The holidays are a fruitful time for businesses.

There are so many eager buyers for a multitude of different products and services – which means you’ve probably been pretty busy lately.

These social media hacks for the holidays will save you some time.

This article will help businesses of all sorts reach new fans and followers, engage current fanbases and help convert them to customers more efficiently.

1. Use less popular hashtags on Twitter

I know this sounds weird, but it works.

Now I’m not saying you should ditch the trending hashtags, but sometimes you want to hit a niche market with some less commonly used hashtags.

Most of the time I’ll get a lot more click-throughs on tweets with less commonly used hashtags than I do with the overused ones.

For example, the Christmas hashtag can get over 70,000 tweets in a week. That’s a lot!

And sure, a lot of people are probably searching for that hashtag, but it makes your chance of being seen also a lot lower because there are so many other tweets.

So I like to use a mixture of most popular hashtags and less popular hashtags.

Whereas if you search something more specific, like #xmasgifts, the tweets per week are much lower – at around 300 per week.

“#xmasgifts” would be a good hashtag for retailers or eCommerce shops to use over the holidays.

You don’t want the hashtags you use to be completely deserted, you just want them to have a niche following.

To search for the popularity of a hashtag you can use a tool like Talkerwalker.com.

Try to find some hashtags related to your business and the holidays that have a maximum of somewhere between 100-1000 tweets per week.

2. Re-schedule your top tweets with Buffer

This is one of my favorite features on Buffer – and it’s super easy to do. I scroll through my top tweets and find the most clicked. You can also search for the most retweeted, most liked, etc.

Here at Wishpond we recently ran a holiday promotion to get $50 off of our Basic Plan (it’s $69 per month on a month-to-month plan).

59 clicks on a tweet is actually really high for us – so this tweet would be a perfect candidate to re-buffer.

I actually find that sometimes my re-buffered tweets will get more than the original tweet – especially if I re-buffer them for a different time of day (7am Pacific Time is ideal for our tweets).

It’s super easy to figure out which of your tweets have been the most popular on Buffer – the thing is, the analytics are only shown for the tweets that you specifically used buffer to schedule.

All you have to do is click the Analytics tab at the top of the dashboard where you’ll automatically be directed to your posts. Then below your Twitter profile image, you’ll see “Most Popular” to the right of “Recent. Just hover over it and choose whichever option you find fitting.

3. Get a little silly with your Facebook posts

So, I’ve been crafting social media posts for a variety of businesses over the past few years.

When the holidays come around that’s when I get excited – I know that this is the time to let loose and have some Facebook Page fun.

So what can you do to spruce up your holiday marketing on Facebook?

There is a lot of different content you can use to jazz up your Facebook page. Here’s a brief list of some types of content you can post:

• Images
• Videos
• Jokes
• Vines
• Quotes
• Questions
• Polls

For example, take a look at one of Charmin’s Facebook posts:

They usually find endearing or hilarious ways to post about their product.

This Facebook post is great because it shows the necessity of their product, but also incorporates the holidays in an adorable way.

Next, take a look at this post by Skittles. They can have pretty obscure posts, but they always relate to their product.

Although this Facebook post may not be as effective for drawing customers into the store, these playful types of posts will help boost the reach of your content.

So, how can you add some hilarity to your own Facebook page? The easiest way is with images.

Thankfully your posts will already be based around a holiday so your posts will already have an extra advantage by being relevant to your fans.

I would start by taking a look at popular sites such as Pinterest or Buzzfeed to get your ideas for funny holiday photos rolling…

Facebook post tip: A lot of successful Christmas posts I’ve used in the past included animals or children… and possibly dad jokes.

4. Change the appearance of a Facebook post and post it again

Re-featuring a post on Facebook is perfect for when you are spreading the word about a certain product, service or promotion around the holidays.

Facebook allows you to customize a lot of how your Facebook posts appear – such as the share image, the headline and subheader and also the description.

This means that you can link to the same offer over and over (but I wouldn’t overdo it).

In this post below, you can see the four different parts of the post you can change:

• The post description
• The link image
• The link headline
• The link subheadline

Make sure you’re not posting the same offer multiple times a day, and make sure that you are providing some different information than the previous post. You don’t want to make your Facebook timeline appear spammy.

Here’s an example of how Sears used this tactic below:

5. Run a holiday promotion to get more Instagram followers

According to Forrester, the top brands on Instagram generate engagement rates 58 times higher than their Facebook posts and 120 times higher than their Twitter posts.

Instagram is the place for brands to be. If your Instagram is in need of more followers, now’s the time to act.

And contests are a great way to generate more followers.

One great thing about Instagram is that it allows you to “follow-gate” your contests, which means you can ask people to follow your brand on Instagram as a condition of entering your contest.

For example, tea supplier Mighty Leaf…

Below you can see that they’ve included it in their conditions:

Note: In Instagram contests like Wishpond’s, there’s an option you can select in the campaign editor so that your Instagram contest only includes entries that follow you.

6. Use Shops to convert Instagram followers to customers

If you already have an engaged following on Instagram, Instagram’s Shops feature is definitely worth a look – especially around the holidays.

Before Shops, Instagram users had no way to shop for the products found on Instagram without specialized tools such as Like2buy.

So how does it work?

Your followers can visit your shop from your Instagram profile or through the feed and Stories. Once they’re at the shop, they can browse products, explore collections, and purchase products.

This happens seamlessly through Instagram’s in-app browser and without leaving the app from shops with checkout.

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7. Schedule all of your holiday posts early so you can relax

Sure, the holidays are a great time for making the most out of your social efforts, but that doesn’t mean you have to be on social 24/7.

That’s why social media management tools are so important to your social routine. This may seem like an obvious hack, but it’s one of the most important for the holiday season.

We all need a bit of down time now and then, regardless of if you’re taking a tropical getaway or just spending time with family and friends.

So make sure to schedule your posts (whether that’s with buffer, hootsuite, latergramme, etc.) to take the fuss out of posting during the holidays.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR WEBSITE

Source, https://blog.wishpond.com/post/115675436255/social-media-holiday-hacks?wpnd_cid=344afc6bb55f377b

Shopify SEO Checklist You Need To Rank Your Site

When it comes to driving motivated traffic to your Shopify store, no other digital marketing strategy is as affordable or impactful as SEO.

