Marketing Trends & Predictions ,Last year, all the marketing trends and predictions I mention end up happening somehow. Now, I want to make you aware of new marketing opportunities for 2022, making it the perfect time to dust off our crystal balls and start predicting what digital marketing trends we can expect to see.
There are several factors to consider in the content marketing realm, such as the continuing impact of the global pandemic, the growth of social platforms like TikTok, and the rise of the creator economy.
So, there’s a fair chance that the state of the marketing industry and the customer habits it fuels will be more exciting and unique than ever before.
Here are our top marketing trends and predictions in digital marketing for 2022:
The Social Impact of Storytelling
Rank and Win with Consumer-Driven Content
Use Personalized Content
Why You Need Shareable Assets
The Influencer Economy
Social E-commerce: The Innovative Way to Virtually Shop
Accessibility in the Digital Age
The Future of Browsing with Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Let’s take a closer look at these 2022 digital marketing trends!
Marketing Trends & Predictions #1: The Social Impact of Storytelling
We are in an age of conscious consumerism, which means transparency with your audience is necessary.
See How My Agency Can Drive Massive Amounts of Traffic to Your Website
SEO – unlock massive amounts of SEO traffic. See real results.
Content Marketing – our team creates epic content that will get shared, get links, and attract traffic.
Paid Media – effective paid strategies with clear ROI.
Storytelling still is a marketing trend and will continue to be highlighted for you to pay attention to. It sets up a product or service from a positive and authentic perspective. Your content should immerse your users in a world that puts your brand values, voice, and style front and center.
There are many ways to go about storytelling in your content. Here are a few examples that are rising in popularity as avenues for extending brand awareness via storytelling:
Customer Testimonials:
Customer testimonials are sourced directly from verified buyers. If customers crave authenticity from brands, highlighting customer-lead stories will establish trust and credibility with your audience.
Data-Driven Narratives: Data-driven narratives can also influence your customers’ relationship with your brand. Rather than storing data away in the archives, share it with your audience in a creative, thought-provoking way. Data-driven storytelling gives a voice to raw data and can turn insights into action.
Visual Content: Visual content, like graphics or videos, helps put a face to the brand. Video (on social media especially) is gaining recognition because it allows brands to directly connect with their audience and showcase themselves in an appealing way. A staggering 93% of marketers consider video content critical to their marketing strategy, meaning it’s almost certain to contribute a positive return on investment (ROI). And the completion rate of interactive videos is 90%, proving it will be effective for generating more leads this year.
Whether you use customer testimonials, data, or video content, there are many ways to weave an exciting story and forge a stronger relationship with your users.
Storytelling isn’t new, it goes back thousands of years. But even today we still use it. Why? Because it’s effective. The only issue is, people don’t use it enough.
Airbnb Introduces the Bélo: The Story of a Symbol of Belonging
Storytelling has been a long-standing trend, but with conscious consumerism on the rise, there’s now a high emphasis on brand ethics.
For example…
Airbnb used this marketing prediction very well and created a video to tell the unique story of their “Bélo.”
After seeing this video, viewers will associate Airbnb with a sense of belonging and inclusion—and that’s just good marketing.
Marketing Trends & Predictions #2: Rank and Win with Consumer-Driven Content
Consumer-driven content centers around the pain points and needs of your target audience. Instead of guessing what your audience wants, use data, surveys, and reviews to understand what type of content they need.
When ideating and producing content, if brands don’t consider all the details that make their audience unique, there is a greater chance that the content will not engage the user in a meaningful way,” says Chad Gilbert, Sr. Director, Content (NP Digital). He adds, “when brands put more emphasis on researching and defining their audience and specific personas, the content production is more successful in terms of quality and ROI.
Earn cash for taking free paid surveys while influencing the next generation of products, services and much more.
The global commerce platform – Build your business with Shopify to sell online, offline, and everywhere in between.
Powerful SEO Tips , URLs with the top spot on Google have an average click-through rate of 34.2 percent, compared with a CTR of 17.1 and 11.4 percent for the second and third spots, respectively.
