All About Google’s RankBrain Algorithm

Google's RankBrain algorithm leads to a better set of Google results, which are as accurate as one can possibly get to understanding search queries and the inquisitive human mind.

Google changed its algorithm on 26 October 2015 to a machine reading technology called RankBrain. This technology involves the use of artificial Intelligence, so as to interpret search terms entered by the users in a much more predictable way. The idea is to make it work like human intuition. In fact, colloquial terms or spoken language is interpreted in an accurate way, and ‘bang on target’.

This artificial intelligence system, capable of machine learning is ranked as the 3^rd most important factor in determining the page rank of the website, the others being (1) Quality Content and (2) Quality Back-links.

There are totally about 200 ranking factors, which determine the page rank of a website.Thus Rankbrain has an important role to play in SEO. These factors basically dictate what must be shown in the search results and definitely influence their page rank.

Thus, Google aims to eliminate websites which do not give any value with regards to their content.

Google had sent two algorithm changes before this latest one. One was given the codename Panda (in the year 2015) which targeted sites with bad quality content. 2012 saw the emergence of another algorithm, called ‘Penguin’ which eliminated fake or unnatural link profiles and got them banned. More than anything else, RankBrain is an advanced variation of Google’s earlier update called ‘Hummingbird’ which was introduced in 2013. Hummingbird carefully considered each word in a query and understood them not just as a string of words, but as a meaningful sentence in its proper context.

What changes with RankBrain?

Continuing the legacy of Hummingbird, Google’s RankBrain update not only produces results based on queries but also, ‘reads in between the lines’ and deciphers the human motives behind their typing of a particular string of words and thus, returns ideal results. Also, if a user enters a search term which the search engine doesn’t understand, then it searches for the word or phrases having a similar tone or meaning and displays the results accordingly. Thus, RankBrain is very efficient in handling unfamiliar search queries, which could otherwise lead to ‘no results’.

How can Website Owners take full advantage of this system, or rather optimise for RankBrain?

Google is now more concerned about its users; with the RankBrain, it focuses, not just on the typed keywords, but the ones that they haven’t been typed. However unfamiliar, the keywords may appear, Google uses RankBrain to make more accurate guesses about the user’s intent (behind those words) than any other human being can ever think of. Thus, the results are much more accurate.

When a website is designed, the focus should NOT be on pouring all possible keywords into the content, like it was done in the past. The focus should be on the users themselves; you need to know where they hang out and what sort of pages they visit online. You may check social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Quora is also a very good place where you find specific user queries. You may search questions related to your particular field. You will find that they are more detailed than any search queries you may find on Google. Use these search terms on Quora to get an idea about how to structure your content, for the ease of the end users. RankBrain is more about user optimization rather than usage of specific keywords. In fact, if you are following the standard SEO practises, there is certainly no need to panic at the emergence of any new Google algorithm.

The Types of Searches

The intentions behind typing queries can be broadly classified into three types:

For knowledge, research or reviews
For navigation or travel
For online shopping or product purchase

The above searches are self-explanatory; thus, importance is given to user intentions and the tone of the query to produce an exact match, even if our search string is incomplete.

How will users benefit?

RankBrain, aided by its artificial intelligence does the following conclusions

Find out how people search on Google.
Look out for local language queries, decipher them and give better quality results
Give better quality suggestions, even as the users type their queries.

Thus, RankBrain is there to benefit the users, so that they get exactly what they want. As long as you are following the standards and avoiding negative SEO techniques, you don’t have to worry about your website’s ranking.

What are the best captions for your Instagram photos?

Instagram is your best bet if you want to transform your normal-person status into that of a celebrity. All you may need is a smartphone, good photos and great captions.

Instagram as we all know, is a place where we find great photography, usually done by amateurs. It has the rare capability of making ordinary people into celebrities, by the sheer quality of photos that they share.

However, the quality of photos is not enough to skyrocket your status and make your posts go viral. You need one more ingredient, and that is ‘Great Instagram Titles’ or selfie captions. That way, people will understand what you are trying to say and identify with it. If you are a small business and want to use Instagram to connect with people at a more personal level, then great captions accompanied by good photos are a key to success.

Here are a few tips to write good Instagram captions:

Don’t rush it: Think of several selfie captions and write them down. Ask your co-workers or family members, about what they think it and how it can be improved. Make sure that your caption is great, before posting it. It is true that Instagram postings should be spontaneous and done in real time. However, as per the latest Instagram algorithm update, posts having a higher level of engagement, are the ones which will be shown on your followers’ news feed. The posts which have great titles will obviously generate more engagement and likes besides having a higher chance of going viral.
Comment on your own post: You may use your unique hashtag followed by a short caption.

