Blog

  • Have You Experienced Some Ranking Drops Lately?

    Have You Experienced Some Ranking Drops Lately?

    Last March 11, 2021 — two updates took place: 1) a Google Search Ranking Update and 2) an unconfirmed Google Local Search Algorithm Update.

    Were you impacted?

    Yes, It’s been a busy first quarter in 2021. There were lots of unconfirmed Google updates starting January to March.

    Here is what you can do: 

    1. Check your analytics like Google Analytics and your Google Search Console to find some fluctuations and some drastic drops in rankings. 
    2. Get the date when your site dropped and check https://www.seroundtable.com/category/google-updates for any confirmed and unconfirmed Google algorithm updates. 
    3. Review what the algorithm updates are. They may shed light on what might have impacted your site.
  • Ultimate Pinterest Image Size Chart for 2021

    Ultimate Pinterest Image Size Chart for 2021

    Pinterest is a great social media platform to share, discover, and collect images or “pins” based on hobbies and interests. When you post a pin, it is important that you post the right Pinterest image size so that Pinterest won’t have to resize it. This way, your pin won’t be blurred or distorted.

    Here is the ultimate Pinterest image size guide for 2021 shared by Tailwind to help your pins perform better:

    Standard Pins2:3
    Square Pins1:1
    Long Pins1:2.1
    Infographic Pins1:3
    Carousel Pins 2:3 or 1:1
    Collections Pins 2:3 for first image, 1:1 for additional
    Story Pins9:16

    Below is also the chart for Pinterest video pins:

    Standard Video Pins2:3
    Square Video Pins1:1
    Vertical Video Pins (Portraits)9:16
    Long Video Pins1:2

    Read more: https://www.tailwindapp.com/blog/pinterest-image-size.

  • Long-Tail Keywords: Find and Use Them for SEO

    Long-Tail Keywords: Find and Use Them for SEO

    Long-tail keywords may generate lower search volumes, but they tend to generate higher conversion rates. This is because long-tail keywords are more targeted compared with short-tail keywords. Converting visitors to paying customers with long-tail keywords depends on how you utilize it on your pages.

    Consider the following questions:

    • What are long-tail keywords?
    • How common are long-tail keywords?
    • Why use long-tail keywords?
    • How to find long-tail keywords?
    • How to optimize your pages for long-tail keywords?

    Takeaways:

    • Competition and intent are other important factors for keyword quality, aside from search volume.
    • Long-tail keywords have less competition.
    • Long-tail keywords have higher conversion rates.
    • Long-tail keywords include short-tail keywords.
    • Long-tail keywords are perfect for PPC.
    • Long-tail keywords are what Google wants.
    • Use long-tail keywords for H2/H3 headings to optimize your page for long-tail keywords.
    • Optimize anchor texts for internal and external links.

    Read full post here from SEO PowerSuite: Long-Tail Keywords: Find and Use Them for SEO

    If you are looking for an SEO tool for your website, check out SEO PowerSuite, which we are using now.

  • Top 3 Productivity Software for Your Business

    Top 3 Productivity Software for Your Business

    Productivity software is tools that help you save time and resources as you perform your day-to-day tasks and business operations. No matter what size and type of business you have, productivity software like martial arts software can increase your efficiency and help your business grow.

    In this post, we will share our top 3 productivity software according to different classifications. These include our top 3 productivity software for productivity suites, project management/collaboration, instant messaging, scheduling/calendar, time-tracking, note-taking tools, email management, digital marketing, CRM, and more.

    What Is Productivity Software

    Benefits of Productivity Software

    Back to Table of Contents

    With a myriad of productivity tools, you might find it hard to pinpoint the best productivity tool fit for your business. We have categorized our top 3 productivity software below based on classifications and functions.

    Productivity Suite

    Productivity Software for Project Management/Collaboration

    Productivity Software for Instant Messaging

    Productivity Software for Scheduling/Calendar

    Productivity Software for Time-Tracking

    Productivity Software for Note-Taking

    Productivity Software for Email Management

    Productivity Software for Email Marketing

    Back to the Table of contents

    So there you go with our top 3 productivity software for your different tasks. We hope that somehow our list can help you begin your way to better productivity.

    Are there other productivity tools you want to learn about? Please let us know in the comment section below.

    Back to the Top

    Related reading: 4 Best Accounting Software for Small Business

  • Google Drive and FTP

    Google Drive and FTP

    How to upload files from Google drive to FTP and how to download files from FTP to Google Drive.

