Key Digital Marketing Statistics to Take From 2018

2018 was a big year for SEO. Google’s constantly-changing search algorithm evaluates over 200 ranking factors, and SEO is an increasingly complex science. We’ve compiled a list of statistics that stood out in 2018 to adapt to your marketing efforts in 2019.

Better content can increase traffic by up to 2,000%

Content should be your number one priority.

Last year, we witnessed just how big an impact content has on your overall digital marketing and SEO efforts. Informative, high-quality content is the pillar of a successful SEO strategy. The better the content, the more traffic it will drive to your site.

Strategically creating website content around a keyword or set of keywords is the first step in attracting traffic to your site. Blogs are an important piece of content that can work magic for increasing traffic. There are roughly 250 million blogs online right now!

Google is responsible for 96% of all smartphone search traffic and 94% of the total organic traffic

Yes, you read that right. 96%. Only 4% of all smartphone search traffic happens on alternative search engines.

Thus, it’s of utmost importance to have a mobile-friendly and Google-friendly website to ensure users have a seamless experience. As far as we can tell, this statistic will only increase in the years to come. If your website isn’t mobile of Google-friendly, you’ll be left in the dust.

Search Engines drive 93% of website traffic

Think about this for a moment. Almost 93% of web traffic comes through search engines, and just about 75% of all searchers click a link on the first page of their search results, never bothering to move on to page two.

So, how can you get your business to rank on the search engine’s first page? You’ll need three things:

• Time
• Patience
• A solid search engine optimization strategy

SEO is the leading driver of organic search ranking performance on a search engine results page. Before digital marketing took off, most marketing firms would create a brochure, meet with prospective clients and expect reasonable growth throughout their business. These days, that’s just not effective.

Today’s fastest-growing businesses are capitalizing on the digital marketing environment, and SEO plays an integral role. This will definitely be the case as we move into 2019.

WordPress accounts for 27% of websites around the world, but less than half of WordPress sites are up to date

What does this tell us? That it’s important to optimize your website for maximum performance. So, how do we do this?

• SEO-friendly URLs:
  • Google gives more weight to the first 3-5 words in your URL. Be sure to choose wisely!
• Titles optimized for SEO:
  • Title tags are one of the most important factors of on-page SEO. For best results, start your title with your keyword, or place it in the beginning.
• Add modifiers to your titles
  • Descriptive words like ‘best’ and ‘review’ are examples.
• Optimize your meta descriptions
  • Your description should complement your title. It should contain your main keyword as well.
• Eliminate thin content
  • When we talk about thin content, we usually think of its effect on search engine ranking, but you should also be mindful of how it impacts your clients or customers. Here’s how to fix it.
    
    

SEO has a 14.6% conversion rate compared to 1.7% for traditional outbound methods.

Cold-calling and direct mail are things of the past.

In 2018, we saw a 14.6% rate of conversion in SEO marketing.

That’s high.

SEO is such an effective method, in comparison to mail or cold-calling because it’s a direct response to the things people are searching for. SEO strategies can be tailored to your specific target demographic, much more so than marketing techniques of the past.

The average attention span in 2018 is 8 seconds

8 seconds. That’s how long you have to attract a potential customer.

Each year, that time is getting shorter and shorter as a result of the brain’s ‘digitized lifestyle,’ For example, the average attention span in 2000 was 12 seconds.

This means that your website, SEO strategy and social media efforts must grab the attention of the user instantly.

Looking to learn more about SEO and how it can impact your business? Contact us today to chat about your online strategy.

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What the Google+ Shutdown Means for Businesses

Updated December 11, 2018.

On October 8, the Wall Street Journal broke news of a major Google+ privacy leak that occurred earlier this year.

Hours later, Google announced in a blog post that it would shut down Google+ by August of 2019. Then, in the wake of a second data breach discovered in November, Google stated the Google+ closure would be expedited to April of 2019.

What does this mean for Google+ users, including businesses using the platform to boost their online presence and search engine ranking?

While the demise of Google+ may represent the end of an era for Google, its impact on the rest of us isn’t as significant as you might think.

Why Google+ is Shutting Down

The reasons behind Google’s decision to shut down Google+ is twofold: low user engagement and security troubles.

Back in March of 2018, Google uncovered a serious software vulnerability in the Google+ API. Essentially, the bug gave outside developers access to private information on nearly 500,000 Google+ users: names, email addresses, birth dates, locations and more. Mallory Locklear at Engadget penned a good overview of the Google+ data leak here.

Although Google didn’t find evidence that anyone used this bug (for malicious reasons or otherwise), they felt an in-depth audit of the Google+ platform in general was warranted.

The audit, named Project Strobe, raised a couple of red flags:

• Google+ had not achieved broad consumer or developer adoption and had limited user interaction with its associated apps.
• Though Google’s engineering teams put a lot of effort into building Google+ over the years, there were “significant challenges in creating and maintaining a successful Google+ that meets consumers’ expectations.”