For e-commerce retailers, taking the time to ensure your web pages are properly optimized can help increase your organic traffic, meaning more potential customers browsing your products.

Unlike Google Ads or social media advertising, SEO strategies can drive site traffic to your Shopify website long after your ad budget runs out.

For this reason, leveraging SEO is one of the best digital investments a Shopify site owner can make.

What Is Shopify SEO?

Shopify SEO is the process of optimizing a Shopify website to perform better in search engine results.

Although SEO can be applied to any website, Shopify SEO is focused on helping e-commerce retailers who utilize the Shopify CMS to earn more keyword rankings and organic traffic.

Common SEO Challenges For E-Commerce Websites

In general, e-commerce websites are more likely to face certain challenges that can negatively impact search engine performance.

• Thin Content: Google loves in-depth, long-form content. Because product pages tend toward thin content, it can be difficult to boost their rankings in search.
• Duplicate Content: With multiple product pages that are so similar or auto-generated, many e-commerce websites face duplicate content issues.
• Poor Site Architecture: Google likes to see an optimized site structure that users can easily navigate. With so many pages on their website, e-commerce retailers can easily suffer from poor site architecture signals.
• Not Utilizing Schema: Products schema helps Google crawlers understand your products and promote them accordingly. Not utilizing schema is a huge mistake for Shopify retailers.

To make sure that your website doesn’t suffer from these common setbacks faced by e-commerce sites, the Shopify SEO checklist below is a great place to start.

Automated SEO Features In Shopify

The Shopify platform does have some SEO features built-in that ease some of the SEO workload on-site owners.

These features include:

• Auto-generated “rel-canonical” tags: this feature helps avoid duplicate content penalties!
• Auto-generated robots.txt and sitemap.xml files.
• Automatic SSL certificates: Google prefers to rank secure pages with HTTPS protocols.
• Auto-generated page titles that include the store’s name.

However, SEO is a vast and multidisciplinary field.

Counting on the Shopify platform alone to do the work of SEO for you is not going to produce the best results.

19 Must-Do Tasks On Your Shopify SEO Checklist

Remember that SEO is not a one-and-done process and will require work both when you initially set up your store and throughout the lifetime of your website.

The checklist below is organized by the type of optimization, but it can be easily completed “in order.”

Some of these steps are a one-time optimization, but the majority will need to be repeated whenever you add new products or pages to your online store.

General SEO

1. Invest In A Custom Domain

It’s generally better to invest in a custom domain and drop the “myshopify” from your URLs.

Why? Because the URL path is visible to users at the top of the SERP result. Custom domains look more professional and more enticing to users, and higher CTRs lead to better SEO performance.

You can buy custom domains from Shopify or any third-party domain provider.

Then, add your custom domain in the Settings > Domains menu of your Shopify account.

2. Choose A Fast And Responsive Theme

With last year’s page experience update, fast page speed and load times are non-negotiable if you want to rank well in Google.

Although flashier themes might be tempting, it is better to choose a theme that is optimized for speed and performance.

Your theme also needs to perform well on mobile devices, as Google will index the mobile versions of your web pages.

You can get a sense of how fast your current Shopify store is in comparison to others in your dashboard or via your PageSpeed Insights report. If your scores are low, it’s likely impacting your ability to rank in top positions.

LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR PROJECT

Source, SEJ

If you want to make sales, you need to drive traffic to your website. And, as you might already know, Facebook advertising campaigns are one of the best ways to get potential customers to visit your online store. But Facebook ads are complex – there’s a lot to learn, and there’s always ways to optimize your campaigns. So, we’ve put together a checklist that you can use to troubleshoot common issues that entrepreneurs encounter when they’re running Facebook ads. Note: Before you try to optimize your Facebook ads you should always try to get at least 10,000 impressions from your ads. You want a decent amount data to work with before you start optimizing your ads.

What to do if your ‘Cost per click’ (CPC) is too high.

First off, check your click-through-rate (CTR). If you notice that your CTR is under 1% then it’s a good idea to review your ad creatives and the audiences that you’re targeting. Check if you’ve received any negative feedback for your ads, as that could be damaging their performance. Take a look at your Facebook ads ‘relevance score’. If you notice that it’s below 7, then you might need to rethink your ads. You can check this under the ‘Performance and Clicks’ standard report. Try to duplicate the ads that you’re running and test them with higher budgets. Don’t be afraid to test out new audiences if all else fails.

What to do if you have a low click-through rate (CTR).

Review your Facebook ad creatives. You might need to try completely new creatives if they’re hampering your CTR. Check the placements of your Facebook ads. If you’re using mobile ads, you could try running some desktop ones, or vice versa. Remember to test out your ads using different audiences. Try adding different steps into your ad funnels to try and warm up your audience to your brand.

Getting lots of clicks but few conversions?

Check your bounce rate – essentially, the number of clicks you receive vs the number of views your ads get. Check your traffic placements. Audience Network and Instant Article ads, for example, are notoriously bad for ‘top of the funnel’ campaigns. Check your website UX. It might actually be a problem with navigating your website that is causing the drop off. Go through the experience yourself and see if anything could be improved.

Still not converting? Try these tips.

Using custom audiences for your Facebook ads? Make sure that they’re populated correctly. Sometimes there are issues with this. Double check that you don’t have another Facebook ad account driving traffic to the same page. Take a look and see if you have any negative feedback on your ads. Pivot and focus any Facebook ads that are aimed at getting conversions to get more impressions instead. Then, you can try using retargeting ads. Try using higher budgets for your campaigns. You might have everything lined up to succeed, but you just haven’t hit the right people yet. If all else fails, switch your campaigns to use the ‘Post Engagement’ objective. LET US KNOW HOW YOUR FACEBOOK DOING

This six-step process will help you engage your organic search traffic on social media and expand your reach by using Facebook lookalike audiences.

When trying to grow a business online, organic search traffic can seem like one of the slowest games of all time – it can feel like it takes forever for search engines to bring another person to your website.

And most businesses are waiting on Google to hopefully bring another five people today or another 10 people tomorrow.

The problem arises when you have to wait for people to ask a question in the search engine and hope your content is good enough to rank in the top 10 search results on Google for that particular question.

It’s also pretty common that most businesses do not have the time to wait or the budget to grow their website to millions of visitors quickly.