    This seems to be easy; yet for many, they may find themselves confused when they realized that only the drive C is normally shown on the FTP dashboard,

    Find the directory tree and from there you can select the drive and that is it.

    The example below shows that of CoreFTP directory tree and selection.

    coreftp directory tree
  • Google Data Studio: Best Practices, Trends, and Tips

    Google Data Studio: Best Practices, Trends, and Tips

    How to Sort the Difference and Percentage Change in Google Data Studio

    Google Data Studio is a very powerful data reporting tool. Like many other tools, the default settings sometimes have their limitations simply because users have different needs.

    Like the authors of this post in SEER, we are struggling of trying ways to sort out the change or difference (either percentage or absolute value) between metrics. Fortunately, this article has been a great help: HOW TO BUILD SORTABLE CHANGE COLUMNS IN GOOGLE DATA STUDIO.

    This sounds like a very basic feature, yet it is not right out of the box. Yes, it is very basic. yet absolutely very important. Having the ability to sort the changes (percentage) and the difference (absolute value) between metrics could easily show the best performing and the least performing metrics.

  • How to Display the Last Updated Date of Your WP Posts/Pages

    How to Display the Last Updated Date of Your WP Posts/Pages

    There are different methods to display the last updated date on your posts:

    • functions.php
    • Themes templates (like single.php, archive.php, and other templates)
    • WP plugin

    Check out the full article at of my favorite WP tutorial sites: https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/display-the-last-updated-date-of-your-posts-in-wordpress/

    In this post, we’ve decided to go for the first method above, and that is via the functions.php.

    You will need to add this code to your theme’s functions.php:

    function wpb_last_updated_date( $content ) {
    $u_time = get_the_time('U'); 
    $u_modified_time = get_the_modified_time('U'); 
    if ($u_modified_time >= $u_time + 86400) { 
    $updated_date = get_the_modified_time('F jS, Y');
    $updated_time = get_the_modified_time('h:i a'); 
    $custom_content .= '<p class="last-updated">Last updated on '. $updated_date . ' at '. $updated_time .'</p>';  
    } 
     
        $custom_content .= $content;
        return $custom_content;
    }
    add_filter( 'the_content', 'wpb_last_updated_date' );

    Add custom CSS to style the appearance. Use this CSS as your starting point:

    .last-updated {
        font-size: small;
        text-transform: uppercase;
        background-color: #fffdd4;
    } 

    Source: https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/display-the-last-updated-date-of-your-posts-in-wordpress/

    WP Plugin

    If you prefer a WP plugin, you can use this plugin: WP Last Modified Info. Using this plugin is pretty straightforward.

  • Day 6: Map Your Keywords to Your Content (Why, What, and How) [continuation]

    Day 6: Map Your Keywords to Your Content (Why, What, and How) [continuation]

    On day 5, we’ve started to map our keywords to relevant webpages. 

    Assuming you already started the task on Day 5: Map Your Keywords to Relevant Web Pages — then you would have realized that 30 minutes is not enough. Depending on the number of keywords you have, this might take more time than what we allotted.

    Nevertheless, make it a point to complete the mapping of your top keywords (at least) to relevant pages.

    At this point, all you need to do is to continue what you have started on day 5 using your favorite tool. We use both the SEOPowerSuite (Rank Tracker) and the SEOPowerSuite (WebSite Auditor) to map out our keywords to relevant pages.

    Further reading: SEO How-To: Mapping Keywords to Content

    Go back to Tip 5: 30-Day SEO Plan under DIY Internet Marketing.

  • Day 5: Map Your Keywords to Relevant Web Pages

    Day 5: Map Your Keywords to Relevant Web Pages

    Assuming you already did the task on Day 4: Filter Your List of Keywords and Key Phrases to Focus on What Matters Most — it is time for us to filter those keywords or key phrases.

    What is keyword mapping?

    Keyword mapping is the technique of assigning all the keywords you have located to relevant pages of your internet site. So a keyword map, in its most basic form, is a spreadsheet along with your key phrases and pages of your internet site which are relevant for those given keywords

    If you are using SEOPowerSuite (WebSite Auditor), then you won’t need to create the spreadsheet. It has a module that can turn your days’ work into minutes. Download its free edition now.

    WebSite Auditor allows you to map your pages quickly. It helps you to plan your keyword distribution throughout your website accurately.

    Why is keyword mapping important?

    It’s a crucial step in SEO because, without it, your site will likely have the following problems:

    • Pages do not rank because they lack relevant key phrases;
    • Keyword cannibalization is when different pages rank for the same search term;
    • The content gap happens when you don’t map out and hence missed out some important and cost-effective key phrases.

