DM_Planning

DM_Planning

1. 2) SEO

   • Trends
     • http://www.digitalstrategyconsulting.com/intelligence/2013/06/top_6_seo_trends_what_factors_boost_rankings_in_google_searches.php
     • G+
       • Social signals such as Facebook likes and shares, Twitter tweets and Google plus ones all correlate closely with Google rankings. But Searchmetrics’ analysis found that Google plus ones correlate more strongly (a correlation coefficient of +0.4) than any other social media signals. Facebook shares were the second most closely linked social signal with rankings - a correlation of +0.34. Tweets on Twitter and Pins on Pinterest have lower correlations of +0.28 and 0.29 respectively. “The pages in top positions in the search results stand out with a very high mass of social signals,” explained Marcus Tober, Searchmetrics’ founder and CTO. “Of course there’s a lot of debate about whether social signals directly influence rankings or are just closely correlated with rankings - because highly ranked pages will get more traffic and so attract more shares, likes, plus ones etc.” “At Searchmetrics we’ve done a number of studies – that we plan to publish in coming months – which indicate that social signals do in fact have an influence on rankings.” 
     • quality content
       • Search experts believe the quality of content on web pages is an important ranking factor because Google is keen to raise the rankings of pages with good, useful information and Searchmetrics’ analysis seems to support this. Pages with more text and more images are positively correlated with Google rankings (correlation +.11 and +0.08 respectively) indicating that higher ranking pages have more text and more images. “If we assume that the existence of more text and images is an indicator of quality, then quality content is linked to higher rankings according to our study,” said Tober. “But we actually found that this relationship exists up to a limit of around 10,000 characters – after this the correlation tended to decrease. So you can’t just go on adding text in the hope it will continue to drive a more positive rankings boost.”
     • keywords loose
       • Search experts have long believed that sites that have a keyword in the domain name, such as carinsurance.com or paydayloan.com, tend to rank higher for relevant searches, but Searchmetrics’s study indicates this is now declining in importance. The study found that having a keyword in the domain name has only a low positive correlation (+0.03) down from 0.11 in 2012. While having a keyword in the URL or web page address has declined from a correlation of +0.04 in 2012 to an even lower 0.01 in 2013. “Only a year ago, factors such as keywords in domains and URLs were correlated more positively with better rankings,” explained Tober. “So our 2013 analysis indicates that Google’s "Exact Match Domain" (EMD) update to tackle the issue - as well as the Penguin algorithm updates - seem to have done a good job.”
     • backlinks
       • As in Searchmetrics’ 2012 study, the 2013 data shows that the number of backlinks (links to a web page from other sites) remains very closely connected to how the page ranks. In fact the number of backlinks for pages that rank in top positions has increased, even if the correlation has declined slightly from +0.36 in 2012 to +0.34 in 2013 (this slight decline in correlation is because all the pages ranking in the top 30 positions feature more backlinks on average than last year). "Pages with more links rank even better," Tober summarizes. "However, it’s not just the quantity that matters, but more and more the quality. The more natural the link profile, the greater the prospect of a positive ranking.” To get the most benefit, a site needs to have a spread of links that looks natural - not artificially created by SEO experts. This means a site should not simply have a large number of perfectly optimized links that include keywords it wants to rank for in the anchor text. In line with this, having a proportion of ‘no follow’ links (links which do not convey ranking benefits) and links that contain neutral ‘stopwords’ (such as ‘in’, “and”, ‘to’) in the anchor text – as well as links that are just generic (like “there”, “here”, “page”) – have increased in importance according Searchmetrics’ analysis. A related finding is that backlinks which contain target keywords in the anchor text, a factor normally considered important by SEO experts, has decreased in importance with a correlation of +0.06 in 2013 (down from +0.10 in 2012). “The SEO visibility of the web page a backlink comes from is also very important now,” said Tober. “SEO visibility is our measure of how visible a site is within Google searches. So what we mean here is that if a site gets backlinks from highly visible, high ranking pages such as respected national news sites, then they seem to be more valuable – having more of this type of link is closely correlated with high rankings.”
     • brands
       • Brands seem to automatically rank higher in Google searches. And the analysis reveals that some features that correlate with high ranking pages, mostly ‘on-page’² factors, do not apply to pages from top brands in the same way as they do for non-brand web pages. “Brands rank high even if they fail to fulfill some of the most basic principles of SEO,” said Tober. “For example pages from brands are positioned in or near the top of search results even if they have less text on the page and they don’t have keywords in the title.”
   • Key
     • Popularity
     • Authority
     • Relevance
     • Trust
     • Importance
   • Strategies
     • On-page
       • On-page optimization is achieved by making changes to the HTML code, content and structure of a website, making it more accessible for search engines, and therefore, easier for users to find. 
     • Off-page
       • Which is focused on building links to the website, and covers activities like social media and digital PR. 
   • areas
     • web-site
       • search friendly structure
         • obstacles
           • technical
             • important to make sure there are direct HTML links to each page you want the search engines to index. The most important pages should be accessible directly from the homepage of your website. 
             • Flash
           • competitive market
     • key phrases
       • well researched
         • Search volume
         • Competition
         • Chances to convert
         • Value per lead
       • Brainstorm
         • Gather data
           • Keyword tool
     • content
       • optimized
         • Title tag
           • H1 header tag
             • URL
               • Meta descr
         • 3x in body
           • 1 bold
             • Link anchor
         • domain
     • links
       • popularity
         • valuable content
         • tools/games/widgets
         • Social media
     • user's
       • insights
     • app
       • catchy name
       • distinctive icon
       • benefits/features
       • social links
       • meta data
     • DON'T
       • hidden text/links
         • cloaking/sneaky redirects
           • send automated queries to Google
             • load pages with irrelevant keywords
               • create multiple pages/subdomains with largely duplicated content
                 • doorway pages
                 • link farms