But what if there were a way to fix that problem?

What if there were a better and faster way to engage your organic search traffic and your social media content all at the same time?

Luckily, there is a simple six-step process to engage your organic search traffic on social media and drastically expand your organic search reach by using Facebook lookalike audiences.

• Step 1: Perform keyword research.
• Step 2: Create a piece of content (for this example it will be a blog).
• Step 3: Get some organic traffic to that piece of content.
• Step 4: Set-up your social media pixel and pixel the people who read the article of content.
• Step 5: Create a Facebook lookalike audience.
• Step 6: Serve social media ads to that audience.

Now, to break this down even more.

Step 1: Perform Keyword Research

When starting with keyword research, you probably have a few keywords that you would like to rank for – apparent things like your products, services, or other topics your website addresses.

These seed topics are a great place to start for your keyword research, but that doesn’t mean you should stop there.

Why?

What you want to rank for, and what your audience is typing into the search engines, are often two completely different things.

That is one of the most pivotal reasons to perform keyword research in the first place.

If people aren’t searching for it, then why waste time creating it in the first place?

The smartest way to avoid this is to find the exact words and phrases that your ideal customers are currently searching for on Google and other major search engines.

It may sound not easy, but there are a handful of excellent keyword research tools that can help.

For example, we used Ahrefs to research the phrase, ‘“how to get 10k followers on instagram.”

You can see how many people are searching for this key phrase and any other relatable parent topics that people are also searching for.

When creating content for the search engines, it’s essential to create content that answers one question at a time.

For example, you could take these short-term and long-term keywords and create a blog post on each one of them only when it makes sense for your business.

People are searching for your question, but they are also searching for “how to get swipe up on instagram without 10k followers” and “how to get 10k followers on instagram in one day.”

If it doesn’t make sense to write a topic on each of those questions and the keywords are too relatable, then maybe it makes more sense to use this set of keywords as an H1 or H2 heading instead, which also plays a significant factor in search engine rankings.

Step 2: Create a Piece of Content

Now that you understand the importance of finding the right keywords to use in your content marketing strategy, it is time to create a blog post.

When writing a blog, it is essential to remember that the goal is to get new readers to your blog consistently, eventually leading to a sale.

It’s also to get readers and engagement on the blog, so signals are sent to social media and the search engines to help you get that first-page ranking on Google.

This is where keyword research comes into play.

When performing keyword research correctly, it takes no time to get top rankings in Google because you know what people are searching for and how frequently they are searching for it.

Once your blog post is published to your website, it is time to wait for some people to read and engage with it.

Step 3: Get Organic Traffic

The only thing you have to do in this step is to wait for some organic traffic, the goal is around 1,000 people.

Over time when the piece of content you created starts to get search results, you can then set up a pixel (this is the next step) and begin running social media ads to hack the process.

However, let me start by saying this may not be as simple as it sounds – this is the step where most businesses get stuck and don’t know how to grow reasonably.

Most companies understand how a simple marketing funnel works, but what they don’t understand is how to continuously get newly qualified people throughout every piece of the marketing funnel.

Even so, most businesses don’t understand how to successfully intertwine multiple platforms and use their social media to grow their organic search traffic or vice versa.

People have created all of these great pieces of content, but they don’t understand how to use that to take them to the next level.

And when you are using multiple platforms, that’s where this marketing strategy comes into play.

You have to understand how to track every person who touches your content, from the first touch to the last.

Studies have shown that it usually takes a person seven interactions with a business before making a purchase.

To know how many times a person interacts with your content, it is critical to have a pixel placed on your website for accurate data tracking, leading to the next step.

Step 4: Set Up Social Media Pixel

Once you have published your blog post and have a small amount of traffic engaging with your content, it is time to set up your social media pixel on your website.

If you are unfamiliar with a pixel, here is the definition.

A pixel is a few lines of code that you copy into the header section of your website.

It works by placing and triggering cookies to track users as they interact with your website and your Facebook ads.

The pixel serves two primary purposes:

• To remarket to someone who has visited one of your pages.
• To know which pages they have visited and to track and see if someone has completed the desired action, whatever that may be.

What the pixel does, in essence, is allow Facebook to track their audience on our platform, we are essentially giving Facebook access to our tracking.

If you are unsure how to create a Facebook pixel and add the Facebook Pixel to your website, follow this two-part process:

Part 1: Create a Facebook Pixel

• Go to Events Manager.
• Click Connect Data Sources and select Web.
• Select Facebook Pixel and click Connect.
• Add your Pixel Name.
• Enter your website URL to check for easy setup options.
• Click Continue.

Part 2: Add the Facebook Pixel to Your Website

Once you’ve created your pixel, you’re ready to put the Facebook pixel code on your website.

There are a few different options on how you can set this part up:

• You can manually add pixel code to a website.
• Use a partner integration.
• Use email instructions.

Once the tracking is in place and you fully understand your target audience’s patterns, you can begin to implement the R3MAT strategy, showing the right message to the right person at the right time with the right expectations.

Once you have your social media pixel set up, it’s time to move into the next step.

Step 5: Create a Lookalike Audience

Did you know that Facebook can predict if you are pregnant before you even know you’re pregnant?

And did you know that studies are proving Facebook can predict if people are cheating on their partner before they ever realize it?

That seems pretty scary, right?

But, here is where that becomes super powerful.

Facebook has an option where you can create a lookalike audience based on its tracking abilities to reach new people who are most likely to be interested in your business because they’re similar to your best existing customers.

You can create a group of people who have similar likes, interests, and demographics to people who are already interacting with your website.

Here is how to create a Facebook Lookalike Audience:

• Go to your Audiences.
• Click the Create Audience dropdown and choose Lookalike Audience.
• Choose your source notes:
  • A source can be a customer audience not created with your pixel data, mobile app data or fans of your page.
  • Consider using 1,000 to 50,000 of your best customers based on lifetime value, transaction value, total order size, or engagement.
• Choose the country/countries where you’d like to find a similar set of people.
• Choose your desired audience size with the slider.
• Click Create Audience.

Creating this audience gives any business the ability to create a small subset of people you can talk to any way you choose.

You can now show this audience relevant ads, move them through the sales funnel, build your relationship with them, build your reach and frequency.

All of this is possible because Facebook is watching so many little data points all of the time.