Google found that 90 percent of Google+ user sessions last less than five seconds. To put that in perspective, the average Facebook user session lasts six minutes and 23 seconds, and the typical user logs 173 sessions a month.

Considering these issues, Google is shutting down the consumer version of Google+ over the course of the next six months. The process will conclude when the platform closes for good in April 2019.

Google+ and Search Engine Optimization

When it launched in 2011, Google+ was intended to make Google itself more social. Users could make profiles and connect with networks of family, friends, and other contacts. The platform had a stream akin to Facebook’s News Feed.

Google+ was also a part of one of Google’s newest search features, the +1 button. As the launch video explains, the button allowed users to ‘recommend’ webpages to their Google+ network.

The +1 button was important for another reason: search rankings. Initially, Google indicated it was one of many ranking signals Google’s search engine algorithm used to gauge search quality and rankings.

Over the years, Google+ made appearances on Google’s main site in various other ways, but none seemed to stick.

For a time, Google+ and +1 button activity were used to personalize users’ search results, and Google+ assets like photos and posts showed up in some results as well. Content posted to Google+ was often indexed faster than other sites.

Before Google My Business, Google+ pages also served as a public face for businesses in search.

Marketers and businesses flocked to the platform for its purported search benefits. But the public didn’t follow, and as time passed, Google downplayed the importance of Google+ and the +1 button as ranking signals.

What the Google+ Shutdown Means for Search Engine Optimization

The end of Google+ will mean the end of its effects on search engine rankings, however minimal they may be.

It’s welcome news to businesses who were compelled to use Google+ only for its search benefits. The time spent posting to Google+ can instead be used to engage communities their customers already use: whether it’s Facebook pages and groups, Twitter, LinkedIn, or niche industry forums.

If you’ve invested time in building a presence on Google+, there’s lots of time to tie up any loose ends. The platform doesn’t officially close until next April, and Matt Southern at Search Engine Journal has put together a timely guide on how to export your Google+ data.

Have questions about the Google+ shutdown? Don’t hesitate to ask – we’ll be watching as this continues to unfold.

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BigCommerce Launches e-Commerce Plugin for WordPress

WordPress is the leading content management system, powering 30% of the web. E-commerce has become one of the biggest online activities, reaching a record $2.3 trillion in global sales in 2017. So, it stands to reason that e-commerce and WordPress would go together perfectly — but the reality is complicated.

Getting an online store up and running on a WordPress site isn’t too difficult. But managing and optimizing that site to drive traffic can be a challenge.

That’s why WordPress developers are intrigued by the recent announcement that the team behind BigCommerce, a major SaaS e-commerce platform, is developing a BigCommerce plugin for WordPress.

If the plugin works as intended, BigCommerce for WordPress could make establishing an e-commerce store on WordPress a lot more efficient.

What’s Required for E-Commerce on WordPress Today

WordPress does not support e-commerce by default. It is possible to set up an e-commerce site using WordPress (and many companies do, like Book Riot and Clickbank) but it requires that you install and configure:

• A domain
• An e-commerce-friendly WordPress theme
• An e-commerce plugin for WordPress
  
  

There are already dozens of plugins (free and paid) designed to add e-commerce functionality to WordPress. However, picking the right one can be a challenge of its own. In choosing an e-commerce plugin for WordPress, you must think about:

• What you are selling (some plugins lack shipping and inventory management, or only support digital products)
• Your payment system of choice (few plugins support all the various payment options)
• WordPress theme compatibility
• Plugin customer support (is someone there to help if your store goes down?)
  
  

WordPress is almost endlessly customizable, and the process of building an e-commerce site using WordPress is less time-consuming than creating one from scratch. However, it isn’t the fastest way to get into e-commerce. All-in-one e-commerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce are faster and more user-friendly.

Shopify and WooCommerce for WordPress

The top three e-commerce platforms in 2017 were WooCommerce, Magneto, and Shopify. WooCommerce was designed for WordPress from the ground up. Shopify is a standalone platform first but has released a WordPress plugin. Magneto does not integrate easily with WordPress.

WooCommerce has notable benefits for WordPress users: the basic software is free and customizable, with no limitations on the number of products or orders it can handle. However, many features are locked behind paid add-ons, including expanded payment and checkout options.

Another downside of WooCommerce it’s only for WordPress, meaning businesses have to rebuild their online store if they ever switch content management systems.

Shopify-built e-commerce sites are robust, but not without limitations. Its terms of service limit what you can sell on the platform, and it is not possible to manage WordPress and Shopify at once. Vendors have also reported configuration issues with shipping rates, weight-based shipping, and other time-sensitive factors that get in the way of conversions.

How BigCommerce Could Make e-Commerce on WordPress Easier

BigCommerce is an up-and-coming e-commerce platform that saw rapid gains in the market last year. Recently, it launched the developer beta of a BigCommerce WordPress plugin, which shows promise as a better option for e-commerce on WordPress.