But how do you get the top spot in organic results? With great SEO!
The tricky thing about SEO is that Google (and other search engines) change their algorithms frequently. New elements are being considered every day as search engines get more advanced, and what was important before might change in the future.
So…what are some current important factors that can affect your SEO and improve your search engine performance?
Why is SEO So Important?
Even if you run paid ads, you should still have a solid organic strategy in place as well.
Why?
Good SEO can improve many key metrics, including the most important one: revenue.
If you move up even one spot in search results, your CTR can improve by as much as 30 percent. Since the average conversion rate is 2.9 percent (which can be quite a bit higher in certain industries), you can grow your revenue significantly if your site has a solid SEO foundation.
See How My Agency Can Drive Massive Amounts of Traffic to Your Website
SEO – unlock massive amounts of SEO traffic. See real results.
Content Marketing – our team creates epic content that will get shared, get links, and attract traffic.
Paid Media – effective paid strategies with clear ROI.
There really isn’t a downside to improving your website’s SEO either.
If you aren’t ranking in SERPs for target keywords, you’re already missing out on valuable leads and traffic. You don’t have access to a key audience segment who might’ve gained value from your business delivered more long-term success.
So, even if you have never focused on SEO before, the strategies you will learn in this webinar will deliver results.
On top of getting more traffic, the actionable strategies taught in this webinar will also lead to more clicks, conversions, and revenue from your website. Even though paid ads will likely see higher conversion rates, you will get more overall conversions from organic traffic in the long run.
Digital marketers who already possess a solid foundation of SEO knowledge will also benefit from attending this webinar. The landscape of SEO changes regularly so staying up-to-date on new factors that impact rankings will set your skills apart.
Sammy is one of the most recognized names in the world of SEO with a blog that gets more than 7 million monthly views. So even if you already know the fundamentals of SEO and have experienced success, you will be learning more innovative strategies from one of the best of the best.
What Types of Businesses is the Webinar For?
Anyone who has a website to promoted their business will benefit from attending this webinar. Some examples include:
small business that need help getting more leads and conversions
e-commerce shop that want to drive more traffic to their website
bloggers who want to get more views from their content
brick-and-mortar stores that want to attract local customers
What You’ll Learn in This Webinar
In this webinar, Neil will go over 7 easy but powerful SEO tips that will deliver results.
Sammy will go through important topics ranging from tools you should be using, how to approach your content strategy, standing out from competitors, delivering better user experiences, and more.
For each tip, we you will learn why it’s important, see how it can be used, and receive step-by-step instructions on how the tip can be implemented to improve your SEO.
Bluehost makes it to the top domain registrars of the year by offering a domain and web hosting in a bundle.
Plus, it’s also among the most recommended by one of the most famous and used website builders, WordPress.
Aside from those, there are other unique benefits to look forward to from Bluehost.
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Bluehost is among the top choices for premium quality hosting.
It has a stellar reputation for having excellent customer support and Amazon security options and features.
Some of its top features are:
Consistent and Excellent Uptime
A great site will be one with the least downtime.
In a world where time is a valuable asset, you can lose your potential audience with frequent downtimes.
Over 12 months, Bluehost has proven to be more than reliable in passing the standard benchmark, which is a 99.93% uptime.
It managed to reach a 99.96% mark from April 2020 to March 2021.
Turbo Charged Loading Speed
Websites are meant to have a fast loading speed to maintain traffic.
Slow websites are prone to losing traffic and are bound to make more engagement and sales.
With Bluehost, you get a reliable average loading speed of 688 ms, translating to faster loading times.
Affordable Rates
The rate makes it a hit for starters because Bluehost offers a shared hosting price available at $2.75 a month.
It gets you a 50 GB SSD storage, an SSL certificate, unmetered bandwidth, and more.
Premium Security Features
Despite their affordable rates, Bluehost still manages to provide a free SSL certificate along with a CDN that gets you multiple CMS integrations, additional plugins, and more.