Facebook is continuously collecting information about the things you buy and the websites you visit.

Plus thousands of other bits of personal information gathered from public records and your social media activity.

Step 6: Serve Audience the Social Media Ads

The final step is to show relevant ads to your new lookalike audience that you just created.

To keep this process going, make sure you are consistently showing your lookalike audience(s) new relevant content that meets them at each point in the buyers’ journey.

When you complete this six-step process, you are officially taking your organic search and lighting it on fire.

LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR PROJECT

Source: text and images, Gari Handerson, https://www.searchenginejournal.com/engage-organic-search-traffic-on-social-media/376524/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=daily-newsletter&utm_campaign=daily-newsletter&mc_cid=cb31d7e2e1&mc_eid=919e43ffe5#close

When you’re setting up or optimizing an ecommerce site, you’ve got tons of things to keep track of, like a business plan, pricing,
photography, design, marketing.

After all the set-up, it’s easy to ignore the products you’re selling, which are the real star of the show.

I’ve seen countless websites fail their products in one common way: by not writing powerful, unique product descriptions.

People genuinely struggle to write copy that isn’t boring or generic. But you don’t have to be J.K. Rowling to write good copy.

If you just focus on writing unique product descriptions, you’ll put your e-commerce site well ahead of the competition.

Here are 20 reasons why you need unique product descriptions on your website.

1. Higher Search Engine Rankings

If your content duplicates, steals, or borrows heavily from other sources (like copy and pasting text from a supplier), you will hurt your rankings.

Your site may rank higher, or the supplier’s site may rank higher, or any number of similar sites that have duplicated the copy might rank higher.

If you’re not generating unique product descriptions, you’re taking a gamble.

There isn’t an official penalty from Google for duplicate content. But it muddies up the waters and impacts your search engine rankings.

That’s significant enough to make it worth your time to generate your own original product descriptions.

2. Increased Organic Traffic

The first point, higher rankings on search, can generally lead to more organic traffic.

But unique product descriptions have a broader effect on your organic traffic.

Consider this example:

Say you’re an online coffee seller.

You can either have generic copy that talks a little about the flavor and roast.

But if your product descriptions are unique and optimized around the specific aspects of your coffee – food pairings, regions it’s grown, tips for brewing – then you will capture people whose search intent focuses on those things.

You cast a much wider net.

Making original, high-quality content that adds value to visitors is a consistent way to increase organic traffic.

3. Increased CTR on SERP

Your product descriptions don’t just sell the products on your website.

They can sell your website itself to potential visitors.

When you write unique product descriptions, your website stands out on the search results page.

The SERP is one place where clever, concise copy can bring a massive return on your effort.

Google only displays up to 50 to 60 characters for your title and up to 160 characters for your snippet.

That’s shorter than a tweet.

While you should use the relevant keywords, don’t just “stuff” them in.

Make sure your titles and descriptions are unique and frontload the most pertinent or attractive aspects of your products.

Services like free shipping are also worth including if there’s room.

4. Reduce Costs of PPC Ads

When you write unique product descriptions, you can also write better, more unique pay-per-click ads.

Conversely, if you’re using unoriginal or stock product copy, your PPC ad copy will be limited.

The critical factor here is your ads’ quality score.

By improving the relevance of the bid-upon keyword to its ad group, the landing page experience, and the relevance of the ad text, you can reduce your PPC ad spend considerably.

Unique product descriptions affect all three of those factors.

They influence what keywords you bid on and their relevance to their page.

They also affect the landing page experience.

5. Better Landing Pages for Ads

Speaking of landing page quality, unique product descriptions can make better landing pages for ads.

This improvement isn’t the same as the landing page experience that Google outlines, which includes things like fast load times and mobile optimization.

A better landing page for an ad also means copy and design meant to capture this traffic that you’ve paid for.

Your product descriptions can include persuasive copy that is geared toward visitors coming from paid search.

If you’ve done the work to capture searchers’ intent with the ad, you want to meet their expectations once they’re on your site.

6. Support Your Keyword Strategy

Your keyword strategy is the foundation of your general SEO strategy.

It helps you capture traffic through search intent and plan your paid search ad strategy.

Researching and implementing a keyword strategy is a cornerstone practice.

Yet, if you try to match up a keyword strategy with content that’s not written to accommodate it, your whole SEO plan will be built on an unstable foundation.

You need to ensure the content on your site matches up well with your keyword strategy.

7. Eliminate Duplicate Content

Duplicate content is an essential watch-out for on-site SEO.

It affects many of the points listed so far, like search rankings, PPC ad cost, and landing page quality.

As such, it’s an excellent metric to optimize against in and of itself.

You should optimize your site to have unique content as a rule, but when time and money are tight, it can be seductive to use stock product descriptions.

Resist this urge.

8. Reduced Bounce Rate

Bounce rate is one of the best measurements for how well your product descriptions meet a potential buyer’s expectations.

Bad copy or content that doesn’t match up well with the title and description on a SERP are common reasons why a website has a high bounce rate, too.

Unique product descriptions can reduce your site’s bounce rate, cutting down on the dreaded “pogo-sticking” phenomenon.

9. Improve Return Visitors Rate

Every business loves repeat customers.

This truism is even more true for online retailers.

Return visitors are 70% more likely to add a product to their cart and complete purchases 75% more often.

Leveraging unique product descriptions improves return visits.

In fact, only 8% visit a brand’s website for the first time with an intention to buy.

By writing unique, attention-grabbing copy, your site will make an impression.

It makes it easy for visitors to simply search for your company name or something they remember from the product description to find their way back.

10. More Conversions On-Site

It’s not too much of a generalization to say that stock product descriptions aren’t great.

And even if they are well-written, they’re not optimized for your site layout or purchaser funnel.

Writing unique product descriptions takes your e-commerce site to the next level.

You can speak more effectively to your conversion strategies and integrate your site with the rest of your marketing.

11. Scannable, Skimmable Text

Your product descriptions should almost always be short and to the point.

Users don’t read.

They skim.

If your product descriptions aren’t written with this in mind, you won’t capture nearly as many conversions as you should.

12. Stand Out From the Competition

If your competitors all drove white Toyota Camrys and you drove a red Tesla Model S, which do you think passersby would notice?

The truth is, many products are very similar to each other.

Or they are to most consumers, at least.

