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Recent Blog Posts
Year-End Marketing Review and Looking Ahead
The world of online marketing and digital technology is constantly evolving. Any entrepreneur or company that fails to keep up with the changes will quickly be left behind. But, is it even possible to stay on top of such advancements? It may be a little ambitious to expect anyone to revamp their marketing strategies every time Google makes a minor adjustment to it search algorithm, for example, but it is vital to the long-term health of your business to stay abreast of search engine updates. At the very least, you must be aware of the direction of larger trends that are increasingly evident.
Mobile-First Priorities
As 2016 draws to a close, we can now look back on the year that was with a measure of big-picture perspective. Over the last 12 months, Google and other internet leaders have made one thing abundantly clear: mobile-friendliness is no longer an option, is it a necessity. The trend of rewarding mobile-friendly websites began several years ago, but search engines were still largely designed to facilitate desktop searches. Throughout 2016, Google made several mobile-related updates to its search engine algorithms and continued a serious push of the Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) project to improve site performance on smartphones and tablets.
British Lawmaker Urges Regulation of Facebook and Google Algorithms
Although you may not realize it, every time you conduct a Google search or open your Facebook news feed, you place yourself at the mercy of unseen, secretive weighting systems that “know” what results and items that you want to see. They are called algorithms, and those in the online marketing world spend countless hours analyzing them and responding to frequent updates. In recent months, however, many have begun questioning our trust in these systems, and some have even suggested that government regulation of Google and Facebook algorithms should be considered. Is such regulation a good idea? Could it even be possible?
Are the Secrets Necessary?
Google’s search engine algorithm is a series of rules intended to analyze hundreds of aspects of a website to determine where it should rank in specific web searches. When the algorithm is updated periodically, Google announces the major changes—such as an emphasis on mobile-friendliness or secured servers—but keeps the minor tweaks a secret. To a point, such discretion is understandable. If for-profit companies knew the exact weighting system of the algorithm, their sites would be designed to take advantage of the knowledge and, as the theory goes, the algorithm would no longer be effective.
Report: Google Struggling to Control Ads for Fake News Sites
When you need information about a local business or a current events story, chances are that you turn to an internet search engine. If global statistics are any indication, you probably use Google to run your search. You may have noticed, however, that finding what you need can be rather confusing at times, especially when your search results include links to unreliable sources of information. The issue has gained a great deal of media attention in recent months, as internet technology leaders have pledged to fight back against deceptive and embellished content being promoted on search engines and social media. According to a new report from a media watchdog group, the junk news sites still appear to be winning.
The Problem of False News
Last month, we published a post on this blog about efforts by Google and Facebook to clamp down on sources of misleading, sensationalized, and often fake news stories. Both companies acknowledged the problem of false news and propaganda, particularly in the wake of this year’s controversial presidential election. As a result, the media giants announced plans to stop selling advertising to sites that were determined to be peddlers of fake news.
Taking the First Steps in Your Legal Career
If you have recently finished law school and have passed the bar exam, congratulations! You should be proud of your accomplishments. You probably realize, however, that your journey is just beginning. Your entire career as an attorney lies ahead. As you start to move forward, you will have a number of decisions to make, many of which may depend on the opportunities that are available to you. No matter how you choose to proceed, a lawyer needs clients in order to be successful, so increasing your visibility among potential clients must be one of your top priorities.
Choosing to Start Your Own Firm
The first decision you will need to make once you have been admitted to the bar is whether you should join an existing firm—most likely as an associate—or to start your own. In making this decision, you must be objective about your talent and ability to manage an independent practice. Your legal knowledge and skills may be unmatched, but running a firm requires organizational and managerial strengths as well. You must also be willing to do the work necessary to build your business from the ground up by attracting new clients and providing top quality service.
Google Algorithms May Save Patients’ Eyesight
In 2002, a character in the teen adventure-drama Buffy the Vampire Slayer used the word “Google” as a verb for the first time on television, at least according to Charles Arthur, writer of the book Digital Wars. Google.com had only been registered as a domain for five years when Alyson Hannigan’s Willow asked “Have you Googled her yet?” making reference to the search engine that would soon become the most popular and powerful in the world.
