The Ultimate Guide to YouTube Statistics

The popularity of YouTube has seen a steady rise in recent years. Today, it is the second most popular search engine after Google. Among the video search engines, it is undoubtedly the best and the most popular one. Any individual or brand that wants to establish an online video presence is aware of the importance of YouTube in the world of video.

A look at YouTube statistics would show that in 2020, more than 2 billion users watched YouTube videos every month. On an average day, more than 5 billion YouTube videos were consumed. These figures res-establish the importance of YouTube. If you are a brand looking to leverage the power of YouTube in your video marketing initiatives, you need to be aware of the scope of the medium. To do justice to that, you need to have a look at some relevant statistical figures.

Site Visits

YouTube is the most visited website in the world. In the United States, it is the second most visited website. 90% of the digital consumers of the US are regular users of the platform. On a global scale, the platform has 30 million active users who visit YouTube daily. The monthly active users’ figures stand at 2 billion.

Thus, as a brand selling any product or service, you need to understand that there are high chances for your users are active on YouTube. If you can establish your presence on this platform, it will be easier for you to grab their attention and convince them of the effectiveness of your business offering.

YouTube Channel

To reach out to your target group in a professional manner, you need to create a brand channel. As of today, there are more than 38 million active channels on YouTube. Out of those, 22,000 channels have more than a million subscribers each.

You need to be on your toes and develop high-quality content if you want to stand apart from the other 15 million content creators of YouTube. Luckily for you, only 9% of small, independent businesses have a dedicated YouTube channel. It means that by establishing a YouTube presence, you will be giving your brand a head start in the competitive business world.

The ‘Baby Shark Dance’ video by Pinkfong is the most viewed YouTube video and has more than 7.8 million views.  BTS, a major K-Pop Band, has an average of 16 million global searches every month. To break it down, this means six searches every second. Thus, if you can create content that engages and connects with your audience, the sky is the limit in the world of YouTube.

YouTube Usage

Over 9000 network broadcasters, recording studios, and others have a content-id in YouTube, and their presence makes YouTube the most popular video-sharing platform across the world. The diversity of YouTube is unquestionable, and today, the platform is available in more than 80 global languages.

Such is the popularity of YouTube that millennials across the globe consider YouTube as the second most preferred video content platform. For them, Netflix remains the most popular platform. The role of YouTube as an entertainment platform can be ascertained from the fact that 20% of the top 100 YouTube searches are related to entertainment and music.

 Thus, if you can create content that is enjoyable to watch, there are high chances of it being shared. With the US, India, and Japan being the top three countries that use the platform, you have a high chance of being viral in the platform if your content caters to people from these regions.

Other than ‘for entertainment’, people also watch YouTube ‘to relax’. Thus, if you can come up with light-hearted content and work on its SEO optimization, the video will become popular on the platform. Optimization involves the use of keywords in the video description and title and adding closed captioning to the video.

Viewing Trends

A look at the viewer demographics of YouTube would reveal that 55% of its viewers are male while the remaining 45% are women. Thus, if your brand sells products or services that are targeted at a male audience, YouTube may be the ideal video marketing platform for you. It is also interesting to note that 70% of YouTube watches come from the platform’s recommendations.  In 2020, when the world was fighting its deadly battle against a global pandemic, 70% of people relied on YouTube to keep up with the live coverage of live events.

YouTube is immensely popular on mobile devices and more than 70% of video views come from mobile apps. Studies have established that mobile users are two times more likely to pay attention to what they are viewing as compared to television users.

The best part about recent mobile trends is that 7 out of 10 people place their devices in horizontal mode while playing a video on their phone. This makes it easier for influencers and brands as they no longer have to create videos that are dedicated to mobile users. Thus, if you can optimize your video for mobile viewing, there is a significantly higher chance of it being popular.

Marketing Trends

While talking about the amazing YouTube statistics, you cannot ignore its role in the world of marketing. As of today, YouTube ranks as the second most preferred platform for marketing professionals to post their video content. While Facebook is the most preferred medium, the fact is 50% of content creators invest in creating exclusive YouTube content.

Even in situations where YouTube is not the only video marketing platform they resort to, 71% of B2B marketing professionals have video as a part of their assorted marketing strategy. The popularity of YouTube as a marketing medium can be ascertained from the fact that 40% of shoppers have purchased items based on their YouTube discoveries. Thus, if a brand can present its products well, there are high chances of convincing potential customers into a purchase. The fact that YouTube viewers are 50% less likely to skip advertisements further ascertains this fact. With the average YouTube watch time standing at 17 minutes 31 seconds, brands have ample opportunity to showcase their business offerings.

The above figures are a testimony of YouTube as a video-sharing platform. The more time that you spend on the platform, the clearer picture you will have on how to leverage that for your business growth.  Irrespective of the nature of your business or the type of video that you are creating, YouTube will give a high ROI for the efforts that you put in. It is worth the effort to channelize your video marketing efforts in the right direction and make the most of the potential of YouTube.

How Can I Advertise My Small Business Online?

Getting your small business known to the right audience is an essential part of your business growth. The competition will be doing their best to get their brand known above yours, so what can you do to make sure that people find you first?

The key there lies in the word find: most people, when looking for a retailer, service or product, look local and they are also likely to use a mobile handset to search for that they are looking for. This is the reason local SEO needs to be part of your marketing campaign.

What do we mean by local SEO? Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the key to getting your brand out there, and the higher you come on the search engine’s rankings, the more likely you are to be found in a search. Narrow this down to searches in your local area – and most searches do involve a local element – and you stand a much better chance. First, you need to get your business into a local online business directory, and this will be free.

What is an Online Business Directory?

Put simply an online business directory is a place to list your business, along with all information necessary and links to your website, that will be brought to the fore when someone searches locally for the product or service you are offering. Many towns have such directories that are especially for that direct area, most cities also have similar, and you’ll even find some run by community organizations in small towns via social media platforms such as Facebook.

The idea is that a local search will bring up all viable businesses in the local area that are relevant to that search. Many will be listed in the local directory, and if you’re not listed you are losing out on business. This is a free way of pushing your small business and there are others to consider including:

  • Social media platforms as already mentioned offer a great opportunity for spreading the word. Instagram, Facebook and Twitter are all free to use and reach a lot of potential customers.
  • Blogging is a great way of getting your name into websites that are relevant and also adding cache to your business by way of social trust.
  • Taking part in relevant online forum discussions is a latter-day method of word of mouth and can be very lucrative if you target the right people.

However, there is no getting away from the fact that local SEO is a prime method of being in the right place to appear on searches, and the local directory is certainly a part of this. We keep mentioning local, so let’s finish by talking about why locally geographic searches are the most successful of all.

Why Local SEO is Vital

If you look at articles on online marketing trends for 2021 you’ll see that there is plenty of emphasis on targeting the right audience. The days are gone when leaflet drops were the order of the day; these days it is online ads, blogs and links in the right places. This is another reason why local searches are important in establishing smaller brands and growing businesses which rely on local custom on the whole. People who are already in a particular location will search locally. Those who are going to visit a certain area will search locally. It makes sense to ensure you are in all the free online directories possible, and that you get your name out there using the channels available for local advertisers.

How to Get Started with Instagram Video Marketing

If you are wondering what kind of content to post on Instagram, the answer is — video.

Yes, video marketing is on the rise. After YouTube, Instagram is the second-largest social channel with higher video engagement.

According to a report, people spend 80% of their time watching videos on Instagram. Do you see how big the interest is getting? And that is why Instagram is prioritizing video features and video content more.

Through video content, you connect with your audience on a personal level. Video content can also generate more followers which could make you an Instagram star if your video went viral.

Is that not something you want?

So, let’s dive deeper into Instagram video marketing and learn how to do it better.

Choose a goal:

The first question you need to ask is what your Instagram marketing goals are?

Is it:

● Getting engagement?
● Driving traffic to the website?
● Generating sales?
● Building an online presence?

Once you are clear on the goal, plan out the actionable strategies that will help you reach it.

Conduct research:

Conduct thorough research and understand your target audience. Create a virtual profile of what your target audience would look like. For this, focus on factors like their gender, geographical location, age, interests, and income. When you have created this virtual profile, research other people in your niche and the strategies they are using.  Their wins, losses, and strategies will come in handy when you promote your own Instagram brand page.

Tag products with shoppable videos:

If you are a small business or an eCommerce store on Instagram trying to boost your sales, use shoppable videos. With the shoppable feature, you can tag your products in the posts. By doing this, a shoppable icon appears on your posts. When your audience taps this, they can see the tags, click them and visit the product landing page where they can buy the product.

This is a great way to drive traffic to your website and increase sales. To encourage your audience to buy from you, create videos that educate them about your product. Once they are aware of the benefits and applications of the product, they will be much more interested.

