YouTube rolling out profile handles

Over the next several weeks, YouTube channels will have a different, but an important, new look to them in hopes of creating a more connected network.

In an announcement, YouTube said, "over the coming weeks YouTube will be introducing handles to make it easier for members of the community to find and connect with each other. Your handle will be unique to your channel and will be how people mention you in comments, community posts, and more."

Handles are a part of several social media platforms, most notably with Twitter and Instagram. But they're also used on Facebook and TikTok, to name a few others. The purpose of handles on social media is to make it easier for users to connect content with each other such as shout-outs.

YouTube is contacting users via email notifying them of the change and the process on how users will be able to create their handles for their channels.

Here’s what you need to know, according to YouTube:

"We're gradually rolling out the ability to choose a handle for all channels over the coming weeks, and you will receive another email and a notification in YouTube Studio when you’re able to choose yours. In most cases, if you already have a personalized URL for your channel, we’ve reserved this for you as your handle. If you want a different handle from the one we’ve reserved, you can change it. If you don’t already have a personalized URL today, you’ll also be able to choose a handle for your channel.

"Starting on Nov. 14, 2022, if you haven’t yet selected a handle for your channel, YouTube will automatically assign you a handle, which you can change in YouTube Studio if you'd like."

Here are some additional resources to help prepare you for the change:

Q/A about YouTube handles

What will be different with YouTube handles

Are you providing the best customer experience digitally?

In today's world, one that's heavily reliant on digital interaction, that is a very important question.

Now more than ever, marketers are looking for ways to create the best possible experience on a website across all sorts of devices, social media platforms, etc.

Because the industry ebbs and flows as demands change, it's hard to get a clear picture of what a customer wants when they're shopping online.

According to Forbes, ecommerce shopping has jumped 55% since the start of the pandemic (March 2020).

So, are you providing the best customer experience digitally?

A new report from Content Square called "Digital Experience Benchmark" offers 78 pages of in-depth data about customer experiences on websites across all types of devices, industries, etc.

Here are some highlights:

• 85% of customers don't believe they have a positive online shopping experience.
• 58% of total online traffic comes from mobile, but it's diminishing.
• Users spend more time on a website on a desktop by almost 50% longer than on mobile.
• 1 second delay loading page speed increases customer dissatisfaction by 16%.
• 1 second delay loading page speed decrease conversion rate by 20%.

Read the full report by clicking here.

Changes announced for GA-4

Google, in a blog post, announced changes, introductions of new dimensions and metrics with Google Analytics 4.

"We're excited to release new dimensions and metrics, enabling you to see bounce rate, additional UTM parameter values, and conversion rate across various surfaces, including explorations, segments, audiences, reports, and the Google Analytics Data API," the post said.

Here's a breakdown of the changes, via Google.

Bounce rate

In Google Analytics 4, Bounce rate is the percentage of sessions that were not engaged sessions. In other words, Bounce rate is the inverse of Engagement rate, which is the number of engaged sessions divided by the total number of sessions in a specified time period.

Bounce rate is available in Explorations and Reporting Customization. This is a metric currently available in Universal Analytics (or GA-3).

Bounce rate is calculated in Google Analytics 4 in a different way from how it's calculated in Universal Analytics. To learn more about how the calculations are different between Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4, see [UA→GA4] Comparing metrics: Google Analytics 4 vs Universal Analytics.

UTM term and UTM ad content

We've added new dimensions that surface the utm_content and utm_term parameter values in Explorations, Reporting, and the Audience Builder. Both parameters have a user-scoped and session-scoped dimension.

The following new dimensions enable you to see the value assigned to the utm_content parameter across user and session scopes:

• First user manual ad content
• Session manual ad content

Additionally, the following dimensions enable you to see the value assigned to the utm_term parameter across user and session scopes:

• First user manual term
• Session manual term

Conversion rate

The following new metrics let you report on the conversion rate for any conversion event:

• User conversion rate is the percentage of users who triggered any conversion event.
• Session conversion rate is the percentage of sessions in which any conversion event was triggered.