If you don’t have some attention-grabbing sizzle, it will be hard to get your products into buyers’ hands and show them why yours are better.

13. Become the Authority

Authority is a widely misunderstood topic, but its effect is certainly felt in search rankings.

The only way to gain website authority is by getting linked to by high-quality or reputable sites.

The most effective way to build an attractive link profile is by having strong content or high relevance to the sites in your industry that matter.

Now ask yourself if generic product descriptions fall into that rubric?

14. Address Your Buyer Personas

Buyer personas are an important and often neglected part of the marketer’s bible.

While they’re not strictly SEO-related, they represent a part of the operation where SEO and marketing should be closely aligned.

If you want to connect with your essential buyer personas, tailoring your product descriptions is a must.

15. Create Trust With Your Visitors

When you visit a site that looks like it could have been made in an hour on WordPress or Squarespace that uses stock imagery and copy, most people will have their defenses up.

Even if they don’t explicitly realize there’s something that’s making them feel distrustful.

People are experts in recognizing stock photos and content.

If you’ve done the hard work of getting visitors to your site, it’s still easy to lose them if they immediately lose trust in it and bounce off.

16. Go Beyond Describing to Selling

A product description should describe the products, right?

Sure, if your site’s sole purpose is to describe products, then that’s fine.

But if your ultimate goal is sales, then your product descriptions need to sell.

Copy that sells can be broken down into a formula, but either way, it doesn’t come from stock product descriptions.

When you write unique product descriptions, you can leverage some creativity to sell.

17. Surprise & Delight Visitors

Writing truly unique product descriptions allows you to have a little bit of fun.

The capacity for fun varies from industry to industry.

If you’re selling medical equipment, you’ll keep the quirkiness to a minimum.

But if you’re offering consumer goods or products, you can let your personality shine.

Whether your brand is more like Yeti or Everlane, there’s a lot of capacity for your product descriptions to show a little personality and connect with your visitors.

18. Keep Content Fresh

Fresher content can perform better in certain verticals/niches/markets.

If your product descriptions never need to be updated, then you don’t need to update them all the time. (It won’t hurt to update them periodically, though.)

But if your products are seasonal or regularly updated, then you should make sure you keep them up to date with new and unique product descriptions.

19. Reduce Customer Service Load

What if you could get all the benefits of better SEO, higher conversion rates, lower ad cost, and have a positive knock-on effect for your customer service team’s load?

Unique product descriptions can answer customers’ questions before they have them.

When your customers have fewer questions you, can proactively reduce the load on your customer service team.

20. Prevent Exchanges & Returns

Dissatisfied customers are only slightly worse than disinterested ones.

High churn and a high volume of product returns is the death of many a retailer. Exchanges and returns eat up your margin and ding your brand image.

Writing detailed and unique product descriptions is a good way to reduce the number of returns you deal with.

Being clear and upfront about what your products are, rather than relying upon supplied copy or stock descriptions, is the best way to paint an accurate picture for your customers.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR WEBSITE

Source, Kevin Rowe, https://www.searchenginejournal.com/ecommerce-site-unique-product-descriptions/364458/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=daily-newsletter&utm_campaign=daily-newsletter#close

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, and it’s a goldmine for marketers,
businesses, and entrepreneurs alike.

In fact, around 1 billion people use Instagram every single month, and 80 percent of Instagram users follow one or more businesses.

Plenty of people want to follow brands on Instagram, but getting attention on Instagram isn’t always easy.

Likes, comments, followers… they’re the things that everybody is craving.

So, how do you get more eyeballs onto your Instagram content and improve your engagement rates?
Well, your focus when you’re posting on Instagram should always be to produce the highest quality content for your brand.

But there are proven tactics that you can use to broaden the reach of your brand and increase your engagement rates.

Timing is everything.

To have the best chance at getting high engagement from your Instagram posts, you need to get your posts in front of the
largest number of people possible.

And the timing of your posts is key. You need to know two things; when to post, and how often to post.

Our research shows that the best time to post on Instagram if you want to receive high engagement is midday from Monday to Friday.

This is because most users browse Instagram on their phones, and they’ll likely be unable to check the app while they’re working.
So hit them with some content during their lunch hours and you’ll increase your chances of them seeing and engaging with it.

If you’re only going to post once a week, Wednesday is the best day to post, and Sunday is the day with the lowest engagement rates.

But, we don’t recommend posting just once per week. If you can, try to post at least once per day – a steady stream of content will really
help you to build your engagement rates.

Don’t forget your hashtags.

Instagram hashtags can help you to get more likes, more followers, and reach a broader audience.

That is, if you find the right hashtags to add to your Instagram posts. And finding the right hashtags requires research.

Find what your audience, competitors, and influencers in your space are posting, and check which hashtags they’re using.

If, for example, you were selling sunglasses – your first task would be to use Instagram’s explore function and check out #sunglasses.

You can then take a look through the recent top posts, and check which hashtags are being used to generate posts with high engagement.

And remember, while you can use up to 30 hashtags per Instagram post, you don’t always need to fill your Instagram captions to the brim with hashtags. Stick to highly relevant ones, because sometimes less is more.

Take advantage of Instagram Stories.

Every day more than 500 million people use Instagram Stories.

That’s a huge number, and it’s evidence that Instagram Stories are a must-have when it comes to running your brand’s account.

Instagram Stories are great because they can help you to retain the attention of your existing followers, even if they’re not
always engaging with the more permanent content that you’re posting, and if a user is engaging with your stories, they’ll be more likely to see the content that you post, which can help you to increase
your engagement rates.

Also, it’s important to remember that Instagram Stories can help new followers to signal to the Instagram algorithm that they’re
interested in your content, which will create a snowball effect and help them to see more of the content you post.

Hold contests and giveaways.

If there’s one thing in life I can say with total confidence, it’s this: people love free stuff.

Running contests or giveaways from your Instagram account will allow you to generate a ton of engagement and allow your
audience to tap into that joyous feeling of winning something.

Think about it – if you’ve already garnered an audience which is engaged with your content then all you need to do next is find a
prize that they’re interested in, and promote it to them in exchange for Instagram engagement.

Common tactics that brands use include asking people to like their post, tag their friends, or follow their account to enter.
And all of these are going to work wonders for your Instagram engagement rates.