Create a variety of videos:

With Instagram, you have plenty of video formats to use:

1. In-feed posts

These video posts are visible on your feed and can capture your audience’s attention for up to 60 seconds. Use this format to create bite-sized videos to hook your audience and introduce them to your product. For best results, use a video cutter to make videos that are 30-seconds or shorter.

2. Stories

Use Instagram stories, to take your audience behind the scenes and share little snippets from your day-to-day life. Post at least 3 stories every day to stay connected with your audience. You can play with stories tremendously. Here are a few content ideas for stories that you can try:

● Ask questions about your products or find out what your customers want from you
● Use polls to gather feedback from your audience.
● Post screenshots of customer testimonials.

3. IGTV

Use IGTV to publish long-form videos to educate your audience. One of the benefits of IGTV is that you can share links.

Let’s say you are a home-grown stationery brand that has launched its planner. You can use IGTV to show what your planner looks like from the inside, what kind of illustrations you have used inside the planner, and the different categories inside the planner. You can then place a link in the description that sends the person directly to the landing pages. This is something you can’t do with regular feed videos.

Make sure you use UTM tracking to measure the traffic that’s coming from your IGTV videos. Also, use UTM tracking links for stories, link in bio, and ads as you can compare CTRs to see which method is driving the highest return.

4. Reels

With reels, you can create 15 to 30 seconds short videos. These videos are great to add a quirky and funny touch. If your reels get viral, your page gets a good amount of traction. Here are some ideas that you can use for creating reels:

● Introducing yourself to your audience
● Introducing your team members
● Sharing quick tips and tutorials
● Sharing before & after pictures of your product

Creating all these different videos can be a lot of work as you need to create unique videos for each format. So, make sure you use a good video maker to simplify the process and create videos of the right sizes.

Accompany videos with captions

Your captions are the first element in the video that your audience pays attention to. Most of the time, your audience would skip watching a video but a meaningful caption can insist them in watching the video. Captions spark curiosity, give details, and convey your message to your audience.

To write a power-packed caption, you need to write a hook statement or phrase. This hook phrase or statement could be a question, a statistic, or a story. When you start your caption by writing the hook, your audience stays till the end of the video.

Pay attention to insights:

If you are creating content one after the other and not tracking your performance, you are doing things wrong. Use the Instagram insights section to track the performance of your content.

By using the insights, you get to know about your content engagement, the best time to post based on the previous content performance, and days on which your content performs better.

When you have analyzed this data, you can create the right kind of content that your audience wants and stay on track.

Conclusion:

If you want to level up your game on Instagram, it is important you start creating video content. Let’s recap some of the things we learned.

● Focus on creating education and value-based content that educates your audience
● Use the insights section to track your content performance and create the content based on the data
● Make maximum use of all the video features like reels & IGTV videos

Now go make some quality Instagram videos!

Popular Social Media Apps You Can Use to Market Your Small Business

Over 53 percent of people on the planet are active on social media. This translates to more than four billion active users at the beginning of 2021 – a pool of customers waiting to be tapped into. Provided you have a good smartphone or computer and a reliable internet connection, social networking platforms can help propel your small business forward. However, it is crucial to do so using the right social media apps where most of your target audience can be found. In this respect, here are some popular social media apps you can use to market your small business.

1. Facebook

This is the largest and most widely used social media platform in the world. With over 2 .3 billion monthly user average, this should be your top site. It allows you to connect with friends, customers, and many other people. The app allows businesses to create private pages where they can interact with their customers. Members can join for free or at a fee. On your business page, you can update on products, discounts and even answer customer questions. Facebook also runs ads that help businesses get discovered or just be connected to their clients. It is an app where connections are easily converted to customers.

2. Telegram 

While Telegram is similar to the more popular social media platforms, the increasingly famous social networking app has been adding newer features that set them aside from the rest. For instance, it is now possible to pin multiple messages, share songs, and view post stats as a channel admin. As seen in a post on Alrigh, Telegram recently launched a new feature called Voice Chat 2.0. The new voice chat functionality will allow unlimited participation in groups and channels. It will have several features, including raise hand, recorded chats, speaker links, and listener links, among others. The most interesting thing about it is that it allows voice interaction with an unlimited number of participants in groups and channels. This is something small businesses can utilize to interact with their customers and market their brand effectively.

3. Instagram

Sometimes words do not do enough justice to a brand or product, and that’s where Instagram comes in. It is a photo-oriented platform that allows you to share your actual product or market your services to an audience through images and videos as well as text.

To benefit the most from Instagram, there are a few things you need to do. For starters, you may want to invest in a good camera that allows you to take quality photos. After creating a business account, all you need is an effective IG marketing strategy and you can start posting. By liking, commenting, sharing, tagging, and using hashtags correctly, you can grow your customer base and maximize sales. With its wide selection between posts, stories, and photo & video ads, Instagram can help grow your brand to the next level. Ensure to use posts that are relevant to your brand.

3. Twitter

This is the platform where your voice is heard. It is the easiest platform to engage influencers by use of “@” and “#”. As of 2021, the site attracts over 192 million users per day. Unlike the other two, the Twitter crowd is more censored. These are people who are sure of what they want and are not shy when expressing it. It is all about representation. You have to represent your brand with a good first impression. By use of Twitter cards and ads, it allows you to grow your business. Using the right keyword in your hashtag will attract visibility and re-tweets.

4. You Tube

It is a great marketing tool that allows you to connect with users via videos. Despite your age or location, a good video will always be appreciated and loved. With over 2 billion monthly users on average, it is the second largest search engine and social networking channel. When promoting your small business via YouTube, it is all about representing your brand using videos that will best attract your target audience’s attention. Marketing with the YouTube app requires you to create one or several great videos. This can be brand, educational, product, or even testimonial videos.

5. WhatsApp

Every single person with a smartphone probably has WhatsApp. The famous app has close to two billion users worldwide, with more than three quarters accessing Whatsapp monthly. It is the easiest social media platform to get a quick sneak peek while doing your task. In the past, it was just for friends and family. In recent times, its business platform allows businesses to interact with their customers. This app offers small businesses features like labels, quick replies, and chat filters that enable them to stay connected with customers. With its catalog feature, businesses can show their products more easily.

Finally, other apps such as messenger, LinkedIn, and TikTok are also gaining massive popularity.

Conclusion

Being on social media does not guarantee sales for your small business. A social media engagement tool will help you gauge and increase your success on social media platforms. Your presence must be felt through videos, photos, and captions that will have people talking. Also, remember to use keywords and titles that people will respond to.

What is SaaS Hosting? Who’s The Best For Your Site

SaaS Hosting is a specific type of web hosting service where your SaaS software and files are stored on the hosting provider’s servers instead of your own servers. So, your customers and users can access your software solution (your SaaS product) via the cloud.

The Benefits of SaaS Hosting

With a proper SaaS hosting, your customers wouldn’t need to have a copy of your software on their devices, while the hosting service will also provide maintenance and updates at the server level. So, the customers won’t need to update or patch the software.

Hosting for WP SaaS will also provide various benefits to the software developers. For instance, the developer wouldn’t need to host the software in-house, which may require certain infrastructures and management. Some companies also opt for Iaas hosting that maintains the infrastructures.

SaaS hosting can also provide the following benefits:

  • Security: the more widespread your SaaS software is and the more popular it gets, the more exposed your business is to cyber criminals and other threats. A good SaaS hosting service will also offer dedicated protection against various cyber threats like DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks, malware and ransomware, hacking, and other threats.
  • Content delivery network (CDN): a CDN is a network of servers that distribute the content, so users can receive the content (and SaaS service) from a server that is located closer to them, allowing better latency and faster processes
  • Scalability: you can easily add more web hosting service with virtual SaaS hosting as your company grows, which is more cost-effective and would save more time rather than investing in more physical hosting and servers.

Who’s The Best For Your Site?

1. SiteGround

Key features:

  • cPanel access
  • Included SSL certification (HTTPS)
  • Free website transfer
  • Unlimited data transfer
  • Free website backup
  • WB-CLI

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Very fast servers with the latest technologies and software
  • Excellent customer support with 24/7 live chat, phone, and support ticket
  • Free CDN (by Cloudflare)
  • Free SSL certification
  • Multiple data centers in three continents, so you can choose according to your needs

Cons:

  • Limited/fixed storage, although the initial storage is quite large
  • Extra fee if you choose monthly billing

SiteGround is our top recommendation for a SaaS hosting for several reasons. First, its VPS cloud servers are based on super-fast SSD architecture, allowing very low latency and excellent reliability.

SiteGround also offers a very powerful CDN service to allow better deliverability of your content and SaaS software, and you can choose between five data centers. Also, SiteGrould will perform automatic daily backups of your site.

Arguably, however, the best reason to choose SiteGround is their excellent customer service: very fast, responsive, and reliable with almost no hold time on live chat and phone. 