Remember. It is expected that Universal Analytics will be going away in July 2023. Click here to read more about the full-on switch to Google Analytics 4 or GA-4

Web design matters to SEO

When looking at a brand’s online presence, sure it’s important to be active and engaged on social media. But it’s just as important, if not more important, to make sure you have a highly functioning website.

I like to think of attracting leads, digitally, like this: social media is the outside facing of a company, business, etc. The website is what you see once you’re through the door from the outside.

Both need to make strong impressions. You need to capture their attention on social media. Then, you need to keep them “in the building” (or the website).

When considering a website’s functionality, navigation ease is an important part of it. But one area that is often overlooked and has high value as well is design.

Design matters.

And by design, it’s more than just easy-to-find call-to-actions. It also includes text size, colors, etc.

All of the above details matter when it comes to making a strong first impression to a user to your website, but also in terms of SEO results as well.

Let’s explore the key elements to an effective website, in this case, from a SEO results standpoint.

HEADLINES

There is a specific structure and flow you should follow when designing a website. It’s not only helpful for the users, but also for web search crawling tools as well.

Search engines, as well as human users, use headings to crawl through websites to understand the site’s content. Once a search engine understands the content, it better understands where and when to rank your site in search results.

Each page should have a single H1 and subheads in a sequential, descending order that doesn’t skip any levels.

For each headline after an H1 headline (sometimes seen as Headline1 in some templates), follow a hierarchy (H2, H3, H4 and so on). If you need to use subheads, use a paragraph-type text style.

Something else to consider, H1 headlines need to be short and clear. The further down you go in the headline hierarchy, the longer a headline can be.

PRIORITIZE WEB DESIGN FOR MOBILE OVER DESKTOP

According to Statista, the latest number of smartphone users in the world today (as of July 2022) is 6.6 billion, or 83.7% of the world's population.

Because of that, mobile-friendly websites are highly valued in SEO. Search engines can detect mobile devices, and they assign better results to websites that are mobile friendly over ones that aren’t.

Make sure your website automatically responds and adjusts to screen size and not make it reliant on the user to do it. That’s a negative experience and likely a lead lost.

Another thing to consider: videos.

Videos on desktop sites often look nice and add spice to a website. Given screen sizes with mobile devices, that same video likely won’t look as good on mobile. In addition, video slows down website loading speed, which diminishes not only SEO results, but also user-friendly navigation.

BE AWARE OF SITE LOADING SPEED

Page speed is considered one of the leading SEO ranking factors. Impatient users expect websites to load within seconds. Improve speed by contracting with a good host and enabling browser caching.

What also slows a site’s loading speed includes the previously mentioned videos component, large images and colors. A sharp-looking desktop site with all sorts of graphics and animations may look great and appealing on a desktop, but that may not transfer to the mobile site.

I often recommend, the simpler the design the better.

KNOW WHY USERS GO TO YOUR SITE

Sounds obvious, right? But it shouldn’t be overlooked.

Earlier, I talked about the key to a first impression. Attracting the users quickly and then holding them can also improve or diminish SEO results. Say if you are in the top spot on the SERP (search engine results page), that’s great. But, if the user immediately clicks back to the SERP and clicks a different link, that sends a trigger to search engines that the previous result didn’t apply to them. If those build, that’ll hurt SEO result.

IN SUMMARY

A visually pleasing website promotes users’ confidence in your brand, which causes them to stay on your site longer, which then improves your SEO results. Place high value on web-friendly images, a text hierarchy and simple graphic elements (such as video), and SEO results will improve.

One last point, always be sure your meta descriptions are up to date and accurate. Also include these on images and videos, if possible.

TikTok in U.S. has unclear future

Could TikTok be in for another legal challenge in order to remain in operation in the US?

Read more from socialmediatoday.com, by clicking here.

LinkedIn enhancing engagement options

LinkedIn is looking to build on its record levels of engagement by enhancing the engagement options on its platform.

Among those enhancements are new comment and comment reply options on Event pages, and a ‘Repost’ option.

It was reported by LinkedIn in April that the company continues to see record levels of engagement, which led to a 34 percent increase in revenue in the first quarter.