Although Instagram allows for 2200 characters, don’t fill up the whole space with hashtags. They can either serve as a distraction or as a turnoff. If the hashtag doesn’t fit well with the caption, it can be put at the end. You may use a maximum of 4# hashtags.

Generate a call to action: Users usually respond to verbs that encourage them to take some sort of action. Your picture or posting may be in the form of a quiz question, prompting viewers to enter the right answer in the comments section. You may also ask fans to tag themselves and their friends by taking selfies in your retail outlet and stand a chance of winning a gift hamper. Likewise, there are many ways to encourage users to like, share and comment on your posts.

Make sure your hashtags are not too small: Load these hashtags in such a way that the visible part is enticing enough for the visitor to click on ‘more’. Do not limit yourself by attempting to make the whole Hashtag visible, by keeping it very short.

Don’t use a hashtag with every word that you type: Use relevant hashtags and get the feel of being part of the bigger picture. However, make sure your hashtag is relevant to your subject. For E.g., if you are a restaurant owner in Australia and posting food pictures on Instagram, don’t include the tag #WWE or #SummerSlam as it’s not related to food in any way (although the wrestlers don’t mind eating). You may instead, try a slightly more relevant hashtag like #Breakfast and #Food.

Get the basic grammar and capitalisation right: Avoid spelling mistakes. Good grammar is still in fashion, and my guess is that it will remain so for a 2 - 3 more aeons.

Photos without captions are OK if you are a celebrity: When you write captions, you are basically competing for attention. Make your pics have an attention grabbing caption! If you are a celebrity, however, you may skip this point.

Have a unique caption style: It should be unlike any other and consistent. Make it short, intriguing, and interesting enough, to draw a response from followers.

Is it necessary to link your photo? Ask yourself this question before linking it. You may do so if necessary. Links may be placed in the website section of your bio description, and your caption may point towards the same. The only drawback with links is that they lead the user away from the Instagram Application.

Tag people in the photograph: If it is the photographer of the picture, you may tag them and give credit; you may also tag relevant people who were part of that photo shoot.

Add Mentions to your Instagram Caption:‘Mentions’ are a way to give back to the Instagram community. You may ‘Mention’ other Instagram users, and showcase each other’s pictures to your audience and thus show your ‘Insta-love’ for each other. Instead of just tagging them, make sure you include their handle in your caption as well. This enables your followers to visit their profile too!

Have some fun, add Emoji’s: Make your posts slightly more colourful by adding Emoji’s; let your posting radiate more emotion. However do it sparingly, and just enough to make things interesting.

Instagram’s popularity is growing by the day, and it is definitely not a bad idea to use this great platform and get yourself or your small business noticed by a “small chunk” of its 400 million users! Knowing how to write good Instagram captions for your photos, can go a long way into making it a reality.

It’s time to market your business with Pokemon Go

Pokémon Go is redefining the very concept of gaming, and now, it’s time for businesses to jump on the Pokémon Bandwagon!

Pokémon Go is currently the hottest thing in the world of gaming, and whether or not, its parent company Niantic will invite sponsorship and advertising, is a different question altogether. While it is still ‘red-hot’, many businesses can take advantage and capitalise on this trend right away, before it lessens or dies.

What is Pokémon Go? And why are people going mad over it?

The game has been launched on 6^th July 2016 in Australia, New Zealand, USA and the Europe and still, it is one of the most trending topics on social media worldwide. Pikachu has become the most talked-about character. This game of the 90s has become popular among 20 to 30-year-olds, and in fact, more than 5% of the Android users in the US are playing this game on a regular basis. It has in fact overtaken Twitter and Facebook in terms of daily users.

How is the game played out?

This free mobile game (for iOS and Android), allows you to make an avatar that can capture, trade, train as well as fight Pokémon characters of the game.

What makes this game even more appealing is the fact that it uses your mobile’s camera and GPS to help track a Pokémon centre and catch Pokémon in 'reality'. This will have gamers taking long walks or perhaps go for a long drive in their respective cities, just to find Pokémon. So when you spot a Pokémon, this augmented reality game displays it with your real life surroundings as background, which makes it all the more interesting!

Marketing with Pokémon Go

The demographic reach of this game makes it interesting for business marketers. Although there aren’t any advertising or sponsorship opportunities in Pokémon-Go at present, there are still many things which can be done.