Like Shopify, BigCommerce is software-as-a-service or SaaS, meaning it takes care of hosting and maintaining the servers, databases, and code for its engine. This system frees up resources on the WordPress end and ensures the online store won’t slow down the site, which is important for search engine optimization.

BigCommerce also promises an efficient control panel that allows businesses to manage both the e-commerce elements and the rest of the site from the WordPress platform.

We also like that BigCommerce is already Gutenberg-ready, so you won’t have to switch platforms when this massive WordPress update rolls out later this year.

If you run a WordPress e-commerce site, you’ll want to check out BigCommerce’s blog post on the subject, which has more information on planned features for the plugin.

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How Often Should You Redesign Your Website?

A website redesign is much more than a visual facelift. With technology advancing at an unprecedented pace, companies must proactively respond to the changing ways customers find and consume content online. How often you redesign your website can have a significant impact on your ability to reach customers and stand out from competitors.

How Often You Should Redesign Your Website

There’s no rulebook on a website redesign, but the power of observation reveals that organizations with a strong online presence tend to change their website at least every three years.

Why three years? There are several reasons why proactive companies wait no longer than that to update or overhaul their web design.

While the timeline may vary to an extent in different industries, three years is approximately how long you can wait before it becomes necessary to adapt to changing technology, trends, and browsing habits.

Any longer than that and the site will start to fall behind.

Within a three-year period, it’s practically inevitable that:

• Web design trends will change to the point that the website’s visual design reveals its age.
• The ways many people use the Internet, and the devices they use to access it, will shift.
• Companies will phase out old marketing campaigns and launch new ones.
• Search engine algorithms will evolve, and search engine optimization strategies along with them.

Any one of these changes is enough to justify at least a minor change to a company’s website. Depending on the website’s structure, or the time that has passed since the last redesign, it may be necessary to undertake a more significant overhaul.

Below, we’ll look at how these changes can have an impact on the bottom line.

1. Keeping Up with Web Design Trends

Redesigning a website is about more than updating its appearance, but the visual design does matter.

Much like music tastes, fashion trends and more, the web industry changes daily and so do its trends.

The first impression customers have of a site is its colours, layout, graphics, photos, and other visual elements. If the site looks unappealing or outdated (especially compared to your competitors), customers are less likely to explore its contents.

The look and feel of a website is akin to a storefront. If a store looks shabby on the outside, you probably aren’t going to step inside, especially if there’s a competitor down the street.

Having an appealing, easy-to-use website show customers that a company is growing and on top of current trends. It’s important to incorporate new designs, upgrade efficiencies in code and practice new technologies that can improve the speed or overall user experience.

You may not succeed by look and feel alone, but it certainly helps.

2. Responding to Customer Browsing Habits

Ten years ago, only a small percentage of website traffic came from mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Now, mobile browsing accounts for 56% of web traffic worldwide.

This year, Google plans to begin ranking websites based on mobile versions first, making it essential to have a responsive, mobile-friendly site.

The shift to mobile browsing is just one example of how consumer trends can change drastically in a short time. Voice search is another powerful force that is changing how people find goods and services online.

It pays to be proactive in redesigning a site in response to these trends. While many businesses are rushing to bring their sites up to speed, those that implemented mobile-friendly sites years ago are reaping the benefits.

3. Aligning with Branding and Marketing

A business’s website should always be consistent with its current branding and marketing.

Many customers who learn about products, services and promotions offline go online to find more details. If there’s no trace of them on the business’s website, it could cost the company what could have been a lucrative lead.

What’s even worse is if the website has an outdated logo or tagline, leading customers to wonder if they’re even in the right place.

Even if the business doesn’t sell or offer services online, a well-designed website can reinforce and amplify its other marketing and branding initiatives. It should change and evolve with the overall marketing strategy.

4. Improving Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization should be on the agenda at your very first redesign strategy meeting. Why?

Because even an outdated or underperforming website has SEO value. Search engines have crawled its content, indexed its pages, and given the site authority.

The last thing you want to do is hurt your current rankings through a poorly-planned redesign.

Well-intentioned web designers can inadvertently do damage through mistakes like:

• Failing to redirect after changing page URLs
• Removing old pages with valuable content
• Adding visual elements that slow down page speed
• Making web design choices that are bad for SEO (like sliders)

It’s important to keep SEO in mind to preserve a site’s SEO value during a redesign, and actively monitor keyword rankings, organic traffic, and backlinks.

As search engines evolve, so do SEO tactics. Google tweaks its algorithm 500-600 times each year, so there is always something you can do to improve your site. Proactively optimizing for SEO during a website redesign is far more time- and cost-effective than continually fixing a poorly-designed site.