2. Liquid Web

Key features:

  • Fully managed VPS and dedicated hosting service (all updates and security fixes are handled by Liquid Web
  • 100% uptime
  • For WordPress websites, Liquid Web automatically updates your plugins
  • PHP 7 and Nginx to boost your site’s speed and performance
  • Manage all your sites from a single location via iThemes Sync Pro

Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • Fast and secure technologies (SSD, PHP 7, Nginx, HTTP/2, and more)
  • Fully managed hosting infrastructure for various platforms (WordPress, VPS, dedicated servers)
  • Automatic daily backups and updates
  • 100% uptime money-back guarantee
  • Free SSL certification and CDN
  • Free site migration and DDoS protection
  • Premium tools included (iThemes Sync Pro, BeaverBuilder, Jilt, and more)

Cons:

  • Expensive option
  • Need to pay more for an email hosting
  • US and Europe data centers only

Liquid Web is definitely one of the best managed hosting services out there, and actually offers more features than SiteGround. Also, a very attractive selling point is its 100% uptime money-back guarantee (they will credit you 10x the amount when you were down).

However, LiquidWeb is relatively expensive (it is not a shared hosting service) and doesn’t automatically include email hosting. If you do have the budget, however, Liquid Web is a very interesting choice.

3. Heroku

Key features:

  • Fully managed runtime environment
  • Reliable and secure PostgreSQL
  • GitHub integration
  • Various add-ons like New Relic, MongoDB, SendGrid, Searchify, Fastly, Papertrail, ClearDB MySQL, Treasure Data, and more
  • Heroku CLI for interacting with the cloud environment

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Very easy deployment and environment configuration, very fast to launch
  • Very affordable especially for smaller-scale SaaS apps
  • A great free option, where you can deploy demo or test applications
  • Great interface with the Heroku CLI
  • Excellent mobile-responsiveness

Cons:

  • Does not offer static IP addresses, which can make Heroku limited in some applications
  • Pricing can be high for larger SaaS apps
  • Not very versatile for advanced developers

Heroku is a great choice due to its ease of use, allowing us to deploy apps to the cloud very easily. With Heroku, you don’t really need to manage your servers at all and you’ll also get extremely fast software launch times and intuitiveness. You can use Heroku’s Git push feature which will automatically detect your stack and automatically deploy your app.

Not as versatile as other options on this list, but one of the easiest to use.

4. Digital Ocean

Key Features:

  • Various data center locations across many different continents
  • Managed Kubernetes cluster in just a few clicks
  • Real-time alerts
  • Various resource metrics and summary stats with time-series graphs
  • Flexible compute options with various infrastructure options for your workload

Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • Easy to use, developer-friendly tools and APIs
  • Great documentation features
  • Great user interface allowing easy cloud management
  • Excellent customer service and support

Cons:

  • No South American servers
  • Don’t offer enterprise-level options (no MS SQL, Oracle, Windows Server).

Digital Ocean is another great hosting company for SaaS projects, especially for smaller SaaS businesses with their great pricing versatility and a very easy-to-use hosting environment. Fast, reliable, and secure SaaS hosting at a fairly reasonable price.

While it is not the most versatile hosting service, you get a great load time, decent server uptime, and excellent customer service.

5. Cloudways

Key features:

  • Choice of 5 IaaS providers
  • Fully managed cloud hosting platform
  • Optimized stack for fast load times
  • Auto-healing servers

Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • 1-click installation for apps like WordPress
  • Free SSL integration
  • First site migration is free
  • Fantastic support
  • Pay as you go pricing

Cons:

  • No root access
  • Add-ons cost extra
  • No support for cPanel or Plesk

Cloudways is one of the best companies that offers SaaS hosting solutions right now. They have a fantastic, highly optimized stack for fast speeds, and the company is known for its range of support options. Their pricing varies depending upon the provider you choose, making them an ideal choice for most companies big or small.
However, you don’t get root access to your web apps, and since they provide their own platform, you can’t use Plesk or cPanel.

End Words

A proper SaaS hosting can significantly improve your SaaS product’s deliverability and usability, by allowing a faster, managed cloud service from the hosting service instead of your own server.

Above, we have also discussed four of the best SaaS hosting options available today, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.

Benefits of Using a B2B Prospecting Tool

Most salespeople face the challenge of finding new prospects and turning them into customers. They believe that prospecting is one of the most challenging parts of the sales process. Luckily, advancement in technology has made everything a lot easier and it offers a solution for almost every business process.

For instance, a company can keep up with or beat its competitors by keeping its pipeline for prospects full through the use of a top-notch B2B prospecting tool.

So, what benefits could your business enjoy by utilizing a B2B prospecting tool?

Reducing the Salespeople Workload

Typically, sales prospecting tools help the salespeople to comb through the internet for prospects and develop targeted lists of companies. After all that, the salesperson must maintain constant communication with potential clients to ensure they remain interested in the company’s products. However, the same salespeople who do prospecting also have other duties such as marketing the business’ products to new clients and attaining their overall monthly targets. All of these tasks can take much of the sales team’s time and leave them overwhelmed.

The good news is that when a business incorporates a good b2b prospecting tool into its sales process, it manages to automate a lot of the repetitive prospecting activities. That way, the company automatically does most of the monotonous tasks such as sending emails to prospects. And the automation reduces the salespersons’ workload allowing them to handle other sales tasks.

Increasing the Number of Customers

The primary goal of using a B2B prospecting tool is finding more potential clients to convert into buyers. It is crucial to attract more customers, given that any business loses around 15 to 20 percent of its existing customers annually through attrition. As such, if there’s no more prospecting, the company could see its entire customer base finally gone.

Fortunately, by using B2B Marketing Software, a company can increase its buyer pool and keep its salespeople gainfully engaged working with both existing and new customers. Besides, when businesses gain new clients, they manage to spread the risks of lost sales. Therefore, the company can cushion itself from issues because losing customers means potential issues in the future.

Generating More and Better-Qualified Meetings

Unfortunately, most direct sales revolve around drafting sales pitches which takes up a big chunk of the sales reps’ time, and then the proposals are sent to the wrong clients resulting in rejection. That means so much loss of business resources. But, by using a B2B prospecting tool, the sales staff can identify the right companies to pitch to and not just send pitches blindly. With proper targeting, the sales team interacts with and meets more qualified clients, or in other words, more sales-ready prospects resulting in sealing more deals and fulfilling their sales targets.

Increasing the Company’s Revenue

Using a B2B prospecting tool enables everyone to do what they enjoy because there is a dramatic reduction of repetitive and tedious tasks. Besides, the prospects receive their products on time and in a unique way, making them happy. The result is more satisfied clients, leading to more repeat sales and more customers which boosts the company’s revenue.

On top of the benefits discussed above of employing a B2B prospecting tool, the tool results in more motivated sales teams. This is because the tool removes the tedious routine tasks by automating them and helping the sales team meet sales-ready prospects, leading to greater sales numbers and attaining targets faster.

How To Make Money From Your Website

Making money from a website is one of the oldest ways you can make money online. Even though this method has existed for many years, it is still one of the most profitable business strategies for making money online.

There are many different methods you can make money from your website depending on your niche.

You can either start a business website providing some kind of product or service to your customers like opening a subscription box website, or start a blog business that you publish content and run ads.

Since the blog business is most popular among entrepreneurs, in this article we will focus on all the different ways you can make money with your website.

Affiliate Marketing

Most people are surprised to hear that the biggest source of income when it comes to running a blog is earning a commission through promoting third-party products or services (affiliate marketing). The best thing about affiliate marketing is that you can earn by promoting any type of product that goes along with your niche.

You should start by finding a company that offers products or services that your target audience would love. After that, you should check if they offer affiliate marketing and sign up. Some industries like SEO Reseller use a different term but the process is the same.

All you need to do is add an affiliate link in your content mentioning their products or services and earn money whenever someone purchases something on their website through your link.

Ads

This is an old-fashioned way of earning money using your blog that still works pretty well. There are many companies that offer monetizing services like Media.net, but the most popular one that people go for is Google AdSense.

All of the networks that provide monetizing services will pay you every time someone visits your website or click on their ad. Usually, they will pay you commission per click or per 1,000 impressions. The amount of money you earn depends heavily on the competition and popularity of your niche, as well as the type of audience that visits your website.

On average, such networks will pay you anywhere from $0.2 to $15 per click depending on the preferences we mentioned before.

In Content Advertising (Text links)

There are many websites that make a lot of money by promoting other people’s content using backlinks. This is a strategy that you add a specific anchor text to your post and link that will lead to a third-party website. It’s important to understand How To Get High Authority Backlinks in 2024 because the algorithms keep changing. Further, the content must be informative and not promotional.