    Source: Mapping keywords to relevant web pages

    Go back to Tip 5: 30-Day SEO Plan under DIY Internet Marketing.

  • Day 4: Filter Your List of Keywords and Key Phrases to Focus on What Matters Most

    Day 4: Filter Your List of Keywords and Key Phrases to Focus on What Matters Most

    Assuming you already did the task on Day 3: Discover New Keywords to Generate More Traffic for Your Website — it is time for us to filter those keywords or key phrases.

    Now that you have a massive list of new keywords or key phrases that you’ve just discovered, it is time to remove those that would not produce traffic or conversions.

    In filtering, you want to have your metrics in place. To start with, here are 3 metrics to have in mind:

    Practice dictates that the keywords or key phrases having these criteria should be excluded from your list granting you are using SEOPowerSuite (Rank Tracker) as your SEO tool:

    • keyword difficulty is over 66 (remove even if keyword length is less than 6 words and search volume is more than 50)
    • search volume is below 50 (remove even if keyword length is less than 6 words and keyword difficulty less than 67)
    • keyword length is more than 5 words (do not remove if search volume is more than 50 and keyword difficulty is less than 67)

    Note: I think the tutorial in SEOPowerSuite in filtering found keywords is a bit different. All criteria should be there to have the keyword or key phrases being excluded.

    Considering on these 2 more criteria (optional) may help improve your choices:

    • Avoid the highest competition and
    • Select keywords with the best KEI.

    Other SEO tools, like SEmRush, might have a nearly similar feature.

    How long does it take to filter your list of keywords or key phrases?

    It takes about 30 minutes if you are using an SEO tool, and perhaps about an hour or two if you are tracking it manually via the search engines.

    Go back to Tip 5: 30-Day SEO Plan under DIY Internet Marketing.

    Source: Filtering found keywords

  • 2021 January: Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update Signals

    2021 January: Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update Signals

    There are some signals and signs of a Google search ranking algorithm update touching down in the past day or so. The tools, most of them, are showing huge shifts in the Google organic search rankings. Just note, that the December core update was done rolling out around December 16th according to Google. Google does announce core updates, so I doubt it is a core update.

    Also seeing significant changes

    Google has not announced an update, it might be one of those quirks that we see every now and then or it might be one of those unconfirmed updates.

    But yes we are seeing huge shifts and movements in our organic results here at brodneil.com

    Source: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-ranking-update-signals-30726.html

  • Day 2: Know Your Competitors’ Key Phrases or Keywords

    Day 2: Know Your Competitors’ Key Phrases or Keywords

    Assuming you did the task on Day 1, Seed Keywords and Their Rankings — it is time for us to do some research on our competitors’ keywords or key phrases. 

    The more keywords we can extract, the better. You may need to list the top 3 competitors you have in mind. Then you can add as you progress in the future.

    You may use SEO tools like SEMRush or PowerSuite: Rank Tracker. Or you may do it manually, which might be time-consuming. We recommend using a tool: either FREE or a premium keyword research tool.

    How long does it take to search on my competitors’ key phrases and keywords?

    It takes about 30 minutes if you are using an SEO tool; and perhaps about an hour or two if you are doing it manually via the search engines.

    Go back to Tip 5: 30-Day SEO Plan under DIY Internet Marketing.

    Source: Spotting your competitors’ keywords

    .

  • Review of ProfitSuite (serapisnow.com)

    Review of ProfitSuite (serapisnow.com)

    Here at BrodNeil.com, we spend a few of our resources testing new products/services.

    We’ve decided to test ProfitSuite since we hardly see any real review in the Internet. Most of the reviews we read seem to be submissions or at least a spun copy of a marketing review coming from a similar source.

    What is ProfitSuite?

    The vision is pretty good, or at least the sales pitch.

    Get ALL for a LOW, one-time price for the following:

    • Unlimited cloud hosting,
    • File Storage
    • Webinars,
    • Autoresponder,
    • Funnel Building, and
    • Graphic Design.

    Again, the vision is really great. Imagine getting all those features similar to that of:

    • HostGator Hosting
    • Photoshop Editor
    • Zoom Webinars
    • Aweber Autoresponder
    • ClickFunnels Funnel Builder
    • DropBox Cloud Storage

    And so, we paid the enterprise package to really test if ProfitSuite will meet the following criteria:

    • Delivery of the products and bonuses as promised,
    • After-sale support, and
    • Money-back guarantee.

    Where the products and bonuses delivered as promised?

    The short answer is a Yes and a No.

