know Your Own Niche

Let’s say you’re a veterinarian. What types of questions do you commonly get from pet owners? Are they asking you what to feed their cats or how to stop their dogs from jumping? Try Googling some of the most common concerns you hear about and see what comes up in the snippet spot.

Is the content already yours? If so, congrats!

If not (far more common, frankly), take a look at the question as well as the “People also ask” section to check out similar questions. What type of content page could you add to your site that answers the same question but in a more concise, detailed manner? Can you better utilize keywords or create stronger visuals? Study what your competitors are doing and then do it better.

Answer New Questions

Tools like Answer the Public make it easier than ever before to figure out what people are searching for online. Type in a simple keyword and you’ll see some pretty specific examples outlining what people are looking for. Which of these is most unique? Pick an angle and start writing.

Format Your Pages Carefully

One of the things Google looks for when creating a snippet is a quick answer to the question at hand. This means your intro paragraph needs to be short, sweet, and concise, with an exact answer. You can expand on the subject and flesh out the details in the body of the article or blog post, but you need to make sure the opening answers the question. Period. Keep the answer or list short and sweet so it shows completely in the search results.

Use Different Types of Content

Google doesn’t only look for paragraphs of text to feature in the snippets. The algorithms search for other “signifiers,” too.

When you see featured snippets, you’re likely to see:

  • Short paragraphs answering specific questions
  • Numbered lists (e.g., steps in instructions)
  • Short bulleted lists complementing a brief paragraph of text
  • Tables showing rankings or other details in the form of a list
  • Clips from YouTube videos associated with the topic
  • Text from one website with images from another (dual exposure)

Combine different types of content on your website and evaluate which are performing best in terms of reaching the snippet position for your keywords. Make adjustments to some of your other pages based on your results. You may find it helpful to combine content types to increase your odds of having your page appear in the top position.

Do Your Homework

The majority of featured snippets aren’t based on simple, single-word keywords. They’re more likely to be cemented in long-tail keywords as parts of questions or longer search phrases. It often seems as though some of the snippets are filled by keywords with lower search volumes, too. For this reason, it’s important to include both popular and low competition keywords.

Build a FAQ Page

Answering multiple questions in one place is a great way to increase your odds of being featured in the snippet section. The best way to do this is to build a comprehensive FAQ page for your website. Each answer should start with a short, concise statement that gives a simple but clear answer to the question. Sentences or paragraphs after that can expand in more detail. Again, it’s important that a clear, factual answer be included in the first part of your text. Get rid of the fluff and be as direct as possible.

Create a Chart

There are a lot of great chart and table tools out there; use these to insert either or both right inside your on-page content. Google loves lists and tables. They’re structured and easy to read. Be sure to clearly include product or service names, brand names, prices, weights, or anything else commonly asked on your lists.

Utilize Images

As noted above, sometimes Google will choose a snippet text from one website, but an image from a different website. In some cases, they’ll even grab an image as the answer, especially if it is a graph or contains informational text. This is why it is important no only to create great content, but to make sure your image meta tags are properly completed as well. The more more information you can give the search engine crawlers about the content on your page, the better your odds of being featured.

The reality is that the featured snippet spot isn’t something you’re going to obtain easily. It takes a lot of work and concentrated effort, but the benefits are certainly worth the work. In the process you’ll create and discover a ton of content ideas, improve the quality of your on-page content, and ultimately improve your site’s traffic over time.

Have you been featured in a snippet? We’d love to hear about your achievement and how you got there!

Categories
Social Media

11 Easy Social Media Graphics Tools for Businesses

As a business owner, you know the importance of having creative content on hand for your social media pages. That said, it isn’t always affordable to hire an outside social consultant or graphic designer — especially in the early stages. The good news is there are a ton of easy-to-use, effective online graphic design tools and apps to help. Here’s a few of the most popular to help you outshine the competition.

Canva

Canva is an incredibly popular tool, and for good reason. This drag-and-drop platform is simple to use, with dozens of pre-sized templates available for all of your social needs. Need something a little different? Start with a blank slate and create a custom size before you start exploring the images, frames, and features.