You can charge a fixed amount per link or month for example $40. The only issue with this method of making money is that you must find clients on your own.

So, if you want to build up your SEO you should find companies that sell backlinks, or if you want to make money you should find blogs or companies that want to buy backlinks. After your blog becomes popular, you’d get a lot of offers for promoting other people’s content using text links.

Subscription Model

The subscription model is getting more and more popular. This is a strategy where you limit the number of content people can browse on your blog. For example, you can add a premium subscription that will give your visitors access to all the content you publish.

In order to convince people to subscribe to your content, you should provide useful information that people need. In other words, providing high-quality unique content is crucial for making money through subscriptions.

Publish Sponsored Posts

Sponsored posts can generate a lot of revenue. Such posts are a way of promoting third-party products or services in exchange for a fixed amount (usually $40 – $250 per post) depending on the popularity of your website.

Final Words

Starting a website business isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme. In fact, it’ll take you years until you reach good search engine positioning, a lot of organic traffic, and a steady income out of affiliate links or traffic revenue. The most important thing when it comes to running a successful blog business is quality.

All of the content you publish must be high-quality and unique. Every business takes time, so make sure you do this right just so you don’t regret your actions later. If you take your time and do it properly, soon your website will grow faster than a winning horse in TwinSpires results list.

How to Choose The Best Mail Services For Moving Companies Outreach

Today, every moving company worth its salt has a robust digital marketing strategy in place. Without one, you risk losing out on a lot of potential business as the vast majority of prospects hang out on the Internet nowadays.

Before the Internet became a thing, moving companies – as with all industries – relied on cold calls to pitch their offerings through the phone. Or pursue potential business in person.

The thing about digital marketing, though, is that it’s a pretty broad field with many areas of focus. These usually fall under a few key categories:

  • SEO
  • Inbound marketing
  • Outbound marketing
  • Pay per click advertising

Email may be one of the earliest forms of Internet marketing, but even in these days of social networks, this Internet mainstay still remains a powerful tool for business.

A single email can put you in touch with clients, influencers, brand ambassadors and virtually anyone who could prove key in marketing your long-distance or local moving company.

Through what is known as email outreach, you don’t even need to make a single phone call. All you need is an email account and good content to pitch.

What is Email Outreach?

Email outreach is a strategy that involves getting in touch with industry stakeholders with the aim of building symbiotic partnerships.

For example, your goal could be to request a backlink from a real estate agent website with plenty of traffic. Or to establish a partnership with property or building managers. Or use an influencer to promote content.

A good partnership is one with the potential to help you grow your connections, email list, and brand – which ultimately means more business.

Done right, email outreach can help you generate a good number of prospects, but for that, you will need the right tool.

There are so many email outreach programs that moving companies can use, and you don’t want to end up paying for the wrong tool, only to realize down the line that it cannot help you achieve all the good stuff you wanted to.

Here are some key things to consider when choosing an email outreach solution for your moving business.

Identify your Needs

The first thing you should do is ask yourself what you need from your ideal email outreach tool.

  • Are you looking for a solution designed with big teams in mind or are you happy with a solo solution?
  • How big of an email list are you targeting?
  • What’s the number of emails you want to send?
  • What features are a must-have for you and which ones are optional?

By having a clear idea of what kind of tool you need, narrowing down your options will be easier and faster, and you won’t be easily distracted by bells and whistles that you don’t need.

Aim to find a solution that meets your needs; not change your needs to suit it.

Can it Automate your Process?

At its most basic, an outreach mail service should absolve you of the need to do everything by hand. A good platform should take it one further and be able to execute complex outreach campaigns in a few clicks.

Whether that’s validating your email list or dispatching follow-up emails, the ideal service should do the dirty work for you, leaving you to concentrate on the crucial aspects of your business.

After setting it up properly, the right tool will be like having an extra pair of hands on deck; only this time, it’s working for you around the clock.

List of Features

In close relation to our first point, a good mail service is one that has all the features you need to run an effective campaign.

Many platforms come with similar basic features, but your decision should be guided by what you’re looking to achieve. This will vary from one mover to the next, never mind the size of your moving business.

This means some features that might be important for Mover A are not necessarily a must-have for Mover B.

Look at features like the ability to send emails in bulk, the ability to verify email addresses, the ability to exclude weekend emails, option to set timings etc.

Support and Service

You won’t be short of options when it comes to choosing outreach mail programs. However, keep in mind that you often get what you pay for when it comes to email outreach.

Free apps can often leave you frustrated, so consider if it’s worth spending a little more to get your ideal tool. That doesn’t mean you should spend a fortune on it.

How to Make Your Website More Interesting to Visitors

The internet is full of fresh, exciting content being published every single day. Unfortunately, a lot of the good stuff is drowned out by companies, bot networks, or simply subpar creators, who pump out low-quality, low-effort blogs, and websites and make the gems really difficult to find through shady SEO practices that let them position themselves higher on search engine results pages.

Does that sound like something you struggle with? You’re not alone. The fact is that many web designers and content creators don’t get the attention they deserve because their websites aren’t good enough to attract people. For example, something as simple as using the right WordPress photo gallery plugin can generate more attention around your photography portfolio. Optimizing your website for search engine crawlers is important, but you should also remember to make the user experience as pleasant and flawless as you can.

If you’re at a loss when it comes to how you can improve your website even more, don’t worry! In this article, you’ll find some valuable tips that will help you captivate your audience and create more buzz around your art, business, or whatever else you’re using your website for!

Don’t Overlook Social Media

When it comes to marketing a website, or any type of online presence, for that matter, social media is the most powerful tool you can use to achieve your desired results. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter can help popularize your website if used correctly, but you should be careful if you don’t want to get burnt.

What Works on Social Media?

You probably already know that networking online is important for your business, and that is only true if you have the right strategy for it. You need to know how to promote your website in a way that not only reaches your fans, followers, and customers but also brings them back to you again and again! How can you do that?

Social Media Is About Relationships

The most crucial thing you need to understand about social media is relationship building. You can try as hard as you want when it comes to promotions on these platforms, but it will get you nowhere unless you know how to build meaningful relationships with other users. In fact, you should set up your account so that your posts are largely made up of pure content meant for others! If you can focus on having genuine interactions with your followers instead of promoting yourself all the time, then you will see results far greater than simple PPC campaigns or paid ads could ever give you.

SEO Matters

Many web creators overlook search engine optimization, deeming it redundant and unnecessary. In fact, not knowing the right SEO practices can cost your websites more visits than you can imagine. Implementing them will help your websites to shine above the clutter and rank higher in search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

The main focus for any web designer should be to ensure that the website caters to the needs of its visitors. The designer must consider the usability of the website and its content, navigation, mobile-friendly features, relevance, etc. while designing it. The right way to go about it is by conducting user testing. This process ensures that you are designing a website that’s easy and intuitive to navigate.

When it comes to some of the more technical aspects of SEO, designing your website in WordPress will give you the advantage of having access to many SEO plugins that will make the whole process a lot easier.

Review Your Content Strategy

Publishing content is about much more than just having quality texts, videos, or photographs to share with your audience. You need to know how to publish them, and more importantly, when to publish them. It might also be a good idea to stay up to date with the latest trends within your niche, to make sure your publications are relevant. Revising your content plan to make it more appealing to users will give your numbers a boost.

Reconsider Your Design Choices

All the optimization in the world will do you no good if your website is considered plain ugly by its visitors. Gather some user feedback and get to work on improving the design and overall look of your site. Having a website that is visually appealing to users is crucial because no one is going to stick around if the site is a nightmare to look at, even if they would normally keep them on the page for many hours.

The Bottom Line

There are plenty of things you can do to make your website more interesting and appealing to users. You should start with the basics, such as making sure that it works on mobile devices and that your hosting services are good enough. If your site is slow to load and difficult to navigate, even the most interesting content in the world won’t save it from disappearing into the internet. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you need to stay up to date with your users’ interests and expectations. Use all social media platforms to your advantage and interact with your followers often. This will help you stay relevant and keep pushing out high-quality content that people will want to click on.

4 Apps You Should Install to Advance Content Creation

Every time you share something with other people on the internet, you create content. A blog article, a YouTube tutorial, an Instagram post, or a TikTok video – all these are examples of content. And if you produce such things regularly, you know how important it is to have the most efficient tools at hand. 

In this article, we’re going to share our four favorite apps for advanced content creation. Continue reading to find out what they are – and why we think they are so good. 

Google Docs

Google Docs is probably the most popular writing and editing tool right now. And for a reason, as it’s the best cloud solution for every text content creator that totally replaces traditional office suites like Microsoft Office. With Google Docs, writers can create awesome content with minimum effort. 

The service can be accessed online or offline and offers all of the basic editing tools that Microsoft Word does. Every content creator will surely appreciate the fact that the app is cross-platform. It is supported by all devices, meaning that you can use it both on desktop and mobile devices. With it, you can write and edit your documents anytime, anywhere. 