    • Unlimited cloud hosting,
    • File Storage
    • Webinars,
    • Autoresponder,
    • Funnel Building, and
    • Graphic Design.

    Yes, we did get the enterprise access as expected. Yet, one might need to set them up before you can actually use them.

    It also took us time to get the promised bonuses. We had to make a bit of follow up to their support to get the bonuses. We did not get the pro license key for the bonus products. It was not clear on their sales page.

    The response time was a bit poor and our concerns were also not answered directly. Either we were not clear on our concerns or the support might not have really got what we asked for.

    We were able to access the file storage, webinar, and graphic design features. We were not able to test the unlimited cloud hosting, autoresponder, and funnel building because they were not that easy to set up especially for non-technical persons. Using MediaServe, ActiveCampaign, and Befunky would have been a lot easier.

    One of the benefits of getting an enterprise package is that you get to have free access to all of their future products. This can be pretty amazing if the seller/provider can really deliver the existing products/services with excellent support.

    Update:

    One of the bonuses is called ContentPress.

    What we did was to check out ContentPress’ landing page and contact the guy there regarding our purchase with ProfitSuite (IMX and the enterprise package). We are not sure if he was directly affiliated with the ProfitSuite though. Immediately the guy, Luan Henrique, gave me the license key.

    Is the after-sale support any good?

    Personally, the quality of support sends signals to the buyer if the seller would be considered shady or not.

    The response time takes 3-7 days. Absolutely, not the support we need for cloud hosting.

    Some of what we considered straightforward questions, we’re not answered directly.

    And lastly, when we tried to ask for a refund, that is when the support replied to assist. Perhaps, it was coincidence. 🙂

    Instead of pushing through with the refund, we gave them some more try. Therefore, we did not cancel through Paypal.

    We’ve been busy during the holidays and so we we left them some tickets or questions.

    When we came back 4 days ago to check on our unresolved tickets, all our tickets are gone.

    We sent them a new ticket regarding the matter, and we still never get a reply.

    Is the 30-day money-back guarantee for real?

    No, we did not get our money back.

    What is our recommendation?

    Unless, we would receive a communication from ProfitSuite explaining what happened. We could not recommend them.

    We understand the challenges of running a business, and we don’t expect them to deliver 100% of our expectations. We only hope that we get some answers and explanations.

    ProfitSuite landing page screenshot

    profitsuite landing page screenshot
  • Day 1: Seed Keywords and Their Rankings

    Day 1: Seed Keywords and Their Rankings

    SEOPowerSuite suggests that you start optimizing your site by first defining where you stand with your rankings, i.e. check the keywords that already bring you traffic, plus, define seed keywords. This is granting if you already have an existing site. If you have a new site, then it is the right time for you to define your seed keywords.

    Seed keywords are the keywords that broadly describe your niche. They are short, typically one or two words, they may be as simple as “SEO” or “digital marketing”. It’s a base, so identifying them won’t be of huge difficulty for you.

    This is typically what your business, service, or product is about.

    Examples:

    How much time does it take me to do this task?

    It takes about 30 minutes.

    Go back to Tip 5: 30-Day SEO Plan under DIY Internet Marketing.

    Source: https://www.link-assistant.com/learning-hub/seo-academy/30-day-seo-plan/day-1.html

  • Tip 5: 30-Day SEO Plan

    Tip 5: 30-Day SEO Plan

    We cannot overemphasize the importance of planning in every business, be it a start-up or a large business.

    Here are 3 reasons to justify the importance of planning:

    • Planning allows you to create your business goals and monitor their progress;
    • Planning leads to better positioning in the market; and
    • Planning paves the way for better decision making based on set goals.

    Here is a 30-Day SEO plan you can follow as provided by SEOPowerSuite.

    Day 1: Seed Keywords and Rankings

    Day 2: Know Your Competitions’ Key Phrases or Keywords

    Day 3: Discover New Keywords to Generate More Traffic for Your Website

    Day 4: Filter Your List of Keywords and Key Phrases to Focus on What Matters Most

    Day 5: Map Your Keywords to Relevant Web Pages

    Day 6: Map Your Keywords to Your Content (Why, What, and How) [continuation]

    Go back to DIY Internet Marketing.

  • How to Create Better Headlines for More Clicks

    How to Create Better Headlines for More Clicks

    Here are 5 tips on how to create a better headline to get more clicks:

    • The How-to Headline
    • The Lessons Learned Headline
    • The Testimonial Headline
    • The Question Headline
    • The Solutions Headline

    The How-to Headline

    Ex. How to Write Better Headlines in Less than a Minute

    The Lessons Learned Headline

    Ex. 3 Lessons I learned for Not Creating Better Headlines

    The Testimonial Headline

    Ex. How One Post Got 10,000 Clicks in 30 Days

    The Question Headline

    Ex. Are You Still Confused Why Headlines Are Important?