If your business is situated close to any designated Pokéstop or a Pokémon centre, then you can offer free goodies. The FREE footfall at your restaurant is always a welcome sign. You may offer free charging points, as Pokémon-Go is a bit more demanding on the battery, since it continually needs internet, GPS and camera access. Pokémon-Go gamers are human after all, and their bodies need re-charging too! To cater to their requirements, then you may need to switch to a Pokémon-Go food theme and ‘make hay while the sun shines’.

You can even have your staff wear Pokémon T-Shirts and accompany the gamers around the Pokémon stop while they search for ‘monsters’. You can give them a discount for screenshots of Pokémon spotted near your restaurant and shared on social media. You can also have Pokémon gamers in for a chat about their game, take a video and post it on social media, thus increasing the visibility of your brand. You can also tag them and encourage them to share it.

Placing of Lures

A Pokémon stop is usually located near landmarks, heritage buildings, gardens, malls and restaurants. As a restaurant, you may use this opportunity to lure ‘Pokémon Trainers’ into your property, by means of these gaming freebies, and make it a popular Pokémon hub. Lures can be purchased through the App and placed in and around your restaurant.

Setting up your Lures

Start the App and catch the Pokemon. You get a red Pokeball; Click on it at the bottom of your monitor and select "Shop". You may now scroll down and purchase a Pokecoin pack (the currency of the Pokemon world). You may buy a Lure Module based on this.

Once you have purchased this Lure, you need to go near the Pokestop to access it. Now click the PokeStop and the white oval, select the lure module and deploy it. The PokeStop will rain pink coloured paper to indicate that the lure has been deployed.

The gamers thus stand to gain freebies, while the increased footfall at your restaurant can positively affect your brand image and sales. Meanwhile, you will need to create awareness by means of social media about your new “Pokémon Stop”.

Niantic and what the future holds?

With the entire ongoing buzz about Pokémon, it would be expected of Niantic, to allow businesses to sponsor PokéStops and Pokémon balls, and help gamers collect Pokémons. Because of the geographic nature of the game, it is evident that gamers will go around the city and visit business hub spots. So if one asks ‘What is the right time for Niantic to enter into lucrative partnerships with other business and make the most of this hot trend?’ we would simply say, “NOW IS THE TIME”!!!

Re-Capturing your Online Visitors with Website Push Notifications

You may have noticed recently, how many websites have started displaying push notifications. This is a new trend which is enabling sites to capture visitors without asking them to sign up.

As soon as users visit some popular websites, an opt-in dialogue box pops up. They are given the choice of allowing or blocking push notifications of that particular website. Many websites like FaceBook, Pinterest, News portals and even many local sites now use website push notifications, which resemble dialogue boxes, asking for permission to install software updates. The only difference is that they will be used, to re-target the customers. This is a new way of capturing and tracking visitors without formally asking them to sign up for your services. It is a new addition to a list of online marketing tactics that have already utilised Newsletter signups, Ad Retargeting and Exit popup boxes.

What exactly is Push Notification Service?

Push notifications pop-up on the desktop or mobile of the subscribers of a particular website. The visitors who opt for it, start getting these notifications. When they are clicked, they lead to special offers, product pages, online polls, or valuable content.

Applications of Push Notifications

Push Notification Service is in its heyday, and marketers want to make the most of it. There are many ways in which website push notifications may be applied. They can also be applied on Android mobiles, for the subscribers who have already downloaded your App.

1. Send limited period offers.

Push-notifications instil a sense of urgency in web visitors, as they appear in real-time and prompt them to act faster than they do on any other media. These can be used to display limited-time discount offers to visitors, and get a fast response.

2. User specific offers, depending on the time spent on your website.

Selling products based on website behaviour is a sure-fire way to gain back lost customers.

When users visit a shopping site and show interest in a particular product, they are immediately ‘captured’. Within a span of 15 minutes, they are targeted using specific offers depending on their web-interests. This is done while the buying intent still remains in the user and there is good chance of a sale.

3. Automated push notifications upon publishing a new blog.

One may be familiar with the RSS to email notifications, where a subscriber gets an email when a new blog is published. Similarly, with RSS to push notifications; your subscribers immediately get push notifications when a new blog post is out. Studies have revealed that a push-notification has 3 times more click through rate when compared to an email notification.

4. Instant Communication with your Audience

If your audience is notified about your new blog post via popular social media, they may feel it is ‘old wine being packaged in a new bottle’. However, if you notify them via web push notifications, they will get the impression that it is ‘fresh off the oven’, and most probably will click through it, ‘to grab a bite’ and check it out.