You also won’t need to bother about saving the changes as all of them are being saved automatically after every symbol you type. But the most important thing is, Google Docs is perfect for collaborative writing and editing. 

No more sending emails with your Word documents back and forth! Just share your Google Document saved on Google Drive with your collaborators in a couple of clicks, and they’ll be able to access the doc immediately. Isn’t it perfect for collaborating with a paper writer who’s helping you with your essay? And you can leave comments, too! 

That’s enough to fall in love with Google Docs, but if you need to create other content like spreadsheets or presentations, you should also try these Google apps:

  • Google Spreadsheets;
  • Google Presentations;
  • Google Keep;
  • and Google Calendar – to keep track of all your plans! 

Adobe Lightroom 

Photo content is essential for attracting your audience’s attention – hardly anyone likes reading texts without illustrations. Oftentimes, images are even more important than texts – for instance, in visual social media like Instagram or Pinterest. 

And though everyone can make a decent photo using a smartphone camera, it doesn’t mean such photos are ready-to-use for social media or blog posts. However skilled you are, all images need some tuning in an image editor to enhance their quality and make them stand out on social media or blog posts.

One of the best ways to polish your images and make them look professional is to use Adobe Lightroom. This software is used by nearly all professional photographers. Even its basic free version is easy to navigate and doesn’t require any specific skills. 

In fact, you can make your photos look better by using an “Auto” button. Yet, if you want to go further, there’s also a bunch of pre-installed styles that you can also apply in one click. What’s more, you can create and save your own styles (presets) or buy and load those created by professionals. Content creators like BuyEssayClub appreciate these features.

However, if you feel that Lightroom is not enough, you can install Adobe Photoshop. It is for sure the king of all photo-editing software which also comes as a mobile app called Adobe Photoshop Express. 

InShot 

Video content is getting increasingly popular on all social media platforms. So, there’s no escaping the fact that you need to create it if you want to stay relevant and keep engaging your audience. Still, you don’t have to be a professional video editor to produce decent clips worthy of posting in Instagram stories. 

By now, there’s an abundance of video-editing software that’s free (in basic versions) and easy to use. One of the most popular cross-platform apps widely used by Instagram and TikTok bloggers is called InShot. 

InShot’s free version is very basic, but it can still do a decent job when it comes to cutting and merging clips, adding music, simple transitions, and more. 

However, you’ll have to watch ads every time you need to save or share your clips, and if you want to use the app in full capacity, you’ll eventually have to pay. Luckily, it’s not expensive and has different payment plans. 

As for the alternatives, you can also try:

  • iMovie (Apple only);
  • Adobe Premiere (Adobe Premiere Rush);
  • Movavi Clips. 

Canva 

One more indispensable app for creating social media content is Canva. Originally, it was an image editor for non-professionals, but now you can also edit videos in it. But what’s most valuable in this app is that it offers thousands of free templates that will help you jazz up your photo content in no time. 

Canva is a cross-platform software that comes as both a desktop version and a mobile app. This makes it a truly universal tool for all content creators – primarily, social media managers. It also has lots of free features, but you’ll need to pay to unlock the advanced ones. However, it’s not too pricey – just a little over $100 if billed annually. 

As for the features Canva offers, there are quite a lot. You can create your own designs from scratch or use professional templates for all kinds of graphic products. This goes for Instagram stories and highlights, logos, business cards, Twitter banners, YouTube previews, and more. 

You can also use the program for image editing, adding captions in custom fonts, making animated text videos perfect for Instagram or Facebook stories, and more. If you don’t have quality images of your own, just choose from the program’s extensive library and create logos, banners, or image posts in minutes! 

While Canva is awesome, there surely are some alternatives. The most popular alternatives are Figma and Designhill Logo Maker.

Wrapping Up 

Content creation is hard work that requires lots of knowledge and skills. However, it’s become much easier today due to the abundance of highly functional, easy-to-use apps. And though these apps are only tools and can’t do the brainwork for you, they can easily advance and facilitate every content creator’s working process. 

In the article above, we’ve listed some of the best apps for content creation and editing available at the moment. Try and use them to your advantage!

5 Things To Avoid When Building Brand Equity

Every entrepreneur wants to see their enterprise grow. Nonetheless, it is much easier said than done. Even some new and exciting ideas cannot come to fruition because of different reasons.

Building trust in your customers and boosting your client retention rates takes time. After all, creating a brand people respect was never said to be easy. Additionally, there are many obstacles that careless businesspeople may not spot until it is too late.

Sometimes all it takes for some business to fail is one unaddressed problem. Before you know it, one can become two, then two can become three, and you have suddenly found yourself in the wrong spot with lots of problems to deal with.

To avoid such a scenario, we have prepared for you five tips on building brand equity. What should you NOT do as an entrepreneur? Let’s get started.

Implementing Poor Translation

Of course, English is a dominant language in our world. However, when you expect your company to grow worldwide, reaching the markets where other languages prevail might prove to be indispensable.

In such a case, look for translation services near your company’s location. For example, if you live in England, looking for translation services in Manchester is an option you should consider.

Remember that your competitors are also looking towards other markets. Ensure that your brand is well-perceived everywhere on Earth by relying on quality translations!

Not Defining Your Focus

Successful brands know what they are all about. Make sure that yours does too, and you should be well.

Think about the primary value of your company, something that differs it from others. Perhaps you value loyalty and treat your long-term clients exceptionally well? Maybe you aspire to be the most transparent or positive brand on the market?

When you create a niche for yourself, you will notice that customers can relate to your business more easily. Build your marketing strategy around your focus and reap the benefits today!

Not Delivering on Promises

One of the worst things that can happen to any company is not bringing its customers the quality they seek. If you do not want to ruin your brand value, make sure to fulfill all the promises you make.

Moreover, maybe you do not have to overhype the product you are selling to your audience? Add some level-headed marketing and do not create unrealistic expectations as it happened in CD Projekt Red’s case!

Remember that consumers can oversell a product to themselves with almost no help from you. Be honest about everything you do, and your customer base will only grow.

Overcomplicating

Of course, every business wants to stand out. Nonetheless, this process should never come at the expense of your customers’ convenience. Sometimes, a more straightforward way is the right one.

How many times, while coming up with a branding strategy, you noticed that the message you want to send does not seem as strong as you would like it to be? Perhaps the best way to combat this problem would be to keep everything simple?

Do not blindly assume that every client has some prior experience that will help them understand your offer! Instead, let your brand loyalty increase naturally by being more approachable than your competitors.

Expecting Instant Results

Doing some social media marketing will not immediately lead you into the brand’s upper echelon. Remember that you have to work for your success for years as this is the price every business has to pay to build their brand awareness.

Take, for example, Amazon. It has built its position through years of hard work. If you desire to join the big leagues, you must be prepared for a long journey.

Additionally, ensure that your brand equity is constantly getting bigger. Read the latest reports and monitor the feedback you are given, both positive and negative! It is very important not to stay complacent and keep pushing forward.

Nevertheless, do not expect a miracle because none is coming your way. Learn from your mistakes, share your company’s plans with your customer base, and patiently wait for the results! If you are persistent in your branding and passionate about what you do, success will find you sooner or later.

The Bottom Line

When you build brand equity, it is easy to overlook some things. However, after reading this article, you know how to avoid the most common mistakes and not share some brands’ fate!

Remember to keep matters related to your brand name simple! Additionally, be customer-oriented by sacrificing some time to brush out your social media marketing. You can also focus on your foreign consumer more by enlisting professional translation services.

If you want to establish solid brand awareness, be prepared that it might take some time. However, if you will use your assets right, you should boost your brand equity without facing daunting challenges. Good luck!

How To Create A Killer Linkedin Video 

LinkedIn has established itself as one of the most effective social media platforms for more than 675 million+ individuals, established businesses, and startups around the world. 

Contrary to popular belief, LinkedIn is not just a place for text-heavy B2B content. Video content on LinkedIn now outperforms traditional text content in both impressions and generated links.

Whether you are a sole proprietor or a large business representative, incorporating video into your LinkedIn marketing strategy is a must for your online success. 

With that said, let’s break down a few of the preliminary steps you need to take before you get down to creating your video.

Things to Consider Before Creating a LinkedIn Video for Business

On LinkedIn, it’s a little more complicated than the basic “point-shoot-upload” approach. If your created videos don’t bring the expected results, you definitely know what we mean. For everyone else – you need a more thought-out video marketing strategy.

The main purpose of a LinkedIn business video is to guide your buyers to the next stage of their journey on your page. While your main goal is to figure out what types of videos are missing from your purchase funnel and fix the issue.

Before you make your perfect LinkedIn video, make sure you remember the following  steps:

  • Get to the point fast;
  • Call to action wisely;
  • Add captions.