    The Solutions Headline

    Why Your Post Is Not Getting Traffic (And What You Can Do to Change It)

  • Have You Considered These Privacy-Focused Tools When Working from Home?

    Have You Considered These Privacy-Focused Tools When Working from Home?

    More and more people are working from home. SpreadPrivacy.com (DuckDuckGo) blog has shared remote-working tips and the best software setup to protect your privacy while working remotely.

    These are some of the items covered:

    • Video Conferencing: FaceTime (free), Jami (free)
    • Webcam Cover: Sticker (Free), Sliding Webcam Cover (Paid)
    • Search Engine: DuckDuckGo Search (free)
    • Browser: Safari (free, desktop), Firefox (free, desktop), Brave (free, desktop), Vivaldi (free, desktop), DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser (free, mobile)
    • Virtual Private Network (VPN): TorGuard (paid)
    • Email: Fastmail (paid), ProtonMail (free with paid options), Tutanota (free with paid options)
    • Chat: Mattermost (paid), Signal (free)
    • File Storage & Backup: Resilio Sync (free with paid options), Tresorit (paid)
    • Tune Your Privacy Settings (free)

    Source: https://spreadprivacy.com/private-tools-remote-work/

  • 4 Best Accounting Software for Small Business

    4 Best Accounting Software for Small Business

    Accounting software can help you efficiently manage your finances. It also helps you prepare you for annual tax filing and your invoices. It is not just for big businesses, but also very helpful for small businesses to be more efficient.

    What is the best accounting software for small business? How do you even begin to look for one?

    This guide will help you find the best accounting software for your small business and will show you a selection of the best software to help you make the best choice.

    Table of contents

    What is an accounting software

    Best Accounting Software for Small Business-brodneil.com-befunky

    An accounting software is a very useful tool that can help you manage and control your finances even if you have no or limited accounting experience. It can help you fill in your general ledger for your accounts payable and accounts receivable. Your software can help you see how much you are spending, how much you are earning, how you are doing with your sales or financial goals, and the like.

    Depending on your provider, some software can be cloud-based, which you can easily access and manage online wherever you may be. It can also allow you to manage and automate your invoices and payrolls, as well as help you prepare for your annual tax filing.

    How does an accounting software work (features)

    Different providers offer different accounting features depending on your package subscription. Most of the best accounting software for small business offer the following features:

    • manage accounts payable and receivable (general ledger)
    • payroll management and automation
    • expense tracking and management
    • invoice management 
    • analysis tools (reports)
    • payment system integration
    • tax report filing
    • inventory management
    • mobility (cloud-based, access on mobile phone, desktop, android, IOS devices)
    • customer management system

    Back to Table of contents

    Why do you need an accounting software

    Even small business operators can take advantage of the benefits of an accounting software. When you have a growing business, time and money are very important. Having a tool that can automate and help manage the financial aspects of your business can definitely help you save a lot of time and effort, and thus, money. The resources you save can productively be used for other matters that can grow your business.

    Accounting software can also help you make better decisions for your business. By looking at the reports, you can analyze different aspects of your business that needs to be worked on or maintained. It can help you generate better financial strategies for your business.

    Back to Table of contents

    How to find the best accounting software for your small business

    It can be overwhelming to choose from so many accounting software available today that come with different features and different costs. To choose the best one, here are some factors to consider:

    Industry

    Choosing the right software depends on the industry you are in. A freelancer might need a different type of accounting software that an online retail store owner or a manufacturing business owner might need. It is important to look for an accounting software that caters to the type of business you have and the industry you are in.

    Cost

    The cost of the accounting software is another factor to look into. Considering that you are operating a small and growing business, find a provider that serves its purpose without breaking the bank. You may check out free accounting software or those that offer a free trial so you can have a feel of using their software.

    Features

    Decide on the features you need for your accounting software. Your business may not require all the complicated accounting software features for big businesses. Maybe you want to look into the accounts payable and receivable tools, inventory tools, the reports you need to generate, and other features like payroll management, time tracking, or maybe payment systems integration. You may also want to look into added features like mobile accessibility, cloud-based software, and third-party integrations.

    Ease of use

    Find software that is easy to set up, navigate, and manage. You can read reviews of different accounting software. Users most likely give feedbacks on software’s ease of use.