A few years later, as “Google it” entered the American lexicon as a common direction given to someone looking for information on the internet, Google released a statement expressing concern over the use of the word as a generic trademark for a web search. Fast forward another decade and, while we still use “Google” as a common verb, most of us actually mean using one of Google’s many platforms to find the answers we need.
Negative, Misleading Content Troublesome for Google and Facebook
More than ever before, individuals around the world are turning to the internet as a source of news and information, particularly related to current events. In previous generations, interested people were forced to wait until the evening news broadcast or until the next morning’s newspaper was published to find out what was happening in the world. The rise of 24-hour news channels like CNN was helpful but still pales in comparison to the information currently available on the world wide web.
The problem, however, is that internet services like Facebook and Google often have trouble distinguishing between what is actually news and what is not. It is becoming increasingly common for false, misleading, and intentionally negative stories to spread just as quickly—and often more so—than fact-based news items.
A Changing Approach
Facebook Announces Quarterly Results, Staggering User Numbers
Last week, the city of Chicago welcomed home the world champion Chicago Cubs. According to official estimates, approximately five million people took to the streets of the Windy City to celebrate with the team, making it the seventh largest gathering in human history and the largest ever on American soil. Imagine being able to reach a significant percentage of those five million people with a message about your firm and how you may be able to help them. Sounds pretty incredible but completely impossible, right?
Now take that five million and multiply it by 360. The result is 1.8 billion. That is how many people worldwide use Facebook—360 times more people that those who attended the Cubs’ victory celebration. Believe it or not, today’s digital technology offers you the ability to reach an increasingly large portion of those users with the right approach and guidance from marketing professionals.
Mixed Messages in Branding: The Story of Guaranteed Rate and the Chicago White Sox
If we are going to talk about a baseball team in Chicago, we would be remiss if we did not take a moment to recognize the accomplishments of the 2016 Chicago Cubs. In the late hours of Wednesday night—Thursday morning in Cleveland where the historic event took place—the longest championship drought in professional sports came to an end with a slow ground ball to third base. For the first time in 108 years, the Chicago Cubs are the champions of the baseball world, and we at OVC, INC., proudly offer our sincere congratulations to the players, coaches, team officials, and fans.
As one Chicago team celebrates and looks toward a promising future, another is caught up in the midst of a confusing situation regarding its business relationships and associated branding. The dilemma highlights the importance of strong visual branding that is appropriate in its application and intended audience.
Cyber Attack Leaves Millions Unable to Access Favorite Websites
If you are like most Americans, you have come to rely on the internet for a significant portion of your day’s news, information, and entertainment. Your ability to perform your job and promote your company may even be reliant on a global connection. When something happens that disrupts your connection to the digital world, the results can be more than just inconvenient. When something happens that disrupts everyone’s connection, the problems get even bigger.
Denial of Service Attack
Early last Friday morning, Americans on the East Coast woke up to find that they could not access popular websites, including Reddit, Twitter, Netflix, PayPal, and even Amazon. Users scrambled to check their internet connection and the status of their service provider, but the problem was not with individual households or broadband services. Instead, experts and government officials believe that the issues were a result of a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack orchestrated by hackers. There are even indications that similar, smaller-scale attacks using the same malware are continuing to affect seemingly random targets.
Quality Backlinks to Your Website Boost Traffic and Search Rankings
To be competitive in today’s marketplace, it is more important than ever for your firm to maintain a well-structured website designed to be compatible with a wide range of desktop and mobile devices. The success of your site depends on a large number of elements. Some—such as intuitive design features and engaging content—are visible to end users, while others—such as backend search engine optimization (SEO) and loading speed—are not visible to the average user but are no less important. Backlinks are an often-overlooked piece of the SEO puzzle, but when developed and utilized correctly, backlinks can contribute directly to increased traffic to your site and an improvement in your search engine rankings.
What Are Backlinks?
Most people are familiar with the word “link” used in the context of the internet; it refers to a clickable connection from one web page to another. So, what does the word “backlink” mean? A backlink—from the perspective of your website—is any link back to your page from anywhere else on the web, and may also be called an “inbound link.” Search engines like Google presume that a site with a large number of quality backlinks is a trustworthy site and one that is more relevant than others related to a similar search term.