5. Meeting Business Objectives

Websites exist for a reason, whether it’s to generate leads, sell products, raise brand awareness, or get customers through the door. If a site isn’t contributing to a business objective or is doing so less effectively, it’s time to examine how this could be improved through a website redesign.

A site should reflect the company’s current goals. When those goals change, so should the website.

Websites are no longer simply a data-driven, content-based items. They’re a storytelling device, and  a crucial piece of your marketing funnel. This is why UX/UI design have become the forefront for many agency websites, designed with a mind to the user journey.

6. Leveraging New Technologies

The web is constantly changing and evolving. It’s not only style and design sensibilities that shift – web standards are also moving forward, opening the door to new tools and technologies.

One addition that has made an impact over the past few years is the use of CSS Variables to create interactive elements, something we never had access to in previous renditions. We’ve also seen the rise of Progressive Web Applications, which could well be the future of any web project. We already have apps that auto automize our images, text, code and more, and as this trend moves forward, we will be capable of building websites increasingly faster, leaner ways.

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Why Google My Business is Important for Your Local Business

What is Google My Business?

Google My Business is a tool for website owners to manage their online presence across Google, including search and Map. It allows you to create, verify and edit listing information to help potential customers find your business.

So, how can Google My Business help your business?

Directly improves the SEO of your website and helps it rank better

Google My Business listings increase visibility in search results for branded searches. It also lets users find listing information and get directions directly from the search results — all without actually going to the website, which is perfect for mobile users! Google My Business is essential for local SEO as it enables your business listing to appear in local search results for queries specific to your products or services. Even broad queries with large volumes display local results, and this is something small business owners and organizations can capitalize on.

You own your information and can control your service offering

You can make sure your customers have access to accurate information such as operating hours, website, telephone number and street address when they find your business via Google Maps or Search. As such, it’s important to ensure your Google my Business page is fully optimized, accurate, and up to date to provide users with the best experience when searching for your products or services online.

In addition, Google My Business pages offer a range of tools to attract and inform local customers: details like menus, product lists, hours of operation, accepted payment types, and interactive features such as photos and reviews. You can also add coupons and special offers for your visitors.

Manage, showcase and respond to reviews

Google My Business allows you to interact with customers by responding to both positive and negative reviews about your business. Responding to reviews demonstrates that you value your customers and their feedback.

High-quality, positive reviews from your customers will improve your business’ visibility. It also increases the likelihood that a potential customer will visit your location. Do encourage customers to leave feedback by creating a link they can click on to write reviews on your website or email signature. Don’t be afraid to ask your customers personally to write reviews in-store, online or via email.

Learn more about customers

The Google My Business platform includes extra analytic data, enabling local businesses to learn even more about their customers. For instance, on Google Maps, you can access information on where requests for driving directions to your business originate from. This is something that can help you target new customers in the area, or even pick the right neighbourhood to expand to as your business grows.

Tips businesses can use to improve local visibility

• Be sure to select the most appropriate category/categories for your business. This way your business can appear for various product or service-based keyword searches.
• Add photos that showcase your business. Choose high-quality photos that highlight different areas of your business. These may include your company logo, interior and exterior images of your business, and product or service offerings.
• Encourage visitors to upload photos of your venue/business.
• Check the popular times of the day and use paid social or AdWords to drive more visitors to your business during slower hours.
• Encourage local reviews and social check-ins from your customers. Some businesses even offer an incentive to customers who do so.
  
  

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How Public Relations Can Amplify Your Online Efforts

According to the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS), public relations is the strategic management of relationships between an organization and its diverse publics. An “organization” can be anything from a brand, an individual, or a company. As the business world continues to evolve, so does the practice of public relations. There are two main approaches to this practice, traditional PR and digital PR, which are differentiated by tactics. Although traditional PR is still relevant in today’s digitalized world, digital PR tactics can help an organization amplify their online efforts.

PR & Content Marketing

Public relations and content marketing share a common goal: to create and amplify quality messaging related to your organization. Part of a PR professional’s job is to study and predict trends across a wide spectrum of industries. Similarly, content marketers are tasked with staying on top of industry trends and consumer insights. PR and content marketers can work together to identify topics relevant to audiences and industry trends. As well, a PR professional can help amplify your organization’s quality content by reaching the right people. PR professionals create and maintain relationships with journalists, bloggers, and influencers. These relationships can act as a launch pad in amplifying your content.

At the end of the day, public relations and content marketing are working towards the same goals. By unifying these two practices your organization can increase brand awareness, educate audiences, and create better industry positioning.

PR & Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

When it comes to digital marketing, public relations and search engine optimization (SEO) go together like peanut butter and jelly. Understanding how audiences communicate about and with your organization online is a cornerstone of SEO. Using SEO keywords can help PR professionals develop content (press releases, blogs, etc.) that will drive targeted web traffic to your organization. Reaching out and maintaining relationships with industry influencers is a large part of public relations. A PR professional can leverage these contacts to get online press coverage, helping build natural editorial links from high-traffic, authoritative websites. As well, with increased exposure, chances are other publications will want to cover you, resulting in more exposure and links. It’s a powerful cycle.