2. 1) UX

   • UX
     • Functionla
       • navigation
       • search
       • links
     • Findability
       • Can I find it easily Does it show up high in search results?
     • Accessibility
       • Can I use it when I need it? Does it work well on mob phone or slow internet connection?
     • Desirability
       • Do I want to use it? Is it pleasant to use it?
     • Usability
       • Is it easy/convinient to use it? links - bluemenu - top or leftsearch - top with word 'search' in a boxlogo - top left corner - back to homeNEVEROpen pop-upsMusic, flash lights = 'cristmas trees'Entry/splash pageswebsite in entirely flash
     • Credibility
       • Do I trust it? - looks - contact us - about is - testimonials - associations - references awards, etc - up-to-date content - error-free
     • Usefulness
       • Do I get value out of it?
     • STEPS
       • Conduct research
         • Create Basic structure
           • Analyze content
             • Create sitemap
               • Build navigation
                 • Create layout
                   • Assemble additional elements
                     • CTA Forms
                     • Design visuals
                       • Test
       • Design
         • Design for persuasion
           • Visual identity
             • Design theory
               • Color theory
                 • Collecting design assets
                   • Fonts
       • Development
         • Static or CMS
           • Server-side lang
             • Front-end lang
               • Mobile or App
                 • or Responsive
   • user-centric
   • USER
     • Who is?
     • Wants/needs?
       • regarding my website/business
     • Why visit?
       • Why is he really coming to my website?
     • Capabilities?
       • What are the user's capabilities? web skills, available technology?
     • Features?
       • What features would make user's experience easier and better?
   • Simplicity
     • Lots of empty space Plain language Sticking to conventions Humans process images faster than words
     • empty space
     • plain language
     • conventions
     • images
     • Catalyst
       • Mobile
         • Mob website Responsive APP
         • think first of
         • Simplify
         • Reduce loading time
         • Encourage exploration
         • Give feedback
           • Once user submits/clicks smth - give a feedback (like a 'thank you' note)
         • Communicate consistently
           • same message, icons, fonts, navigation across all platforms same style
         • Predict user's wants
   • Copy
     • Audience
       • Who is my audience - audience of One? - Personas?
     • Actions
       • What actions do I want them to take
     • Information
       • What information do they need in order to fell confident taking action
     • Types
       • Clear/Concise
       • Easy to read
       • Well written
       • Well structured
       • Short copy
         • CTA
         • Title
         • Social
         • Social ads
       • long
         • News releases
         • Articles
         • Emails
         • Blog posts
         • Website
     • best practice
       • Does your copy convey a creative idea? Does the layout of your copy make it easy to read? Is your meaning clear and direct? Structured in a logical manner? Does the copy convey the features and benefits necessary to make your point? Will your readers clearly understand the content of your writing? Is the content of your message structured in a logical manner?