They also set up server backups, domain privacy protection, Spam Experts add-on, Codeguard, SiteLock, and Postini to ensure your website and data are protected.
Customer Support Available 24/7
Whether you plan to set up a business or personal account with them, it is important to know that you have access to support whenever you need it.
Bluehost has 24/7 phone, email, and live chat support available for your needs.
Namecheap is an independently owned domain name registrar founded in the year 2000.
It does not only offer domain registrations but a whole dozen of other hosting services too.
Let’s have a deeper dive into why this made it to the top domain registrars of this year.
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Successfully building a name for itself in the market, Namecheap stands out because of several features.
Apart from letting you set up a domain name or transfer one in 30 minutes, it also offers hosting services, security products, business emails, and more.
Beast Mode Option
It is an excellent way to help you come up with a domain name and register it.
You can use an option to filter by keywords, price range, suffix, niche, and more.
Website Migrations
The best about it is that it lets you have website migrations that are entirely free and easy to do.
With Namecheap, you can consolidate all your accounts in one place and manage them while utilizing a smooth and more efficient workflow. Best Domain Registrar
Easy to Use Interface
Signing up is easy. All you got to do is choose a domain name or import an existing one.
The steps will be easy to follow, and you can expect no sudden upsells or other charges added to your purchase.
It features a cPanel control that is straightforward.
It is a suite with a user-friendly interface.
Support and Security
They have a live chat, email support, and several self-help resources you can use to maximize your experience.
They also provide excellent security through a free SSL, Leech Protect, CodeGuard, virus scanners, hotlink protection, domain privacy, and a two-factor authentication feature to ensure your account stays protected and uncompromised. Best Domain Registrar
A one-stop shop ideal for aspiring store owners and entrepreneurs, Shopify provides everything you need in one place.
One of the top leading platforms for eCommerce businesses, this one is definitely worth checking out.
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This remains on top of the domain registrar choices for many because you get to see everything you need upon signing up.
From templates, email marketing tools, payment processors to marketing, you will be presented with varying designs with amazing functions that require no coding experience.
Here are the details on what you’ll expect from Shopify:
High-End and Stand-Out Store Designs
To be competitive in the market, you have to make sure your website design is extraordinarily appealing and highly functional.
With over a hundred themes to choose from, you can be sure that your store will appeal to your customers and represent your brand.
Flexible and Constantly Evolving
Shopify lets you start with a single template to complement different functions from the app marketplace.
You can choose among 3000 apps, so you’re assured you’ll find all the apps that will work best for your website.
It also lets coders create their own functions through API.
You can choose to keep your stores small or big.
Shopify continues to grow with the times and technology to provide solutions to their clients.
Tracking for Full Inventory
Individuals who have a difficult time handling and managing their inventory will enjoy Shopify’s automatic inventory notifications.
It accurately keeps track of your inventory even if you prefer it done offline.
They have their own POS that lets you handle all matters regarding your merchandise.
Easier Tax Handling
For starting entrepreneurs, handling tax can be frustrating and confusing.
Another excellent and useful feature is that it can even set USA tax rates individually or in all items depending on your preference.
Areas with VAT can easily add it on the product page if necessary.
Multi-Platform Selling
This feature makes it easier to generate more sales since it supports several channels like Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, and eBay.
While some domain registrar entails complicated processes in incorporating or connecting with these platforms, it is best to let Shopify take care of this trouble for you.
Varied Payment Options
A lot of business owners prefer Shopify because of the payment options available.
It supports over 100 choices and even makes it more accessible through their gateway, Shopify Payments.
Despite being launched last 2015, Google Domains managed to be one of the best domain registrars for 2021.
Though it does not offer hosting services, it does stand out because of its features.
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If you are a Google enthusiast, you will have fun having your domain registered with them.
That is because they allow you to connect Google services such as Search Console and G-Suite.
Below are more of the reasons Google Domains is a favorite.
Transparent Pricing
If you want to be ensured that you will not pay sudden, hidden, and extra charges, Google Domain is the best option for you.