Combining public relations and SEO practices is the ultimate game-changer in your organization’s digital marketing strategy. At the end of the day, it increases your organization’s visibility in the overcrowded digital world.

PR & Social Media Marketing

With a newly integrated and constantly evolving digital landscape, you have the ability to fuse public relations and social media to create notable results for your organization. Public relations and social media share the same goal: to manage your organization’s reputation and audience relationships. Public relations can present your organization with more formal and traditional communications, while social media can be done in more relaxed and conversational tone. Social media is also instantaneous and allows an organization to communicate with their audience quickly. This is a great asset when it comes to being proactive and managing your brand’s reputation in a time of crisis. As well, social media makes it easier for PR professionals to identify and reach digital content creators or influencers who can help spread your message to a specific audience.

Social media helps amplify PR efforts, while in turn, PR helps generate social media coverage. If you can seamlessly merge your public relations and social media efforts, you can achieve impressive results.

#CanadaProud: Spotlight on the Toronto-KW Tech Corridor

It boasts the country’s highest concentration of skilled tech companies and employees. It attracts top talent and investment capital from around the globe. It’s where you’ll find tech giants, like Google, and a swarm of competitive startups leading breakthroughs in biotech, artificial intelligence, and IT.

On paper, we call it the Toronto-KW tech corridor. Some dub it Silicon Valley North.

Whatever the name, we’re proud to be a part of Canada’s thriving technology hub.

The 112KM corridor between Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo is the largest technology cluster in the country, representing 17% of our annual GDP and employing over 200,000 tech workers across 15,000 companies

It’s home to Canadian innovators like Blackberry, Shopify, and OpenText. But it’s not just homegrown Canadian companies driving growth in the corridor.

Last year, Google unveiled a new office in Kitchener with room for up to 1,000 employees. Ford is making sizable investmens in the province, including a research facility in Waterloo. The MaRS innovation hub near the University of Toronto houses workers from Facebook, Paypal, AirBnB, Autodesk, Etsy, and 200 startups.

So, what draws the tech world to our doorstep?

To start, the region is a wellspring of talent.

Our educational institutions are known worldwide for academic excellence. Many of Ontario’s 20 universities and 24 colleges are located right here in the corridor, offering extensive internship and co-op education programs to serve the technology industry. Over 38,000 students in Ontario graduate with degrees in math, engineering, or science each year.

One of the challenges we’ve faced is keeping these students here in Ontario once they graduate. In the past, many of Canada’s talented grads left to pursue opportunities in Silicon Valley. But that’s beginning to change. The public and private sectors are working together to fund technology entrepreneurship and innovations in Toronto-KW, fueling the creation of more jobs for skilled tech workers. Ontario invested $3 billion in such spending over the past six years, and the federal government has committed an additional $950 million to support clean tech, bioscience, and digital innovation in the future.

Not only have we made headway in stopping the brain-drain, but the Toronto-KW tech corridor is drawing global talent as well. More American citizens and foreign nationals are leaving the United States to work in Canada. Our vocal pro-immigration stance and strong investment in tech has made the corridor an attractive option for workers, and both universities in Waterloo region are reporting double-digit growth in international student applications this year.

A workforce as diverse as ours is a force to reckon with. As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote on Quora, “Having a group of smart, capable people focus on the same problem from a range of different perspectives, backgrounds and lived experiences is much more likely to come up with great answers than a homogeneous group would.”

In addition to world-class academic institutions and research centers, the corridor has a number of organizations dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs. Waterloo region is fertile ground for startups, with over 5,000 budding companies growing there today.

For a glimpse at the future of Canadian technology, you need only step through the doors of the many start-up incubators in Kitchener-Waterloo. One such organization is the Accelerator Centre, an incubator dedicated to helping startups grow and compete on the world stage. Among its alumni are Trustpoint Innovation Technologies, a machine-to-machine communications developer that made Deloitte’s Fast 50 list; Magnet Forensics, which recently opened new headquarters in Waterloo; and yours truly, Trafficsoda.

The Toronto-KW tech corridor has a long way to go to catch up to Silicon Valley, but it’s on track to become one of the foremost innovation hubs in the world.

How Canada’s Anti-Spam Law Affects Your Marketing Strategy

Does your business promote its products or services via email, social media, or other electronic means? If so, Canada’s anti-spam law affects you.

Don’t get us wrong — we know you’re not a spammer. Truth is, the law applies to many forms of Internet marketing, including things we don’t normally think of as ‘spam.’ It covers everything from electronic coupons to newsletters, and even certain social media activities.

If your business has a digital marketing strategy, you should know the rules and take steps to ensure compliance. We’ve put together a quick primer on Canada’s anti-spam legislation and outlined steps you can take to stay on the right side of the law.