LET ME KNOW HOW YOUR INSTA DOING

Make no mistake, humans are pack animals. We have a desire to fit in with the rest of the crowd, and that affects our lives in a variety of ways, including our purchasing behavior.

Ask yourself, have you ever purchased a product after a recommendation from somebody else?

If, like us, you have, you’ve been influenced by social proof, and you’ve seen first-hand why it’s an excellent marketing tool.

Real people recommending products with real feedback is so persuasive because it’s genuine – and that’s not always the case nowadays.

So, let’s dive in and explain why you need social proof for your business, and how you can start generating social proof for your store today.

Principles of social proof

Essentially, social proof is looking to others to figure out the right way to act.

Here’s a real life example: if you’re in a new city and looking for somewhere to eat, you are more likely to walk into a busy restaurant with happy people, rather than a quiet place with no signals that the place serves good food.

More specifically though, there are 4 principles behind social proof that can affect the way we act. .

• Uncertainty: We defer to how other people are reacting to a situation when we are uncertain about it.

• Similarity: When you experience something unfamiliar with a large group of people, you are more inclined to follow the reaction of those who you consider similar to you.

• Expertise: Those with more knowledge about a situation can lead the reaction of the rest. Students are more likely to look to their teachers for signals of how to react in uncertain circumstances.

• Number: Where a group of people experience something uncertain together, the actions of the majority will be seen as correct and valid.

With all of these principles in mind, how exactly do you put them into place to help you grow your store?

Leverage positive reviews

According to Business.com, 77% of all online customers read reviews before they make a purchase. It’s clear then, that if you want to leverage social proof you need reviews.

Reviews let customers know that you’ve made sales in the past and that you’re a legitimate business. Two things that go a long way with convincing customers to make a purchase from your store.

They’ll help potential customers to understand the quality of your products, your shipping times, the likeness to your product photos, and much more.

But it’s not just reviews that you need – it’s positive ones that’ll really make a difference.

Thankfully, there are various tools which you can use to leverage customer reviews, and build the social proof for your ecommerce store.

If you’re running your ecommerce store on Shopify, try out the Yotpo Reviews app. It’s a free product review tool which you can integrate directly into your store that enables your customers to easily leave reviews.

To increase the product review count for your store, you can send emails to your customers once they’ve received their order and ask them to leave a review.

If they’re totally satisfied with their product it’s likely that they’ll leave a review. You can also incentivize reviews from your customers by creating an exclusive discount code.

Use testimonials on your website 

Similar to product reviews, testimonials go a long way in generating social proof for your brand.

In fact, research from Shopify found that 90% of users who read online testimonials said that positive reviews influence their buying decisions.

So, once you’ve secured some positive reviews on your website, promote them to your homepage.

Let everybody know how happy your customers are after shopping at your store, and they’ll be much more likely to shop at your store themselves.

Create a blog to build social proof

Content marketing, and blogging in particular, is a great tool that businesses use to provide potential customers with insightful content that’s related to their products.

For example, if you’re running a cooking utensils store, you can create blog content for your audience that includes recipes, cooking tips, or product reviews, which will help to build the authority of your brand.

The end goal of creating a blog for your ecommerce business is to draw high volumes of qualified traffic (i.e. people who are likely to purchase your products) to your store.

When you’re providing value to people with your content, they’ll be much more likely to believe that your products will provide them with a similar level of value.

Having a positive brand image like this will help you to secure repeat customers, increase traffic to your store, and ultimately increase your brand’s social proof.

Optimizing your blog for social proof

Creating a blog for your brand is great, but there are various ways you can optimize it to ensure that you gain the maximum social proof from your content marketing efforts.

One example of this is adding social share buttons and counters to your blog. This will help you to encourage your blog audience to share your content, but it’ll also inform readers that numerous other people have enjoyed the content, and shared it. Social proof inception.

There are plenty of apps on Shopify’s App Store that’ll allow you to add social media sharing buttons to your website. It’s a little change that can really go a long way in building social proof for your brand.

Also, try adding a mailing list button to your blog. You can create weekly newsletters which will help you to retain your users, and provide them with even more content related to your niche. Don’t be afraid to send discount codes to your mailing list too – it’s just another way to generate sales for your brand.

Use brand ambassadors

A brand ambassador is somebody with a large following (think Instagram influencers) who can humanize both your products and brand for prospective customers.

They can spread the word about your products on social media and their own websites to build trust between your brand and their following.

Brand awareness, and the social proof that accompanies it, has helped many businesses move the needle, so try partnering with relevant influencers and see how they can help your brand grow.

CONNECT WITH US

Source: Oberlo

Instagram has announced a ton of new features for 2020 (9 Exciting Instagram Features in 2020)! Some of Instagram’s new features are already here,
like Facebook Shops, and some are coming soon to a feed near you, like IGTV Ads, Instagram Live shopping, and so much more!

Plus, Instagram is finally giving creators the ability to earn money from the content they share on IGTV — a highly requested feature from Instagram’s creator community.

Honestly, it’s been hard to keep track of allll the new Instagram features, so we’ve created a roundup to help you get all the information
you need in one place:

Instagram Feature #1: Facebook Shops

Facebook just launched its biggest move into e-commerce yet: Facebook Shops! 

But don’t be put off by the name — the new feature allows small businesses to build online stores on Facebook and Instagram,
and you’ll even be able to tag products during live broadcasts!

In Zuckerberg’s own words: “This is the biggest step we’ve taken yet to enable commerce across our family of apps.”

On Facebook Business Pages or Instagram profiles, brands can build out a catalog of products and services that visitors can browse,
save, share, and even purchase.

Note: Instagram Shop is a slightly different feature than Facebook Shops — it allows users to browse products directly from
Instagram’s Explore page. We’ll be covering that in a little bit.

For now, when we discuss Facebook or Instagram Shops, we’re referring to the actual online storefront that brands can now set up!

These virtual stores on Facebook and Instagram are also highly customizable — you’ll be able to choose the products you want
to feature from your catalog and then customize the look and feel of your shop with a cover image and accent colors that showcase your brand.

Facebook is partnering with Shopify, BigCommerce, Woo, Channel Advisor, CedCommerce, Cafe24, Tienda Nube, and
Feedonomics to help brands bring their products into Facebook Shops.