Perhaps, your video content lacks quality for your funnel. You might want to think about videos that help your customers solve problems they face when looking for products/services like yours. Make your customers believe that your solution will definitely work in their unique environments.

Here’s what you should do:

  • Audit all your existing video content and identify where it fits into your purchase funnel;
  • Make sure your video content helps customers solve their problems or, at least, defines and explains them;
  • Ensure your videos explain how your product/service works and why it’s the best on the market;
  • Analyze your competitors. Address each of your competitor’s videos comprehensively starting with likes counting and studying comments and ending with the number of shares. 

You have to understand exactly what types of LinkedIn videos are created by your competitors, how they inspire their customers to purchase products, and if the main message is relevant to their customers at different marketing funnel stages. Pay attention to CTA-links (Call To Action links) in videos of your competitors and find out if they really work, i.e. there’s enough visitor engagement (comments, likes, shares).

Now, let’s take a look at different types of videos on LinkedIn, understand how they apply to your strategy, and review the best practices for publishing each of them. 

LinkedIn Video Types

Keep in mind that by choosing the right types of videos for LinkedIn, you can “humanize” your brand and build trust with your customers while accelerating sales cycles and turning curious observers into loyal customers, and later into advocates for your brand. 

To engage your customers, apart from the video types described below, you can also make other types of videos as follows:

  • Live videos. These types of videos are highly popular today. They will help you answer all questions of your visitors and potential customers, find out what challenges they meet, and improve their experience with your solutions. Live videos are also great for marketing latest offers to boost your sales;
  • How-to videos and online guidelines are also a smart idea. You can show your customers that you really care about them by sharing useful knowledge and helping them learn something new about your products or services;
  • Interviews will allow your customers get valuable insights from industry experts and improve your brand’s reputation; 
  • Behind-the-scenes videos will let you get closer to your customers by providing them with an opportunity to take a closer look at what’s going on “in the kitchen.”

Now let’s get to the main LinkedIn video types.

LinkedIn Native Videos

LinkedIn native videos are videos that you post to your timeline on LinkedIn. Videos can be professionally created or shot via your smartphone and posted directly. You upload such videos to LinkedIn by clicking on the video icon in your feed and then choosing videos from your local files. 

Because of LinkedIn’s prioritization algorithms, video content tends to get more impressions and engagement. The more users interact with your native video, the more LinkedIn shares the video with other users, even those outside your network. 

LinkedIn native videos are a great tool for showcasing your experience, brand, services, or products. By creating a compelling native video, you can increase your visibility and expand your business by spotlighting your brand.

Recommended settings:

  • Video file size: anywhere between 75KB and 5 GB;
  • Minimum video duration: 3 secs;
  • Maximum video duration: 10 minutes;
  • Captions: optional (recommended to increase engagement);
  • Sound: optional;
  • Files: AVI, MPEG-4, MKV, MP4, MPEG-1, ASV, QuickTime, WebM, H264/AVC, VP8, VP9, WMV2, WMV3.

Aspect ratios:

  • LinkedIn Native videos can be vertical or horizontal. Vertical videos will be automatically cropped into a square;
  • The acceptable aspect ratio for the original video is 1:2.4 or 2.4:1.

Format:

  • Resolution: 256 × 144 to 4096 × 2304;
  • Recommended video quality: 1080p;
  • Supported video formats: AVI, MP4, MKV, FLV, MPEG-4, MPEG-1, ASF, WebM, QuickTime, WMV2, WMV3, VP8, VP9, and H264 / AVC;
  • Recommended file format: MP4. Many companies export video in MP4 by default. However, you can always use a video converter to convert your video into any format you need.

LinkedIn native videos are a great way to showcase your skills and represent yourself to the world. Check out this stunning video CV, a great example of a journalist’s video resume. 

LinkedIn Video Ads

Video ads on LinkedIn are commercials that are displayed in the feed. These are mostly company videos aimed at increasing brand awareness among potential customers, as these videos usually get more impressions and engagement.

Recommended settings:

  • Minimum video file size: 75KB;
  • Maximum video size: 200MB;
  • Minimum video duration: 3 seconds;
  • Maximum video duration: 30 minutes;
  • Video caption: highly recommended;
  • Sound: highly recommended.

Size:

  • Video ads on LinkedIn can only be horizontal. Vertical videos are not supported;
  • Pixel/aspect: 360p (480 x 360; wide 640 x 360); 480p (640 x 480); 720p (960 x 720; wide 1280 x 720); 1080p (1440 x 1080; wide 1920 x 1080);
  • Recommended aspect ratio: 16:9 (wide).

Format:

  • Recommended export quality: 1080p;
  • Video ads on LinkedIn only support MP4 videos;
  • Supported audio formats: MPEG4 and AAC.

Your LinkedIn video ad can be a success or breakthrough factor for your business. That’s why you need a video that can increase conversions. Here’s an example of a great marketing company ad for your consideration. 

Embedded Videos on LinkedIn

Most brands upload videos to video platforms like Vimeo or YouTube and then link to them on LinkedIn. You can embed videos either as an update or as a post. LinkedIn embedded videos are displayed in your LinkedIn feed exactly as they look on the initial platform. Their titles are usually at the bottom of the player.

Best settings:

  • Video length: LinkedIn doesn’t set a limit on the length of embedded videos;
  • Video captions: optional (but recommended);
  • Sound: optional.

Aspect ratios:

  • All embedded videos have the same size and resolutions as the original videos posted on your chosen video hosting platform;
  • Orientation: embedded videos can be vertical or horizontal;
  • Recommended aspect ratio: 16: 9 (widescreen).

Format:

  • Supported formats: MPEG-PS, FLV, MOV, 3GPP, WMV, AVI, WebM, and MPEG4;
  • Recommended export quality: 1080p.

If you want your LinkedIn audience to subscribe to your company’s YouTube channel or if you just want to share a video, you need the right template for that. For this, you can address Animoto. They are able to provide you with tools for creating a high-quality video that can be embedded into LinkedIn with ease.

LinkedIn Company Page Videos

Many established companies post different videos on their business pages. LinkedIn Company page videos were launched in 2018 and since then have proven effective in increasing brand awareness and attracting potential customers. According to LinkedIn, videos from a corporate page are five times more likely to generate discussion among members than any other type of content.

One thing to remember when using videos on a company page is to ensure that the video actually contains some useful information for your followers and is not a simple promotional piece.

Recommended settings:

  • Minimum video file size: 75KB;
  • Maximum video file size: 200 MB;
  • Minimum video duration: 3 seconds;
  • Maximum video duration: 30 minutes;
  • Recommended video duration: 1 minute to 3 minutes;
  • Sound: optional;
  • Video captions: optional.

Aspect ratios:

  • Orientation: company page videos can only be horizontal. Vertical videos are not supported;
  • Aspect ratios: 4:3 to 16:9. Recommended aspect ratio: 16:9 (widescreen).

Format:

  • Recommended export size: 1080p;
  • Video resolution: 360p to 1080p;
  • Supported Video Format: MP4;
  • Supported audio format: AAC and MPEG4;
  • Supported frame rate: 30fps or less.

LinkedIn company page videos are a great tool to showcase the main values and features of your business. Here’s a nice video of a creative video ad agency to check out for inspiration. 

Best Video Editors for LinkedIn 

Sharing raw video footage on social networks like LinkedIn can be problematic for a variety of reasons. The video you recorded using your smartphone or cam may not meet some of the platform’s specs, which makes editing your videos, before sending them to LinkedIn, even more important. 

In addition, learning how to use desktop or online video editing apps allows marketers to tailor each video to the requirements of the project they are currently working on. Thus, building your video editing skills will help you create videos that tell your story exactly the way you want it to be told. 

However, before you start polishing your skills, we recommend choosing the right video editing software that provides all the tools you’ll need in the LinkedIn video editing process. 

Instead of using complicated video editing software, you can try the following apps that support Windows, Mac, or can be used online. They will greatly facilitate the video creation process and provide a wonderful experience. 

Here are some of the best video editors you can use to create videos for LinkedIn and other social media platforms.

Filmora X 

Price: free trial, various subscription plans available. Subscription Plan – $39. 99/year. Perpetual Plan – $69.99 (one-time fee). Bundle Subscription Plan – $99.87/year. Automatic updates, cancel any time.

Compatibility: Windows (Windows 7/Windows 8.1/Windows 10 ( 64 bit OS ONLY)), mac OS

In addition to numerous video editing features, Filmora X offers screen recording tools that allow you to capture any activity on your screen. Regardless of which method you choose to capture your footage, Filmora X lets you import all the files into your project in just a few simple clicks.  

The timeline contains visual and audio editing abilities, graphics, and texts, allowing you to combine multiple videos into one, add text overlays, or create the perfect soundtrack for all your videos. You can import music from your PC or choose a song from Filmora’s royalty-free audio library (for free). 