Quick Summary  What is CASL? Canada’s anti-spam legislation (CASL) came into force on July 1st, 2014. It sets rules for when and how you can send commercial electronic messages to individuals and businesses. Does CASL Apply to Me? CASL applies to anyone who sends commercial electronic messages in Canada. A commercial electronic message (CEM) is an email, text, or other electronic message that encourages participation in commercial activity. Electronic ads, newsletters, coupons, and promotions are examples of CEMs. The law also applies to some social media activities. What are the rules? 1. With few exceptions, you must obtain the recipient’s consent to send them a CEM. 2. All commercial electronic messages must identify the sender and contain up-to-date contact information. 3. You must give recipients a fast, simple way to unsubscribe from your messages.

Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation

Canada’s anti-spam legislation (CASL) sets rules for how and when you can send commercial electronic messages like email ads, offers, and discounts. The law also tackles malware, phishing, and other practices, but we’ll focus on the sections that deal with commercial electronic messages.

When it comes to sending commercial messages, CASL creates three major rules:

1. Consent: You must have a person’s permission to send them a commercial electronic message.
2. Identification: All commercial electronic messages must identify the sender and contain up-to-date contact information.
3. Unsubscribe mechanism: You must give recipients an easy way to unsubscribe from your messages.

The law has been in force since July 1^st, 2014, but some parts only take effect this year. Though the private right of action (lawsuit) portion has been suspended, you can still face steep fines from the Canadian Radio-Television Telecommunications Commissions (CRTC) for breaking the law. If you don’t have a CASL plan yet, now is the time to make one!

Does CASL Apply to My Business?

CASL applies to all individuals and businesses who send commercial electronic messages in Canada. A commercial electronic message (CEM) is any message that encourages the recipient to participate in a commercial activity, such as promoting a product or service.

A CEM can include any commercial message sent to an “electronic address,” like:

• Emails (newsletters, promotions, deals, coupons, advertisements, etc.)
• Instant messages
• Text messages
• Some social media activity

A public social media post, like a Facebook wall post, would not fit the definition of a CEM. However, since social profiles are a form of “electronic address,” a commercial message sent to a specific user would have to meet CASL’s requirements. It is unclear how the law might impact friend requests, tags in posts or photos, or Tweets at individuals.

What CASL Does Not Cover

Certain types of commercial electronic messages do not fall under CASL. These include:

• B2B messages where you and the recipient have a previous relationship.
• Internal messages related to your business’s activities.
• Messages you are legally obligated to send, such as safety recalls.
• Messages sent within an existing relationship. Includes a family relationship, business relationship, or non-business relationship (donations, volunteer work, etc.)
• Responses to referrals, so long as you name the person who gave the referral, and that person has a previous relationship with you and the recipient.

You can send these messages without the recipient’s consent, and it does not need to meet the other requirements for CEMs.

Getting a Recipient’s Consent

It is against the law to send someone a commercial electronic message without their permission. The good news is, there are a few different ways to get consent.

The best way to protect your business from potential claims or fines is to get express consent. Express consent is when you ask the potential contact for permission to send a message, and they explicitly agree. It requires an active “opt-in” process, where the recipient takes some action to show their agreement. For example, you can provide an online form that lets customers sign up for your newsletter.

There are a few rules to follow when seeking express consent. To start, you must state to the recipient:

• Identifying information, including your business name, mailing address, and either a telephone number, email address, or website URL.
• Why you are asking for consent.
• Description of the messages you will send.
• That the person can withdraw consent and unsubscribe at any time.

The recipient must actively affirm they want to receive CEMs from you. You cannot get express consent using a default or pre-checked toggle box. Additionally, you cannot “bundle” a request with another action. For example, the user shouldn’t have to consent to CEMs in order to agree to your terms of sale.

Do not ask for consent via an electronic message! This counts as a CEM. Instead, provide another way for people to sign up.

When Consent is Implied

Sometimes, you can infer consent from the recipient’s actions in lieu of express consent. However, implied consent can be difficult to prove, and it often expires after a certain time. It’s always preferable to obtain a potential contact’s express consent before sending a message.

Regardless, you may use implied consent under the following circumstances:

• Relevant CEMs: You may send CEMs which are relevant to the recipient’s official business role, function, or other duties if they gave you their electronic address or published it in a public place (like a company website).
• Responding to inquiries: You may contact a person who contacted you with an inquiry, complaint, or application within the past six months.
• Existing relationship: You may contact those with whom you had an existing business relationship or non-business relationship within the past two years.
• Clubs/associations: You may contact a person if you were a member of their club or association within the past two years.

If a person states they do not wish to receive unsolicited CEMs, it negates implied consent.