Businesses will be able to use these third-party platforms to manage their Facebook Shops, as well as any social ads related to those shops.

And if that isn’t enough, Facebook is also testing ways to make it easier to earn rewards with businesses you love by enabling
you to connect your loyalty programs, like the points program at your local cafe, to your Facebook account.

“You’ll be able to easily see and keep track of your points and rewards,” according to Facebook’s announcement. “And we’re exploring
ways to help small businesses create, manage, and surface a loyalty program on Facebook Shops.”

Facebook Shops is gearing up to be one of the most important launches since Instagram Stories in 2016! Facebook Shops are available now.

Instagram Feature #2: Instagram Shop

Not to be confused with Facebook Shops, Instagram Shop opens up a whole new shopping experience on Instagram.

This year, starting in the US, you might notice a new shop tab in the Instagram navigation bar dedicated to helping you
discover and buy products.

According to Facebook’s press release, once the feature rolls out, you’ll be able to “browse selections from your favorite brands and creators, filter by categories like beauty and home, and purchase the looks you love all in one place,” making finding inspiration and shopping directly in the Instagram app much more streamlined.

But Instagram is taking it one step further to serve products that will spark a purchase — from a curated edit inspired by
Instagram’s @shop account, a carousel of shoppable brands to browse, and “Suggested For You” product recommendations with
different filter options, Instagram Shop will quickly become the destination to browse and shop!

Not forgetting that Instagram recently made upgrades to the Shop channel on Instagram’s Search & Explore page — along with an
IGTV channel.

While Facebook’s press release doesn’t go into the details, we’d predict shop-friendly changes coming to the Explore page too!

It’s unknown exactly how Facebook will determine which products and brands get featured on the new Instagram Shop tab, but it’s likely that brands that are actively using Instagram Shopping and Checkout features will be prioritized.

Instagram Feature #3: IGTV Ads

This is great news for Instagram creators as they can now (finally!) start making money with new IGTV Ads!

Starting next week, Instagram will be introducing ads in IGTV as a way to start supporting creators and help them monetize their video content.

The launch of video ads is big news for the platform. This is the first time creators will be able to make money directly from IGTV
since its launch in 2018.

According to Instagram, the 15-second long IGTV ads will begin showing up in IGTV from a select group of partners and
advertisers in the US with plans to continue expanding globally.

Look out for ads from brands like IKEA, Puma, Sephora this week as they, along with other test partners, will be the first to launch IGTV ads.

Popular creators such as Avani Gregg and Salice Rose will be among the first to test out the new monetization feature,
with a wider, international release in the coming months.

In an interview with The Verge, Instagram’s COO, Justin Osofsky shares that those in the IGTV ad rollout will receive
an “industry standard” 55% share of all advertising in IGTV, the same rate as YouTube.

“Creators already put an incredible amount of effort into their content, and it’s crucial that they can make money from that
content in order to fuel their work in the future,” Osofsky said.

Instagram also shared they will continue testing various IGTV ad options, such as the ability to skip ads, to make sure the
final result works well for users, creators, and advertisers alike.

Watch this space — with Instagram continuing to roll out new IGTV features (and money-making opportunities!),
there’s no better time to shift focus back to your IGTV strategy.

Instagram Feature #4: Badges in Instagram Live

In a completely new venture for Instagram, the launch of badges on Instagram Lives creates a new revenue stream for creators,
while also developing a sense of exclusivity on the platform.

The concept of “badges” plays off a popular feature within Twitch and TikTok, which allows followers to “tip” creators during live streams.
With the new feature, viewers can purchase a badge during a Live video that will stand out in the comments and unlock additional features,
including placement on a creator’s list of badge holders.

Badges will be available in 3 different levels, based on the number of hearts they have. Viewers can buy one heart for $0.99,
two for $1.99, or 3 for $4.99. Viewers will only be able to buy one badge during a live video.

Creators can see how many hearts a viewer has purchased thanks to a visual icon in the chat stream, making it easy to see who
is supporting them for a shout-out.

According to fitness influencer @charleeatkins: “Badges in Instagram couldn’t have come at a better time for fitness creators like me.
It’s an easy way to channel the love we already see in our Live feeds so we can continue building and creating for our fans.”

Badges will begin testing next month with a small group of creators and businesses.

However, over the coming months, Instagram promises the feature will expand across the US, Brazil, UK, Germany, France,
Italy, Turkey, Spain, and Mexico.

Want to get early access to badges? Fill out this form! 

Instagram Feature #5: Live Shopping

There’s no denying that Instagram Live has seen a bit of a rebirth amid COVID-19.

In fact, Facebook has reported a 70% increase in Live views from February to March as creators and brands found new ways to embrace
the platform during social distancing.

So it seemed like a natural progression for Instagram to release Instagram Live features that would help support small businesses
and communities during this time.

Enter: Live Shopping!

Soon, sellers, brands, and creators will be able to tag products from their Facebook Shop or catalog before going live and those products
will be shown at the bottom of the video so people can easily tap to learn more and purchase.

This one small change makes for a serious switch to a QVC-like, live shopping channel! Now you can get purchasing advice
live from the host — which means you can have a live Q&As with your audience, share product details, or give product demos, all with a live link to purchase at the bottom of the screen.

Tina Craig (@bagsnob) was one of the first to use the new Live feature promoting her latest product launches from her brand @ubeauty.

Facebook will be testing this new feature with selected businesses on Facebook and Instagram this month, with further rollouts to come.

In the meantime, get up to speed with Instagram Live best practices so your broadcasts go off without a hitch! 

Instagram Feature #6: Green Screen in Instagram Stories Filters

Everyone might be talking about TikTok’s green-screen effect, but Instagram has been quietly working on a feature that could rival it!

Spark AR Studio, the platform to create Instagram AR effect and filters for Instagram, recently updated to include a host of new
tools and features for creators.

One of which is Gallery Picker — it lets creators publish AR effects to Instagram that people can then personalize with their own images,
enabling green screen-style effects. With this new capability, people can transport themselves into any environment and place they want.

And the easiest way to try it out for yourself is with Instagram’s Green Screen effect on Instagram Stories. It allows you to superimpose
yourself on a background — no fancy equipment or studio setting required.

As part of Instagram’s new AR Filter feature improvements (more on this to come!), the new green screen filter could bring a whole
new dimension to your Instagram Stories.