In respect to Event comments, LinkedIn is rolling out more comment engagement options within LinkedIn Events. The goal is to encourage on-topic discussion and engagement at events. According to socialmediatoday.com, "The option is designed to capitalize on LinkedIn Events engagement, with more than 24,000 events now being created in the app every week. LinkedIn also recently expanded its streamlined ‘Boost’ ad option to incorporate LinkedIn Events, providing users with another way to amplify their LinkedIn event listings. It could be a good way to both encourage topical discussion, while also promoting your event."

As far as the repost option, the goal here for LinkedIn is make it easier to amplify job opportunities, while also streamlining engagement by reducing some of the steps to add commentary to every re-share.

YouTube publishes Culture & Trends report

YouTube has published its "Culture and Trends" report, which includes insights from 10 countries to provide perspective on what’s driving the latest video trends, and how that can relate to businesses digital marketing strategies.

The report looks at three trends: Community Creativity, Multi-format Creativity and Responsive Creativity.

In its introduction, YouTube says, "The pop culture landscape was varied, and a new type of online video creator was rising in prominence, but everyone experienced digital culture in basically the same way.

"Now, pop culture is all about you. We still have viral videos, but single videos are comparatively less likely to achieve broad cultural breakthrough."

According to YouTube, new video formats and technologies have grown massively in the last five years. It said 85 percent of Gen Z users have posted video content online. Gen Z is defined as someone born between 1981 and 1996 (or people from ages 26-41 in 2022).

YouTube also acknowledge the COVID-19 pandemic has "reshaped our relationship with video and accelerated a number of long-term trends."

Here is some data to consider:

• 65 percent of Gen Z agree that content that's personally relevant to them is more important than the content that lots of other people are talking about.
• 55 percent of Gen Z agree that they watch content that no one they know personally is interested in.
• 63 percent of Gen Z followed one or more meme accounts in the past 12 months. "Producing and consuming remixable content - often as memes - is a major way that Gen Z and millennials participate in pop culture," the report said.
• 57 percent of Gen Z agree that they like it when brands participate in memes.
• 59 percent of Gen z agree that they use short-form video apps to discover things that they then watch longer versions of.
• 69 percent of Gen z agree that they often find themselves return to creators or content that feels comforting to them.

Why are you dropping in SEO results?

Don't get discouraged. Mastering SEO is a hard thing to do. There is so much competition for top-of-the-results placement. But, you also know there are ways to standout. Among those, is making sure your website content is updated and making Google Business Profile is updated are two of the easiest suggestions.

But, because SEO placement ebbs and flows, one day you're high on the results, say in that 0, 1 or 2 position. Then, the next week, you're out of those spots. It happens.

Then of course the question you ask is why did that happen?

Here are some possible reasons:

• Technical issue with website. Possibilities here include any change(s) of URL(s), any recent updates (such as uploading a photo or photos and/or video or videos) that slowed the speed of the site, or any updates in general (maybe something as simple as changing the layout or template) been made that could again slow website loading speed. Several research studies have shown that slow website loading speed not only hurts the ability to track consumers but also has a factor in SEO results. The quicker a site can load, the better. You typically have less than a matter of seconds to get your site loaded before a user will click away.
• Another thing to consider is your CLS. Color changes can hinder website performance as well.
• Ah the ol' algorithm by Google. Google is CONSTANTLY working on keeping its algorithm up to date, specifically making sure users are getting search results relevant to them. One of the top factors in that is localization. Google continually puts a greater emphasis on presenting results to users that are of local interest to them.
• Competition. This has already been mentioned, but bears repeating. Competition is a big factor in search results, especially local ones. Continue to monitor what your competition is doing.
• Link building. If you've changed URLs, that'll means lost links on third-party websites. For example, if you have a URL listed on a Chamber of Commerce page, you need to make sure when you update the URL, that the change is also reflected on the Chamber of Commerce. When you lose a link, you lose some link credibility and accuracy, and those elements can lead to lower website scores.
• Keyword search demand. This can fall into the competition category as well. Not only are you competing with other businesses, but also you're competing for keywords. If you're business' or organization's industry is suddenly in high demand, there's heavy competition there too.