    Customer support

    Aside from ease of use, do read about customer service. Is the provider responsive to the queries and concerns of its users. Does the provider offer 24/7 support in different platforms (e.g. email, chat, etc.)? Do they offer other resources, such as tutorial or FAQ page? These things are worth looking into.

    Credibility

    Finally, look at the overall credibility of the software and its provider. How many active users does the software have? How are its ratings? Are they being reviewed positively by different blogs and websites?

    Back to Table of contents

    What are the best accounting software for small businesses

    We have outlined some of the best accounting software for small business that offer the basic features you need with simple and intuitive design and offered for a reasonable cost.

    Quickbooks-logo

    1. QuickBooks

    QuickBooks is an accounting software developed by Intuit mainly targeted to serve small and medium businesses. They aim to provide simple yet powerful accounting solutions that will help your business grow. In fact, they have been named as the Best Over-all small-business accounting software by Investopedia and the most user-friendly in the same category by Business.org.

    The software features include custom invoices and quotes, income and expense tracking, sales tax tracking and management, reports and dashboards, cloud accounting, as well as unlimited support, among others.

    QuickBooks offers three subscription plans, all with free trial.

    brodneil.com-quickbooks-pricing
    Source: QuickBooks

    xero-logo

    2. Xero

    Xero is another highly-rated accounting software, especially for micro-business owners. It is a very simple software to use with a clean interface. Its standout features include unlimited users, third-party app integration, inventory tracking, custom invoices, reconciling back transactions, and capturing receipts for record purposes.

    Xero is available in three subscription plans. You can also try them for free.

    Xero-pricing-brodneil
    Source: Xero
    Freshbooks-logo

    3. Freshbooks

    FreshBooks can be a very good accounting software option for you if you have a service-based business. While it does not offer payroll service and inventory management, it has an outstanding invoicing feature with many customizable invoicing options. It also gives you an unlimited number of invoices and estimates for their plans.

    Other FreshBooks features include a user-friendly interface, third-party app integration, and cloud accounting.

    FreshBooks-pricing-brodneil
    Source: FreshBooks
    Wave-logo

    4. Wave

    If you are looking for the most affordable or rather free accounting software that does the job, Wave might be the right one for you. This is especially true if you run a service-based business and you do not really need inventory tracking or much third party app integrations.

    Wave features a user-friendly interface with double-entry accounting, unlimited invoicing, expense tracking, receipt scanning, and multi-currency support. It also lets you run multiple businesses in one Wave account with an unlimited number of users.

    Again, Wave can be used for free and they do not offer any paid subscription package.

    Back to Table of contents

    Conclusion

    There are many great accounting software out there for all types and sizes of business. The important thing to remember when choosing the best accounting software for small business is to find one that can cater to your needs, provide value for your money, has reliable and user-friendly interface, and has great customer service.

    Back to top

    Recommended reading: APE: Internet Marketing Criteria for Small Businesses and Startups

  • Father of the Web Tim Berners-Lee prepares ‘do-over’

    Father of the Web Tim Berners-Lee prepares ‘do-over’

    Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the British computer scientist who was knighted for inventing the internet navigation system known as the World Wide Web, wants to re-make cyberspace once again.

    With a new startup called Inrupt, Berners-Lee aims to fix some of the problems that have handicapped the so-called open web in an age of huge, closed platforms such as Facebook.

    Building on ideas developed by an open-source software project called Solid, Inrupt promises a web where people can use a single sign-on for any service. Personal data are stored in pods (personal online data stores), controlled by the user.

    “People are fed up with the lack of controls, the silos,” said Berners-Lee, co-founder and chief technology officer of Inrupt, in an interview at the Reuters Next conference. This new, updated web, Berners-Lee said, will enable the kind of person-to-person sharing and collaboration that has helped make the big social media services so successful while leaving the user in control.

    Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-tech-bernerslee-interview/father-of-the-web-tim-berners-lee-prepares-do-over-idUSKBN29H1JG

  • Quote:  Business Strategy

    Quote: Business Strategy

    Quote on business strategy

    When the thing you sell has communication built in, when it is remarkable and worth talking about, when it changes the game – marketing seems a lot easier.

    Seth Godin
    Founder of Akimbo, home of the altMBA

    Quote taken from https://seths.blog/2012/07/the-circles-of-marketing/.

  • Google updates the Search Console coverage report

    Google updates the Search Console coverage report

    The Google Search Console updated report now gives you specific categories and labels for errors and responses.

    Google announced it has made substantial updates to the coverage report within Google Search Console. 