From hosting a tutorial, giving a demonstration, or simply just transposing yourself somewhere new, the green screen filter is one
to try out on your next post!

Instagram Feature #7: Apply AR Filters to Photos and Videos From Your Camera Roll 

This was one Instagram Stories flaw we’re so happy to see fixed — soon you’ll be able to add AR filters and effect to photos and videos
from your camera roll!

That means that you don’t need to “shoot in the moment” to use AR filters. Instead, you can take a photo with your phone,
upload it to Instagram Stories as you usually would, and then add the filter as you edit!

This means it will be a lot easier to manage your Instagram aesthetic if you rely on AR filters to post to Instagram Stories!

While not all AR Filters and effects will have this function, Facebook says they are introducing new capabilities that enable creators
to build AR effects that augment photos and videos that were previously taken outside of the Instagram app.

“We think this latest capability opens up fun, new ways for people to use AR effects to express themselves and reclaim meaningful or
otherwise missed moments,” shares Facebook.

Instagram Feature #8: Instagram Guides

Instagram has launched a new format for sharing curated, scrollable content: Instagram Guides.

The new feature gives users an easier way to consume helpful recommendations and tips from trusted creators, public figures,
organizations, and publishers.

Originally intended for the travel industry, Instagram announced that they pivoted plans for guides to focus on wellness content in an
effort to provide resources for people who are struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’ll enable creators to connect with expert organizations to share resources during this time, including tips on how to look after your well-being, maintaining connection with others or managing anxiety or grief.”

This first wave of creators includes an international roster of mental health advocates and organizations, including: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (US), Heads Together (UK), Vita Alere (Brazil), Klicksafe (Germany), Headspace Australia (Australia), Deepika Padukone (India), Sudah Dong (Indonesia), and e-Enfance (France).

Watch this space — it’s likely that we’ll see more creators, public figures, organizations, and publishers getting involved very soon.

Instagram Feature #9: Messenger Rooms

There’s a new way to bring communities together on Instagram — Messenger Rooms!

As part of Facebook’s Messenger Rooms rollout this month, Instagram users can now create and join group calls of up to 50 people
on the Instagram app!

Following the increased demand for video calls during the COVID-19 lockdown, Messenger Rooms can be created whenever a user wants,
are totally free, and have no upper time limits.

In a recent Facebook announcement, Mark Zuckerberg shared how Messenger Rooms are more “serendipitous and fun” than
other conferencing tools.

“You can create a private room and invite a few friends with a link, or you can create a room for one of your groups, or for an event
you’re planning. You can also start a room for all your friends […] and just see who stops by to say hi.”

And the best news is that anyone can join a Messenger Room — you don’t need a Facebook or Instagram profile to use the tool.
You can bring your community together from pretty much anywhere!

Bonus Instagram Features: Instagram Checkout + Shopping from Creators are Expanding! 

This year has already seen a ton of great new features that bring communities together, share better content, and build revenue
streams for brands and creators.

But two features we’re keeping a close eye on are Instagram Checkout and Shopping from Creators.

Why? Because their beta-testing is set to expand this year and we’re excited to see what this means for brands, businesses,
and influencers on the platform!

Instagram Checkout: 

Instagram Checkout was first released in 2019 to just a handful of mega-brands in the US and after a year of beta testing,
we could soon start to see it in our feeds worldwide!

The Checkout feature allows users to make a purchase without ever leaving the Instagram app — creating a streamlined,
2-tap process of converting Instagram followers into loyal customers.

One brand taking advantage of Instagram’s new feature is Target — as the first mass retailer to make its products available through
Instagram Checkout, the brand is no doubt driving sales via their posts!

And while Instagram Checkout is slowing being rolled out, now’s the time to get ahead of the curve and level-up your Instagram
strategy so your business is ready to make quick changes and more sales!

Instagram Shopping from Creators: 

Instagram’s Shopping from Creators may still be in beta testing, but it’s already causing a stir when it comes to driving sales on social!

The feature allows creators and influencers to tag brand products in their posts — creating an exciting new way for users to shop straight from Instagram.

For the time being, Shopping from Creators is only available for businesses taking part in the Instagram Checkout beta test —
but that could be changing.

Instagram has been gradually rolling out the feature to more businesses in the US, which could mean that they’re planning a wider release soon.

When that happens, we expect Instagram to also open Shopping from Creator to more influencers. At the moment, only a limited number of creators including Aimee Song, Kylie Jenner, Jen Atkin, and Kim Kardashian West, can tag brand products in their posts.

So while we wait for the feature to be fully rolled out, now’s the time to get to know the benefits of Shopping from Creators
and how it could help your brand.

And that’s it for Instagram features in 2020!

As always, we’ll keep you in the loop as we learn more about these new Instagram features and when they’re set to release.

STAY TUNE

Source: Nikki Canning, https://later.com/blog/instagram-features-2020/

I see many designers focusing on site visitors and asking questions on how to make greater visitors to their websites?

But is it essential?

Just suppose of traffic as an invite to a birthday party.

You prepare a big one, and you want human beings to come.
So you will start contacting everyone, asking them to come.

People who recognise you will come.

People who don’t care approximately you’ll no longer come.

But you don’t care, right?

So why have to you care that a few strangers visit your website?

They will now not buy due to the fact they don’t recognise you.

What matters is what you do, so human beings could understand you and purchase from you.

The real focus isn’t on site visitors.

It’s what’s your aim to make feel to people to buy from you.

Instead, assume of:

1/ How can I higher serve my clients?

2/ How my existing customers can participate within the technique and attract greater human beings to my brand?

3/ How can I involve more manufacturers and influencers to emerge as pals with my brand?

4/ How I can inspire more human beings towards what I do and attract extra interest to my products?

5/ How can I acquire knowledge about my existing customers and discover greater human beings similar to them, so I may be positive there’re extra chances that they will buy?

So the primary concept is this:

We do not want traffic. We want more people much like those who buy from us.

The nice way to grow is to develop for your closest niche already shopping for from you.

So visibility, site visitors, all these items is a wrong belief and end result of a false concept that your important goal have to be traffic and that visitors will power sales.

The most common revel in from this approach is a lot of visitors and less sales.

If you do matters differently, you may attract extra customers and less traffic.

So think about it and let me realize your thoughts.