Upon registration, you will see how much you are to pay for signing up and renewing it.
It spares you from the trouble of cashing out more for renewal in the long run.
Top-Notch Security
It offers free privacy protection, which lets you hide your identity and information in the Whois registry.
Others keep their information generic for a fee, while Google Domain gives you the service for free.
Apart from that, you can secure your account with a two-step authentication through text messages, physical keys, smartphone apps, and more.
DNS Servers Powered by Google
The best part about having Google power your domain name system server is that your load time is guaranteed to be fast.
Since it uses Google’s very own infrastructure to support it, you can rest assured with premium speeds with no extra cost.
Email Forwarding
Google Domain allows you to create as many as 100 email aliases.
All the emails from these can be forwarded and directed to your current email accounts.
So if you want to have an email that you can personalize like [email protected], check out Google Domain and its services.
Automatic Google Product Verification
Google offers a broad range of applications and products.
With Google Domain, you no longer need to verify your account each time it encounters other Google products.
It is not only time-saving and convenient, but it also spares you from the extra trouble of verifications.
What Does WHOIS Do?
When we speak of WHOIS, we talk about an internet record listing that answers a query or a response protocol that gives information about a domain holder.
It gives the domain registration date and expiration, as well as information on how to contact them or whether a domain is available or not.
Who Regulates the Information on WHOIS?
Since records in WHOIS are supposed to be factual and reliable, ICANN or the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers was established.
It verifies and regulates domain name ownership and registration.
How Does Privacy Work for WHOIS?
Since ICANN is in charge of regulating it, they make sure that domain registration and the assigned names and phone numbers of the people who own the domains are made public and available for reference.
That also includes email and mailing addresses.
Those who want to keep their contact information private can get private registration services or proxy services.
In this way, the proxy’s or the organization giving the privacy service is shown on the directory instead of personal information.
However, it is important to know that this does not give 100% anonymity as these are still bound by the law in case information is needed.
Is WHOIS Enough To Check the Availability of a Domain?
While it provides useful information on checking whether a domain is taken or not, there are other things to check.
It helps to check if a domain is protected with a trademark.
It’s also important to check if it has been banned by Google before.
Our Final Recommendations
It’s challenging to choose with the overwhelming number of domain registrars promising the best features and services for your business or interest.
After taking a deeper dive into the best domain registrars, we decided that Shopify makes it at the top of the list.
That is because of its versatility, multi-functionality, and convenience.
If you are looking for another choice to grow your business, we believe that the next best thing would be GoDaddy.
Apart from offering their services at affordable rates, they provide services and features that are as good as our number one choice.
What Is a Subdomain ? If you’re familiar with website building, you may have come across the terms domain and subdomain. On the surface, you may think it is self-explanatory but answering the question “What is a subdomain?” needs a bit more context.
To help you better understand, we’ll discuss the definitions and other relative topics that go along with subdomains.
What Is a Subdomain and Its Placement?
A subdomain is an additional section of a domain. To give you an example, let’s use the URL blogs.intel.com.
The “blogs” is the subdomain, and “intel.com” is the top and second-level domain. There are numerous ways on how web builders utilize subdomains, and we will highlight its most notable benefits.
What Is the Importance of Subdomains?
A subdomain allows you to separate your online material into more organized sections. This feature is crucial for your website, especially if you’ll have different categories that need their own space.
Below are some examples of the primary benefits of using subdomains.
Creating an Online Store
It’s relatively common for many websites to have an e-commerce store that complements the brand of their content. For example, the official NBA website’s main page is about the schedule, player highlights, and news. What Is a Subdomain
If you want to browse for merchandise, you can go to shop.nba.com to see a dedicated online shopping page independent of the main page. Not all visitors will appreciate seeing products heavily promoted on websites supposedly made for information and updates.
By having a subdomain for your online store, you will give your audience a better browsing experience.
One of the primary uses of subdomains is gearing web content tailored for specific countries and regions. Many international companies utilize subdomains to ensure their online material is acceptable locally and internationally.