    Google wrote:

     The company is “rolling out significant improvements to this report so you’re better informed on issues that might prevent Google from crawling and indexing your pages. The change is focused on providing a more accurate state to existing issues, which should help you solve them more easily.”

    What is the coverage report?

    The coverage report can be found in Google Search Console, and it shows the indexing state of all URLs that Google has visited, or tried to visit, in your property.

    Source: https://searchengineland.com/google-updates-the-search-console-coverage-report-345314

  • AdRotate Review (WordPress Plugin)

    AdRotate Review (WordPress Plugin)

    Note:
    We’ve found a better alternative to AdRotate.
    The FREE version is jampacked with features.
    Read: What Is the Ad Inserter Plugin for WordPress

    Advertising plugins like AdRotate can make it easier to earn in WordPress by helping you set up and manage your advertisements and campaigns.

    While there are so many plugins available today, let us help you decide if AdRotate can make a great option for your WordPress monetization.

    Table of Contents

    What is AdRotate

    adrotate-logo

    AdRotate is an advertising plugin for WordPress that allows you to set up, edit, preview, schedule, and publish multiple banners from your dashboard, along with other features. It was developed by Arnan of AJdG Solutions, who also makes other plugins for WordPress, WooCommerce, and bbPress. AdRotate has been around since 2014 and is highly rated by many of its users.

    AdRotate started out as a free plugin. It later developed to include more advanced features with its AdRotate Pro subscription packages. The free plugin is good enough for small blogs and websites, but if you want to avail yourself of the more helpful features, the AdRotate Pro is highly recommended.

    The following are some of the most notable features of AdRotate:

    Ad Rotate free features

    • Works with any adverts
    • Block mode
    • Post/Page injection
    • Scheduling
    • Basic reports
    • Dashboard notifications
    • Forum support

    Ad Rotate professional features

    The AdRotate Pro comes with a license along with more advanced features including the following:

    • License for two to up to 100 websites
    • Automatic updates
    • Premium support
    • Audience Geo-targeting
    • Mobile-format advertisements
    • Scheduling
    • Stats, analytics, and more comprehensive reports
    • Allows advertisers to create their own campaigns
    • Dashboard and email notifications

    Below is a comparison of the different AdRotate subscripti0n plans:

    AdRotate- features
    Source: AdRotate

    Back to Table of contents

    Why use AdRotate (Benefits of AdRotate)

    Why choose AdRotate when there are so many advertising plugins and software for WordPress out there?

    AdRotate has been around for many years now. It has been around since 2014 and is rated by highly by many of its users. It has over 40,000 active installations to date.

    Its WordPress plugin features a user-friendly interface that even beginners find it easy to setup and manage. You can choose from among its subscription packages depending on your needs and your budget. You can even simply avail of the free plugin, especially if you are a beginner and are managing only one WordPress website.

    AdRotate Pro is especially commendable if you are managing multiple sites and want more advanced features to make things easier. You can manage your ads, schedule them, rotate them, and target them to specific audiences all at once. You can also generate statistics, analytics, and other reports to help you strategize your WordPress ads more efficiently.

    Back to Table of contents

    AdRotate pricing

    As mentioned, AdRotate comes in regular free plugin and pro subscription packages. The professional packages come in four types – the Single License, the Duo License, the Multi License, and the Developer License. See pricing below.

    AdRotate-pricing
    Source: AdRotate

    What users are saying about AdRotate (AdRotate User reviews)

    AdRotate seems to be working really well for many users, but to some, it also has its issues. Below are the pros and cons of AdRotate based on user reviews that we have gathered from WordPress.

    Pros:

    • Easy to setup
    • Easy to use
    • Great free plugin features
    • Using for years without problems
    • Fast and useful support
    • Does the job for free
    • Plugin is excellent, basic, and yet powerful
    • Great features and lightweight
    • Saves time and effort
    • Simple and trustworthy

    Cons:

    • Poor support
    • Not so simple
    • Statistics is a little too light
    • Statistics are incorrect
    • Cannot sort ads ads based on best performers
    • No import function

    Back to Table of contents

    What we say about AdRotate

    We’ve used this for sometime and the free version is really great. The plugin stands for its name if you really want to rotate ads on specific areas of your website.

    If you want more features, get the pro version.

    Back to Table of contents

  • How Long Does SEO Take to Pay Off

    How Long Does SEO Take to Pay Off

    Are you just starting to optimize your website for search engines? Wondering how long it takes for SEO to show results? In this post, you will get the truth.

    If you have a new company, forget about ranking for generic keywords such as digital marketing. Focus on long-tail phrases and questions that your clients enter into search engines. 