Canva is primarily free, but you can upgrade to a pro account or simply pay by the piece for embellishments as you use them. The a la carte method usually costs around $1 per piece. Upload your own images, use the ones Canva provides, or mix and match. It’s easy to create pieces that consistently match your brand or specific campaigns.

PicMonkey

Another great tool you can use to create complete social images is PicMonkey. It’s also free for the base, but you can upload to an inexpensive paid account for around $5/month. PicMonkey is an especially useful tool if you like creating collages with a series of products, staff photos, or even customer generated images.

Adobe Spark

With Adobe Spark, you aren’t just limited to still images. You can also create videos, animated social posts, and even full website pages. This is an incredibly useful tool for businesses who want to create branded stories incorporating different types of visual content. Start with the free version and then consider the individual plan ($9.99/month) or the team plan ($19.99/month per license).

Snappa

Have you ever looked at a gorgeous image in your social feed and wondered why you can’t get your text overlay to look as nice over the images behind it? Snappa is the solution you’ve been waiting for. This app is specifically designed to help with text design, placing a great deal of emphasis on help you get your background images and text to pair together just right. You’ll be able to darken or color the photo and alter some of the other effects, creating perfect balance.

Placeit

Ever wonder how designers make it look like their own website is on a screen within a photo? Apps like Placeit make it easy for you to create that effect on  your own. Placeit offers a wide variety of templates for both video and photos. You’ll use your own URL to grab a screenshot to insert into the image. The app does the rest!

Pablo by Buffer

Buffer created their own social media image editor, which is a great tool for anyone, but especially if you are a Buffer user to begin with. Their tool is packed with royalty-free images free for use, or you can upload your own stock choices or personal photos.

Pablo’s resizing tools are also super compared to most other sites. You’ll just have to adjust your text overlays to make sure everything is properly aligned. Or, you can use their free Chrome extension and make it even easier to use. Simple. Free. Easy!

Word Swag

WordSwag is a super fun mobile app you can use on any smartphone (and yes, that means it’s iPhone and Android compatible). There is a small cost — $3.99 for Android or $4.99 for iOS. Use it to upload images of your own; then, choose from a wide variety of text templates to create something entirely new. It’s perfect for creating gorgeous quote images or even those (hopefully) viral memes with thousands of reshares. All you have to do is create your design and upload them to your social platforms.

Piktochart

Do infographics make you drool? We love them, but in many cases they do require a bit of an investment in both time and money. Look no further than Piktochart. This app is available for free, but you can also upgrade to a Lite version ($15/month) or Pro ($29/mo). The range of templates varies greatly, so you’ll want to consider the amount of artwork you want to create on a monthly basis as you choose. Start with the free version to test it out, though!

Over

Trying to figure out how to keep your Insta stories moving along? Over helps you get your design work over with (pun totally intended) and makes it easy to upload graphics with shapes, graphics, and text. Use it to drive your stories towards a more professional look and feel. The base version of the app, only available on iOS, is free; the Pro version is $9.99/month.

Skitch

Not every image you create has to come from an original photo. Skitch is an amazing tool that lets you capture screenshots. Use them individually or collage them together to create a gorgeous panorama of images. Circle important pieces of information, blur sensitive text, or add colorful overlays. This app’s annotation features leave a lot of room for creativity.

Desygner

Desygner (we see your clever name!) is well-known for its ease-of-use on both desktop and mobile devices, though you can still use it on the web. It’s easy to use and, like so many other apps, offers a stunning library of free images you can incorporate into your designs. Everything can be customized and rearranged, from text to layers. This app is free and can be upgraded for $6.95 for additional templates and features.

There are dozens of incredible apps out there – but sometimes, that’s exactly the issue. Figuring out which works best often comes down to trial and error. Experiment with as many as you’d like and then consider investing in the upgrades only if they really work for you. Remember – the point should always be to make work easier and more efficient (not increase costs and add more tasks). With tools like these, social media graphics will be easier than ever to manage and make.

Need more help than an app can provide? Hey, we get it. Social media marketing is hectic! Reach out to us here at the office to explore how we can help.

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