The main Filmora X features and advantages are as follows:

  • Keyframing feature (custom animations);
  • Huge Video Effect Library (transitions, filters, titles, and motion elements);
  • Green Screen feature (change your background);
  • Split Screen feature;
  • Motion Tracking feature;
  • Audio Ducking feature;
  • Color Correction feature;
  • Color Grading;
  • Speed Control;
  • Hotkey Commands;
  • Social Media Export;
  • Automatic updates;
  • No watermarks;
  • Free tech support;
  • One-year unlimited downloads from Filmstock Standard Library;
  • New effects every month.

The Wondershare video editor also offers support for a wide range of video file formats, including 4K, so you can edit footage shot on action cameras and all other types of digital cams. 

You can export videos in all file formats, compatible with the LinkedIn platform and many others including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc. It’s up to you to decide which file format you’re going to use for different projects.

Camtasia 

Price: Free trial, subscription plans start at $169.99 per year. The Individual plan costs $249.99 (one-time fee).

Compatibility: Windows, macOS. 30-day money back guarantee.

Like Filmora X, Camtasia offers powerful screencasting features that can be useful if you want to create tutorials, video tutorials, explainer videos, or business presentations. 

The all-in-one video editor lets you trim or cut every video clip you import into your project so you can remove any objectionable material or parts of the video footage you don’t want to include in the final video. You can also add transitions between clips to avoid hard cuts or apply visual effects that highlight colors in the video. 

Camtasia has a rich audio library that contains royalty-free sound effects and music that can be used in every project you edit with this software tool. The screen-recorder from TechSmith allows its users to add quizzes, captions, annotations, and headlines to their professional-looking videos to improve their educational potential and raise customer engagement levels.

Animoto 

Price: free trial available, Professional – $15/month (annual package), Team – $39/month (annual package)

Compatibility: online tool (Windows, macOS, iOS). All plans include unlimited video creation, unlimited video downloads, social sharing, and an impressive music library.

Creating a LinkedIn or any other type of video with Animoto is amazingly fast and easy. You just need to choose a template, add videos or photos to your project, and export the video. 

All templates offered by this platform are fully customizable, which means you can change their aspect ratio, add titles/subtitles, or apply visual effects to every new project you start with Animoto. 

You can add as many new text blocks, images, or video footage to your project as you want, and in case you don’t have your own material, the platform lets you browse stock sites where you can find photos or videos you can use for your project. 

However, all your videos, created using a free version of the tool, will have Animoto branding on them – you will have to purchase one of the available subscription plans to remove the branding. 

Animoto offers thousands of licensed tracks to choose from and add to your videos. Each template has several recommended songs that perfectly complement its style and mood. 

That’s it for now!

We hope our article helps you when creating your perfect video, whatever your goals may be. We wish you inspiration and quality content to successfully promote your business! Good luck!

How to Get a Security Certificate for Your Website

Many security measures for your website lead to the best and safest practices for individuals and organizations. We live in a time when cyber crimes are rapidly increasing and developing with every passing day, and assuming various forms.

It is no longer only the responsibility of large corporations to maximize their security measures, as cybercriminals have shown they are prepared to attack any potential victim with sensitive information. This means anyone with valuable data or intellectual property stored online could be vulnerable to attacks.

One security measure that can be taken is the use of a security certificate for your website. Security is a valuable asset that will help in the growth of your web project. Security certificates may be an attractive feature for your customers, clients, and partners. SSL certificates can also secure payments, reduce cyber risks, and increase your search engine ranking.

Another way that you can generate interest in your web project is by optimizing your content to meet the demands of search engines. Check this guide to SEO for the best way to approach search engine optimization.

What Are Security Certificates?

Some websites are made more secure with an extension to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol, whereby the HTTP protocol becomes HTTPS. The extra S stands for secure, and it means that the data exchanged on these websites is encrypted.

To obtain an HTTPS connection, you need a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or a Transport Layer Security (TLS) certificate. These certificates enable a secure connection through an encryption process.

SSL and TLS certificates use cryptographic key pairs to connect the identities of websites and companies through digital documents called X.509 certificates. For each key pair, there is a private key that is kept secure and a public key that is widely distributed.

The public key can be used to encrypt messages that require the private key for decryption. The person that holds the private key can use it to sign digital documents, including web pages, which can be verified by anyone with the public key. 

The standard encryption of these certificates uses 256-bit strength and 2048-bit RSA key. SSL and TLS certificates are compatible with almost every major browser and device. It is usually possible to obtain an unlimited server license, which means you can install it on multiple servers.

SSL and TLS certificates need to be signed by certificate authorities (CAs) that are widely recognized and trusted. CAs need to be accepted by client software, which includes operating systems and web browsers, and they must be subject to frequent and thorough audits. Popular CAs include Symantec, DigiCert, RapidSSLonline, and SSL.com.

How to Obtain a Security Certificate for Your Website

It is relatively easy to obtain an SSL certificate for a web project, and there are certain steps that need to be followed.

Decide the Type of Certificate You Intend to Use

It is more common now to use TLS certificates, the upgraded version of SSL certificates. However, as more people are familiar with the term ‘SSL,’ it is often used to refer to those which are technically TLS certificates.

There are three categories that SSL certificates are divided into based on the validation process.

  • Domain Validated (DV): This is a low form of verification that only proves you own the domain for the website for which you need a security certificate. These certificates are more affordable and only take a few minutes to be issued.           
  • Organization Validated (OV): For this type of verification, you also need to prove details of your organization and a local presence, verified by a phone call. OV is more expensive, and it can take up to three days to be issued.
  • Extended Validated (EV): This validation requires DV and OV validations to have been completed. It is a more rigorous process that requires companies to have been in operation for a minimum of three years, and it is not available to individual users.

Obtain a Certificate Signing Request (CSR)

It is an application holding the details of the domain to be certified. After completing the CSR, your certification authority (CA) will send you a confirmation email. Provided that your request is legitimate, it will be validated, and your CA will issue your SSL certificate.

Install Your Digital Certificate on Your Server

This is usually a straightforward process. You can obtain a step-by-step guide from the relevant server. You can use an SSL checker tool to ensure the certificate has been correctly installed on the server.

Buying an SSL certificate is a wise security measure to take for any organization that is running a website. You can obtain one quite easily and quickly. It is always a good decision to improve your cyber defenses and reputation with a recognized security certificate.

How to Write a Marketing Content – Examples and Tips

Marketing content is at the core of promoting businesses in the digital world. Creating content that can help ideas stick, influence consumer behaviors, and promote products and services is a tricky job. Jones Miles, an online Marketing expert at GoAssignmentHelp, says, “Today, the word-of-mouth publicity has transmuted to spreading of information and influence through social networks. For small business owners, creating viral content is the most effective way to harness the power of social media and online marketing.”

So what makes certain ideas, products, actions, or stories stick in our minds more than others? Let us decode how to create effective marketing content:

Less is More

Assignment helper Prius Myers gives an excellent example to explain this phenomenon. He says, “Suppose you visit Dell’s website to buy a laptop. Each listing on the site presents a long list of information about PC cards, media base, docking ports, modular options, memory keys, types of DVD drives, etc. You have no clue about the technology – and despite extensive information, you are at a loss on which laptop to buy. Now, imagine seeing a video of each laptop where you can see it from all angles and check out its best features by clicking on it. Wouldn’t that make it easier for you to decide which one to buy?”

Many times, when businesses describe their products, they make the mistake of using nuanced and complex messages. They think that by telling more about the product, they will impress a potential buyer. The truth is when you learn a lot about a topic at once, you forget most of it instantly. The best strategy is to choose one or two best features of the product and build your marketing content around it. Such content will be easier to understand and have longer retention duration.

Use Analogies to Introduce a New Idea

Riteish Mukherjee from GoAssignmentHelp shares, “When Facebook first came out, it was portrayed as an online yearbook. People treasure their high school yearbooks as they spark memories of their old friends and teachers and instantly associated Facebook with an online medium to stay in touch with their friends.”

Analogies are effective ways to communicate unfamiliar ideas to an audience. They make your marketing content more relatable. Experts suggest that you should use an analogy to explain something, present complex or abstract arguments or concepts more simply, or compare and contrast two or more products or services.

Minnie Sietelman, who helps MBA students in assignment writing, warns, “One has to be careful while using an analogy. It should not be used as a core idea but to support and explain the idea. You should also be sure that your target audience knows what you are referring to when you make an analogy. Someone who is not interested in sports would not understand a basketball analogy. Similarly, people who are not Marvel fans would not relate with Ironheart or X-23 analogies.”