Here are some tips and tools on how to address lags in your search result placement:

• Meta tags and descriptions. Continue to make sure these are accurate and up to date. Make any changes when necessary.
• Sitemap. Make sure your sitemap is updated and accurate with Google. You can do this through Google Search Console.
• Site speed. Check on your website's speed. Google has a free tool for you to check that called PageSpeed Insights.
• Test your site's SEO. There are several resources for that including Sitechecker and Google SERP Snippet Optimization Tool, to name a few.

Meta/Facebook releases 'Widely Viewed Content' report

Meta/Facebook has published its "Widely Viewed Content Report," which highlights the most-viewed organic content in Facebook feeds by U.S.-based users throughout the first quarter of 2022.

According to socialmediatoday.com, "Meta came up with the report to counter the narrative that its algorithms help to amplify right-wing and extremist content." Socialmediatoday.com added this was a response to a Twitter profile that "highlights the most shared Facebook links each day, and has been widely quoted in such criticism." The Twitter profile is @FacebooksTop10.

Meta/Facebook has created a center within its company website called Transparency Center.

Here is a brief description of that center:

"Since 2016, we've used a strategy called "remove, reduce, inform" to manage content across Meta technologies.

"This means we remove harmful content that goes against our policies, reduce the distribution of problematic content that doesn’t violate our policies, and inform people with additional context so they can decide what to click, read or share.

"To help with this strategy, we have policies that describe what is and isn’t allowed on our technologies. Our teams work together to develop our policies and enforce them."

In Q1 2022, Meta/Facebook reported 85.3% of views came from posts shared by people’s friends, from Groups people had joined, or Pages they had followed. Of the remaining 14.7% of Feed content views in the U.S. during Q1 2022, 11.7% came from in Feed recommendations, which show people content from sources they are not connected to, but Meta thinks users might be interested in. The company refers to this content as ‘unconnected posts’. The last 3% came from less common products, such as Events, and logging discrepancies.

Meta reported youtube.com had the most content viewers at 182.3 million. TikTok.com was next at 135.4M, gofundme.com (123M), amazon.com (122.8M) and media1.tenor.co (119M). The rest of the top 10 was twitter.com (118.8M), linktr.ee (92M), open.spotify.com (91.1M), dailymail.co.uk (88.3M) and eventbrite.com (82.5M).

Google unveils changes to maps, search insights

At its 2022 I/O Summit, Google announced a range of updates and new features related to the presentation of its Map app as well as search insights.

In a jaw-dropping development, Google unveiled what it is calling an Immersive View to the Maps app.

"Today at Google I/O, we announced new ways the latest advancements in AI are transforming Google Maps — helping you explore with an all-new immersive view of the world, find the most fuel-efficient route, and use the magic of Live View in your favorite third-party apps," said Google in a blog post.

In short, the Maps updates will enable users to experience what a neighborhood, landmark, restaurant or popular venue looks like, via your device.

"With our new immersive view, you’ll be able to experience what a neighborhood, landmark, restaurant or popular venue is like — and even feel like you’re right there before you ever set foot inside," Google said. "So whether you’re traveling somewhere new or scoping out hidden local gems, immersive view will help you make the most informed decisions before you go."

Google said the Immerse View will work on just about any phone and device. The plan is to roll out the feature in Los Angeles, London, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo as 2022 progress. More cities will be rolled out soon after.

Google is also making steps to allow users to remove search results about them that includes personal information. Related to that, Google also announced it expanded its appeals process for the removal of search listings that include personal information.

On the advertising front, Google’s testing a carousel ad format in Search results. The goal will be to provide another way for shoppers to browse directly from the SERP.

In another ads-related announcement, Google also unveiled a new ads control dashboard, which will enable users to control how their ad experiences are personalized across Google’s apps and sites. The dashboard, which will be accessible on all Google ads, will enable users to like, share or block any ad, and/or show additional insight into who paid for the ad, and why they, specifically were targeted within that campaign.

Tapping on ‘Customize more of the ads you see’ will take users to a second screen above, which provides more controls over one's Google ad experience.

Users will also be able to limit ads relating to sensitive topics, including alcohol, gambling, dating, pregnancy, parenting, and weight loss.