Exceptions to the Consent Rule

In the following circumstances, you can send a CEM without the recipient’s express or implied consent. You do not need permission to send:

• Quote or estimate the recipient requested.
• Information related to a transaction the recipient previously agreed to enter.
• Legal information such as warranties, product recalls, or safety or security issues related to a product or service the recipient has used or purchased.
• Digital products or services, including updates and upgrades, the recipient is entitled to receive.

Note that even when a consent exception applies, your message must still meet the requirements outlined in the section below.

Required Information for CEMs

Every commercial electronic message you send out must clearly and prominently set out:

• Your name, or the name under which you carry on business.
• If you are sending a message for someone else, include their name and indicate who is sending the message on their behalf.
• Your mailing address and either your telephone number, email address, or website URL. This information must be valid for at least 60 days after it is sent.

The message must also contain a working unsubscribe mechanism, as explained below.

Unsubscribe Mechanism

You must give the recipient of any CEM a quick and easy way to revoke consent and “unsubscribe” from your messages if they choose. The process must be convenient, accessible, and free of charge. For example, an email CEM may have a hyperlink or a clickable button at the bottom of the message which removes the recipient from the mailing list automatically.

If a recipient asks to unsubscribe, you must fulfill the request within 10 days.

Making a CASL Action Plan

If you weren’t aware of Canada’s Anti-Spam Law before, you may have to make some changes going forward. There are things you can do to make the adjustment easier on yourself and your customers.

Your CASL action plan should include the following steps:

1. Determine if CASL applies to you. If your business has a digital marketing strategy, there’s a good chance it sends some form of commercial electronic message. Review your online presence and determine whether your activities fall under CASL’s scope.
2. Get express consent from your existing contacts. Since July 1^st, 2014, the law has required that you document express consent for each new Canadian contact. You must also be able to prove express consent for old contacts by July 1^st of this year. If you haven’t been doing this, you should start now! Send a message to these contacts asking them to affirm their express consent. You can offer a clickable link or an address they may contact to confirm. Don’t send another CEM until they do.
3. Document express and implied consent for all new contacts. Develop a plan to document where and how you got each new contact’s consent. If you intend to rely on implied consent, keep track of when it expires so you will know when you must stop sending CEMs.
4. Ensure all messages contain the right information. All electronic commercial messages must contain your name, mailing address, and either your telephone number, email address, or website URL. You must give recipients a simple way to opt out of receiving CEMs. Create a template which includes all the necessary information.
   

It may seem like a lot of work, but once you put this plan into action, you’ll find that complying with CASL is actually good for business. Many of these measures were considered best practices for digital marketing before the law came into effect. Keeping record of when and how you obtained consent can help you understand where your leads are coming from and spot trends over time. It also creates a more open, transparent relationship with your contacts.

Looking for more information about Canada’s anti-spam legislation? Check out these links from the government of Canada:

• Canada’s Law on Spam and Other Electronic Threats (Official site)
• Anti-Spam Legislation Infographics (CRTC)
• Frequently Asked Questions about Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CRTC)
  
  

Image: vasabii

Six Plugins That Every WordPress Website Should Have

Having the right plugins on your website can ensure it is optimized for a better user experience while increasing its functionality.

So, what exactly is a plugin? A plugin is a piece of software that acts as an add-on to a web browser, giving it additional functionality. A plugin also allows your web browser to display content it was not originally designed to display.  When you start to work with WordPress, you will learn there are hundreds of thousands of plugins.  It can be a process to figure out which ones are the best fit for your site. Some work very well, while others may not play well with your theme.

We have put together a list of tried and true basic plugins that will work with almost every theme while increasing the functionality of your site.

Yoast

Yoast SEO is one of the most popular plugins to help optimize your website. We like it because it gives the author a list of checks and balances to follow when creating content.  The plugin itself doesn’t give you higher search rankings, but it ensures you include the right information so Google can learn more about what the article is about.  For brands who want to amplify their content on social, there are custom boxes where you can add specific text, images and titles to attract more engagement.

Yoast also offers Google Analyics and Webmaster Tools integration.

Social Media Buttons/Sharing

Your website and social media channels should work seamlessly to promote your brand. Social media buttons make it easy for your audience to share your content right from your website. Best practice suggests that social media sharing buttons should be displayed along the side, top or bottom of your webpage.

XML Sitemap

A XML Sitemap helps search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing better index your website. Using a sitemap makes it easier for crawlers to see the complete structure of your sitemap and retrieve it more efficiently. Additionally, the sitemap plugin will notify search engines when new content is posted to your website.

Akismet

Akismet is an advanced anti-spam service that uses an algorithm to filter spam from comments, trackbacks and contact form messages. When someone comments on your blog, Akismet servers reviews the post and user to determine if it is spam. Spam is a huge pain to sort through and can hurt your SEO if not properly monitored.

W3 Total Cache

W3 Total Cache helps to improve user experience and SEO of your website through caching the site’s pages and assets. Caching is the temporary storage of web documents such as HTML pages and images. The storage of these web documents helps to reduce bandwidth usage and speeds up server load, making your website faster.