    For example, use long-tail keywords such as digital marketing in Cebu Philippines instead of just using the keyword digital marketing. Make use of qualifies with your keywords

    Why care about SEO?

    Why should you invest time in SEO for your website? Is it necessary for a small business? The answer is a resounding yes. SEO helps your customers find you online and also supports them as they move through the buying process.

    Forget unrealistic expectations

    SEO is like going to the gym: you need to devote time and effort to get to the top of the search engine results. Do not expect to make a huge change overnight. 

    How long does SEO take to pay off?

    If you want good results, you have to do quality work.

    Remember, these are just estimates. The actual time depends on many SEO factors that comprise the overall quality of your website. If it takes longer to see results, don’t get discouraged. Keep working.

    After doing the initial work and while you continue to develop quality content and improve your website, this is what you can expect:

    • You would probably get initial results after three months.
    • You would probably remarkable results after six months.
    • You would probably full results after twelve months.

    Source: https://www.business2community.com/seo/seo-strategy-for-smes-and-how-long-it-takes-to-pay-off-02374713

  • Quote: B2B Social Goal

    Quote: B2B Social Goal

    Quote on B2B social media goal

    The social goal of most B2Bs isn’t just traffic. It’s the right kind of traffic. More specifically, it’s leads from that traffic. That’s why LinkedIn has been the social media sweet spot of most B2Bs.

    Neil Patel
    co-founder of NP Digital and Subscribers

    Quote taken from https://neilpatel.com/blog/social-media-for-b2b/

  • A Practical Guide On How to Get Out of Gmail’s Promotions Tab

    A Practical Guide On How to Get Out of Gmail’s Promotions Tab

    If you are utilizing digital marketing for your marketing campaign, then you may be aware of the new tab that is offered to email users of Google. There is a promotions tab that your emails could be getting filed under. When this happens this means your emails aren’t getting viewed, no matter how relevant they might be to your email list. Make sure there aren’t too many links and also make sure there aren’t too many images, both of these things can send your email straight to the promotions tab.

    Key Takeaways:

    • There is a new promotion tab that could be filtering out your newsletters that you are sending.
    • If you reduce the number of links in what you are sending then this will reduce the chances of it ending up there.
    • another thing that was tested with this new promotions tab is the fact that image heavy emails get sent there as well.

    “The introduction of an automatic filtering system for emails into Primary, Social and Promotions categories was the culprit in most cases.”

    Read more: https://www.jeffbullas.com/gmails-promotions-tab/

  • WordPress All in One SEO Auto Updates: Should It Be a User’s Choice?

    WordPress All in One SEO Auto Updates: Should It Be a User’s Choice?

    Automatic Updates Without Consent

    With automatic updates, it’s no longer possible to save a backup before the update happens. Many people felt that automatic updates should always be a user’s choice.

    Response on Twitter

    There was some discussion about All in One SEO automatic updates as well.

    All in One SEO Publisher Feedback

    There were several criticisms about the automatic update feedback over on the WordPress plugin repository support page.

    Another irate publisher wrote:

    Multiple sites have updated to 4.0.11 without my permission, and while all auto-updates are disabled.

    How dare you update my websites without my permission

    From the mid of November through December 2020, All in One SEO plugin published a total of 12 updates to fix a large number of issues, seemingly dozens of bugs. To put that into perspective, according to the Yoast SEO plugin changelog, Yoast SEO published three updates only within that same one-month time period.

    These are bug fixes from just one update:

    It’s the update from December 21 that seems to have introduced the unilateral automatic update.

    Source: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/wordpress-all-in-one-seo-auto-updates-backlash/

  • Quote on Communication and Process Documentation

    Quote on Communication and Process Documentation

    communication and process documentation

    Communication and process documentation: those are the two major differentiators between successful, and unsuccessful remote teams.

    ~ Liam Martin
    https://youtu.be/fIoTi3Ps1vQ
  • Quote: Diverse Engagement Tactics

    Quote: Diverse Engagement Tactics

    Quote on engagement tactics

    Your engagement tactics should be as diverse as your customer’s journey is scattered.

    ~Ann Smarty,
    Brand and Community Manager
    InternetMarketingNinjas.com

    Quote taken from https://www.convinceandconvert.com/digital-marketing/buying-journeys/.

  • Quote:  Content Optimization

    Quote: Content Optimization

    Quote on content optimization

    Each optimization you make, each piece of content you produce has the potential to deliver benefits for years to come.

    Andre Prakharevich, write at SEO PowerSuite

    Quote taken from https://www.link-assistant.com/news/seo-metrics-guide.html.