You can see this benefit being utilized by news outlets such as Yahoo. For example, by typing “uk” instead of just “www” before yahoo.com, you’ll be redirected to the Yahoo homepage with headlines, weather updates, and other current events meant for UK-based viewers.
With this feature, your visitors have the convenience to engage your website without searching for content that suits them. A few websites use the subdomain to identify the language of the webpage.
Case in point, you’ll see the subdomain “en” if you’re looking at the English version of the President of Russia’s official page. What Is a Subdomain
Creating a Mobile Version
Most likely, you designed your website thinking that your audience will use a desktop to visit it. A decade or more ago, that was a sound assumption.
Nowadays, it might not be entirely accurate because of the rise of mobile phones capable of connecting to the internet at any given time and place. You might not be aware that not all websites are compatible with portable devices.
As such, you should highly consider publishing a mobile version of your website. Recreating a new site might sound daunting at first, but since you have the foundation of your desktop-friendly site, it shouldn’t be much of a hassle.
More and more individuals and organizations access the internet via their smartphones or tablets. With this fact, having a mobile iteration of your web pages will ensure more traffic.
What Are the Meaning of Subdomain and Subdirectory?
Many are arguing which of these two is the better choice for website building. At this point, we have answered what is a subdomain so this time, let’s have a look at the definition of a subdirectory.
Like a subdomain, a subdirectory allows you to organize your web pages available in one domain.
The most obvious distinction between the two is their placement. The former is located before the second-level domain, while the latter is found right after the TLD.
Which Is Better?
Regarding which one is the better option, it depends on your content type and audience size.
Subdomains are superior if you are creating or maintaining a large business or interest with multiple categories. You’ll have a smoother experience managing your digital materials. That is especially if you have an e-commerce store or catering to an overseas audience with a different language.
Subdirectories are better if you’re handling a website that doesn’t require too many updates at short notice. If your web pages only are pretty similar to each other regarding design and function, you’re better off using subdirectories instead of subdomains.
On the topic of SEO, you’ll see contrasting claims that subdomains are better suited for ranking purposes and vice-versa. Don’t let this factor affect how you select between the two. That’s because the quality of your content is still the top indicator of excellent search engine rankings.
Creating a Blog , The big dream for many bloggers is to someday cash out and get that illustrious “sunset money”.
Here’s the thing though:
You won’t have much luck selling your blog if the buyer can’t see themselves able to run the show. So it’s up to you to make sure that they can slide right in.
This means we need to be mindful of how we setup our business from day 1.
The key word in there is “business”. So we really need to start thinking of our blogs in this way.
After selling many sites with our company, Human Proof Designs, it’s been crucial to understand the following guidelines if you want to create a sellable blog.
A young smiling woman thinking about money. A picture of a bag of money to the right. Front view. Concrete background. Concept of having a lot of money.
1) Choose a Topic That’s Easily Outsourced
Now this first point might seem controversial and may even come across like we don’t care about the target audience.
But it’s completely the opposite. This is actually careful consideration for your audience and also for your business.
Blogs that are attractive to investors are usually within a topic that’s easy to find writers for.
Managing writers is no walk in the park and sometimes your best writers might go “missing”.
As publishers and investors, you don’t want to set yourself up for some pain because hiring isn’t particularly fun for anyone and costs more money.
If you’re a long-time blogger and everything is personal to the topics in your life, it’s simply not going to be something you can transfer to a buyer.
While you can outsource a lot of content to sites like Contentmart, the idea to keep in mind is automation and systemization.
There are content creation tools that can help you build a turnkey operation that the new owner can easily take over.
This also means that you’d want to avoid using your name as the brand/domain name.
2) Publish Content That’s Not Only Attributed To a Single Person
Often times, there’s nothing more attractive to a buyer than a site with multiple contributors.
It means there’s most likely a schedule set in place and if one writer leaves, then the slack can be picked up by the rest of the team. Creating a Blog
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