5. Push notifications to verify abandoned shopping carts

If visitors are on your website, suddenly abandon the shopping cart, then you may send a push notification after a few minutes, with an appropriate message reminding them like for e.g., “You have 4 items in your cart” or something similar. Thus, if the users had really forgotten about it while navigating away from your site, they can be made to come back and complete the order.

6. Re-targeting and Upselling.

As discussed earlier, users will be targeted with ads based on their interests. Thus, we will be categorising our visitors into different segments, and send them offers according to their behavioural data. Thus you may target those using notifications along the lines of, “People who purchased <product name> also purchased this”. Thus you will be curating content for your visitors, who will feel that they don’t have to keep browsing the web for similar products as they can trust you to provide them with curated content tailored to their requirements.

7. Getting Feedback

Studies have revealed that push notification subscribers have an opt-in rate of 40% when compared to your email subscribers. You may have noticed in the recent times, that you get push notifications when you exit certain sites, with a message along the lines of, “Are you sure you want to leave this website?” This can also be used to gather true feedback from visitors exiting your site so that they can rectify issues in the best interests of the users.

Writing Push Notification Text (with a 40 - 120 chars limit) and best practices

The only limitation with push notifications is the text size, which varies from 40-120 characters on various platforms. It is imperative that the services of a good copywriter are sought to make the best use of the limited space and convey your message in an effective way.

However, the visitors may still be bombarded by several similar website push notifications. So how do you stand out? You may choose to stand above the crowd by giving out a limited time offer or 24-hour discount notification. However, make sure that the notification contains brief and enticing text, which will prompt users to click on it.

Measuring Push Notification Performance

The last, but most significant step is to analyse the push notifications’ performance. You need to ascertain the below:

The number of clicks for the push notification
Forms filled by visitors
Trial downloads
Product Purchases

Once you check out the analytics report for all the above activities, you can have an idea as to whether or not, push notifications are paying dividends. Accordingly, you may plan to continue or discontinue push notification services.

5 Surefire ways to chase away your Web-Customers

A website helps in marketing our product or services, to the world. However, if we do it wrong, then it may serve to drive away prospective customers.

Website landing pages are the best means of attracting customers to do business with you. They must be appealing to the users. Sometimes the opposite may be true, and a website may start driving away prospective customers. So, how do we figure it out in order to rectify the situation?

Problem with Content

The content must be easy to understand. It should not be so technical, that a layman can make nothing out of it. All Caps must be avoided at all costs. The practice of having huge blocks of text must also be avoided, as nobody has the time to go through an encyclopedia of information; so let it be brief. Let not the landing or index page content speak only about your company. Allow subject to be centered on what the customer wants.

In fact, the content must be planned much in advance, rather than 'filling in the blanks', after the web design has been completed. Great content is a means of establishing your credibility in your given field by providing value to your online audience. It is also the means of establishing a social media presence and extending your superiority over competition across these channels. It must therefore be well planned.

Bad Navigation and unpredictable Structure

Let your web page design have an intuitive structure. When visitors come to your site, they must not feel like they are stranded on a lonely island. They must be directed, either to click on the query form, search, and shop for your product, check out tutorials, or do any other task which they planned to do on the site. A search box is definitely necessary; it can help the visitor get what they want.

Non usage of Common Terms

The page titles, menu items, and product names must adhere to common terminology. For example, if you are selling home products and a visitor is searching for pillows, then do not name it as ‘Bolster’. Let it not look like “Buy 2 Bolsters and get a Bed Sheet FREE”. The visitor must not start opening the dictionary to check out the meaning of bolster. Instead, you can just use the word ‘Pillow’ to make things easier for the user. The menu items, page titles and other content must also follow the same principle and use simple terms.

Slow Loading Pages

A slow loading page is a great turn-off. Howsoever attractive and responsive your web page design maybe, if it loads slowly, then the whole effort goes in vain. It is important to optimize your text, images and videos to meet the above demand. A page must follow the 5-second rule, i.e., it should load within five seconds. If optimisation is not done and the site loads slowly, then it will obviously be ignored by visitors who will obviously switch over to another site, thanks to the bad website design.

No Mobile Optimisation

Ever since the advent of smartphones, more than half of the global users browse the internet with their mobiles. If your site is not mobile optimized, then it will be penalized by Google with respect to its ranking. A website which is not optimized for mobile performs poorly when accessed by using smartphones. This is a perfect example of bad website design. As a result, nobody will bother to return to your site again.

These are a few pointers to help businesses stop turning off their customers, due to slow loading websites.