An analogy must also be related to your idea or product in some way for it to be effective. You may compare Content Marketing with Farming as both are related to the creation, planting seeds (content), growing, and producing fruits (results). Both of them use tools. Land can be related to the context of content and user-interface can be related to soil in the agricultural farm.

Create Curiosity Gaps

The most effective content marketing campaign is one that successfully makes people want to know more about the topic. Serve them with an appetizer that makes them want to devour the whole meal. A popular assignment writer in the UK, Simranjeet Chaddha, says, “The advent of websites like Upworthy and Buzzfeed has made the concept of ‘curiosity gap’ quite popular. Earlier, the print media was known for long well-researched articles or salacious rumors and gossips – depending on their target audience. In the world of online marketing content, clickbait and snackable content are driving revenues and traffic. The audience of today has smartphones with RSS feeds. It needs more than rhetorical questions and trick content to stir their curiosity and make them click a headline and compel them to read a blog post or an article.” You can try to share your viral anonymous stories at The Doe site.

According to Simranjeet, four ways to implement the curiosity technique while creating marketing content are:

  • Create an irresistible headline: Upworthy requires its writers to come up with at least 25 headlines per article. It pushes writers to brainstorm on writing a headline that gives the user enough information to decide whether he or she wants to read article or not but is not detailed enough to say it all in one line. The ideal headline is one that balances information with intrigue.
  • Publish your content frequently: Giants like HubSpot and popular newspaper websites publish a ton of content every day. This helps them to cover a wide range of topics to cater to different types of audiences. There’s another advantage. If some of the content does not perform well, other articles take over. It becomes a game of numbers. More you publish; more are the chances of making your marketing content go viral.
  • Perform A/B tests of your content: Publishing often also gives businesses the power to experiment with their headlines, type of interactive experiences they publish, and social media marketing or online marketing strategies they implement. You can analyze which content piece performs better than others and use the insights to refine and tweak your content strategy.
  • Post content that goes viral on social media networks: Engagement with the audience is the currency in the world of marketing. Hence, businesses that promote contests and quizzes like ‘Which car are you?” and “Which Marvel superhero you look like?” draw more traffic through social shares.

Whether you have a small business or a large business, you work for-profit or a non-profit, these simple marketing content strategies can help you leverage the power of digital platforms and increase your revenues several-fold.

Reasons Why Your Business Needs SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become an important part of businesses. It is significant for better searchability and visibility of a brand or business website. SEO is known for its digital properties that is why business owners must adopt it to attain its benefits. Here in this article, we are going to share a few reasons why your business requires SEO.

Improves Organic Search

Have you been wanting to know what SEO means? The performance of a business website can greatly be improved by organic search and it can help get users’ engagement or conversion. Google is the leading search engine and holds a major part of the search market as compared to Yahoo, Baidu, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Yandex, and others. It would not be wrong to say that Google contributes about 75% of the entire search market. This is why it’s necessary to follow its guidelines. People, who have access to the internet, visit Google at least one time a day for getting information. SEO can help improve the organic search of your business website, which can ultimately improve conversion rate.

Builds Credibility and Trust

SEO aims to build a strong base for a website to provide a clean, friendly, and effective experience to users. With its digital properties, SEO can build the credibility and trust of a brand. No doubt, trust, a them nd credibility cannot be built overnight, so you need patience and commitment. Just rely on professional SEO experts like Olga Gladkaya and Mike Zhmudikov from SEO Company in Toronto, and allow to do wonders for your brand.

Better User Experience

Everybody desires maximum visibility and better organic rankings, but for that, it’s important to focus on optimal user experience. A favorable user experience can make a website successful. Customers are well aware of their needs and if they cannot find the right information, their experience will be affected. Therefore, it’s necessary to provide desired information to customers in a few clicks and that can be possible with quality SEO.

Positive Impact on Buying Cycle

Customers prefer doing research when they want a specific product or service. Thanks to the internet and search engines that have made their research quick and hustle-free. Quality SEO tactics can broadcast your message for exclusive deals, groundbreaking services or/and products, and the significance of your offering. This will definitely influence the customer buying cycle positively. Try dagmarmarketing.com to get help having your business appear in the top search results when people search in your industry.

Helps Understand the Web Environment

The web environment keeps on changing due to the advancement in technology. Of course, it can be challenging to keep your website updated along with the change in web development. Having a credible hosting partner like Hosting Foundry is a great start. But with SEO, you can understand the web development and can know about tactics being applied by other competitors.

Comparatively Cheap

Of course, Search Engine Optimization costs money. But you will be glad to know that the SEO cost is relatively cheap if we consider its benefits for a brand or business. Spending on SEO will be an investment for your business and it will generate benefits for several upcoming years. So, invest today and enjoy long-term perks.

Expert Tips to Create Warm Feelings With Your Brand in Social Media

Social media has taken its throne in marketing, and for many businesses, it’s the key element for brand growth. If done right, the domino effect can create a wave of positivity for most businesses to boost brand awareness and increase conversions to increase sales.

Promoting your brand on social media is vital for most businesses, but creating the right emotions with your content in these channels increases sales. The key to becoming successful in social media marketing is engagement and creating warm feelings with your brand. When consumers associate well with your brand, it creates brand loyalty and increases your growth.

Here are some practical tips you can use to create warm feelings with your brand on social media.

Understand Your Audience

When generating content for your social media pages or website, it’s essential to understand who your target audience is and what they are about. When you know and understand your target market, you’ll learn how to create the right emotions that will appeal to them.

For example, a business selling cars may need to create content that’s showcasing adventure, status, and other feel-good emotions. If it’s a luxury car company, your customers want to feel special and feel they are paying for exclusivity. A business in the financial sector may also need to convey trust, security, and integrity. All these are ways of creating warm feelings with content and helps your target audience resonate well with your brand.

Create a Compelling Title

The first thing that attracts your target audience to click on your content is the headline of your blog post, visuals, or videos. You need to trigger a response that will compel your audience to click on your content and read it.

When creating your titles, you can use powerful words that set off warm feelings, like the words “best,” “free,” “tips,” and other terms that will make your audience eager to click and read your content. You can also build confidence in your brand by using “certified” or “expert” that indicates authority and authenticity.

Remember, to be considered an expert in your industry, you must be professional and give valuable insights backed up by facts. You can maintain your credibility by using hard evidence, like citing reliable sources and imagery.

Create short and intriguing titles by using relevant keywords and powerful words to create excitement. A creative title will help you get more engagement and traffic to your social media pages and your brand.

Engage Your Consumers with Your Content

When customers use a hashtag and mention your brand, you can respond to the customer’s post. This makes the customer feel valued and cared for by your brand. When you give direct responses to customers’ content when they tag you, it also increases engagement while creating warm feelings toward your brand. There are different tools online you can use to find posts that mention your brand on social media.

You can also continue the conversation by asking questions about their experiences with your products or services. When they get back to you about their experience with your brand, it helps you remedy any mistakes and will also spark more engagement among other users.

Make Your Posts Visual

Images and videos are awesome additions to add to your social media posts and marketing content in general. They create a more appealing post that users will want to read and attract consumers who disregard plain text in social media posts. Including an image or a short video in your social media posts can appeal to more users and increase posts’ accessibility.

Have videos of your brand story like how far you’ve come and grown as a business, or you as a business owner from your childhood. Sharing the video on social media with your audience is an excellent way of connecting with them and creating warm feelings with your brand. By sharing your business stories, it humanizes your brand. Your consumers can easily relate to your brand, build an even stronger relationship with you, boost sales, and increase brand loyalty.

It’s easy to transfer the videos from DVD to your computer by digitizing them. There are various forms of digitizing DVDs for different software. For example, you can use a DVD Ripper for Windows.

Post Frequently and at The Right Time

Ensuring your social media channels are active is essential to show your audience that you’re up to date and on top of the latest trends. Your consumers want to know what’s happening with your brand, what’s new, and when you’re launching any new products or services. Make sure that you’re frequently posting to keep your audience in the know. It helps them feel like part of your brand, and they are happy when they are aware of any happenings with the brand.

Frequent posts will maintain your loyal followers and will also attract more followers. If you don’t post as often, you may risk losing followers, and your followers may easily forget your brand.

It’s also essential to ensure that you’re posting at the right time when users are active. This is the best way to ensure that your followers see your content, increasing engagement with your posts. Posting frequently about your industry’s latest news will help your business be recognized as an authority within your industry. Publishing this type of content will often showcase your brand ahead of the game.

Engage with the Latest Issues and Trends

Liking and sharing the latest social media posts on your industry’s issues and trends is a terrific way to show involvement and support, assuming you’re reacting or sharing content that’s fair and isn’t offensive. Engaging with such content will strengthen your brand reputation and evoke the right feel for your brand.

Doing this will demonstrate to your consumers whether they are potential customers or not, and that you value social happenings rather than just making money. This will generate admiration and respect for your brand.