While this plugin is important for optimization, it can be tricky to set up, so make sure you follow the steps on their site to ensure you are taking full advantage of the plugin’s features.

WP-Optimize

WP-Optimize automatically cleans your WordPress database so it runs at maximum efficiency. If you create a lot of content or are constantly updating your webpages, you will create a lot of bloat on the back end with post revisions. You can reduce database size by cleaning up your website regularly, which means quicker and smaller backup files.   WP-Optimize will also clear out spam comments and the site’s trash can.  Running this plugin once a month will keep your database clean and your site as light as possible.

Image: inbj

Should Your Brand Go Live on Facebook? YES!

Without a doubt, Facebook is the most widely used social media platform. People are on Facebook one in every six minutes online, and one in every five minutes on mobile. Users have access to an average of 1,500 posts per day. That is a massive audience.

There are many tips and tricks to maximize Facebook when running a business page, but one of the newest (and most exciting) features is Facebook LIVE. Right from your phone you can live stream video content for up to 90 minutes. Rich media like video is guaranteed to get more engagement from your audience, and the commenting and reaction features create an unprecedented amount of interaction.

But how is Facebook Live different than posting a normal video?

There are a few reasons why Facebook Live is a more powerful way for you to connect with your audience than a typical status update, photo or link.

First of all, Live is a unique content form so it gets peoples attention. It is a new form of content that is privy to experimentation and in-the-moment comedy. People are likely to spend up to three times more time watching a live video than a normal video. The rawness and lack of editing creates a new form that creates an air of authenticity and is just simply exiting to watch.

The Livestream is an opportunity to show a variety of sides of your company. Whether you do a behind the scenes stream, a demo, interview with an expert or a question and answer, customers can get a peak into the details of what you do. You can tell your story, your way!

Facebook Live provides an immediate and direct avenue to connect with your audience. In real time you can see and respond to comments and questions. Viewers can react to your stream, letting you know what kind of content they like or dislike. You are able to see how your viewers are enjoying your stream as they either like, dislike, love, hate, are wowed or humored by your stream!

Live creates a bond with your viewers that is much stronger than anything possible in a status or photo. You can respond to questions from commenters and shift your focus if needed as the stream unfolds. By hearing what is on the mind of your viewers and responding to that, you create a relationship that is informative for both sides. This immediate and direct interaction with your audience is rare and should be cherished.

Another great thing about Live, is that it gives your audience a chance to know your company on a more personal level. Seeing a face to the brand they interact with online humanizes the interaction and creates a personal connection. Viewers are able to get a better feeling of who you are!

Beyond the buzz around Live at a user level, Facebook itself also rewards pages for going live. Live videos are most likely to appear high in newsfeeds and unlike any other type of post on Facebook, Live sends a notification to all followers that the stream is starting. Followers of your page will be notified of the title of your Livestream and be called to watch it! This is a great way to engage more passive followers as there is a sense of urgency in the need to watch what is happening live.

Live is a great place to generate ideas for new content. When you get to talk to your followers you get a chance to hear their needs and desires, shaping your creative content moving forward. The more you know about your audience, the better you are able to create material that appeals and adds value to them, increasing engagement in return.

Finally, Livestream also lasts beyond when it is streaming. The video will be saved to your page and is a great form of quality content that can be re-shared and repurposed on blogs or other platforms.

Here are a few best practices to keep in mind to optimize your FB live stream.

• Announce your upcoming Livestream on your social networks so viewers can be prepared to watch. They will get a notification when it begins, but if they know the stream is coming they will be more likely to make time to watch.
• Go live when you have a strong internet connection. It is best to go live with Wi-Fi, but if not have at least a 4G connection. If the video is of poor quality, people are not likely to continue watching.
• Write a captivating description of your video. The title of the video is what will show up on the notification that people receive on Facebook when when you go live. The more interesting the title, the more likely people will come and check it out.
• Broadcast for a longer time. The longer the stream, the more likely you are to gather an audience and be discovered. We recommend streaming for a minimum of 10 minutes and a stream can last up to 90.
• Go live often to keep your audience engaged and excited to see your content. Be creative and try out different types of streams and see how your audience reacts.
• Thank your viewers for watching. They put their time into watching your stream, so thanking them make them feel seen and a part of the experience.
• Have a focus to your stream. Though the point of the live stream is to be in the moment, it is important be organized with what you want to talk about.
• If you can, have a few people involved in the stream. Comments and reactions come quickly and it can be overwhelming to the person talking. If you have someone monitoring questions and another filming it makes for a smoother stream.
  

The goal of a live stream is to provide value for your followers. It is as close as you can get to a real time conversation besides being in a room with them. Call out the viewers by name and truly engage with their reactions. Fans will keep up and new followers will discover you too as your post is boosted to the top of their feed. Facebook Live is a great feature that should be utilized by any company looking to create a faithful audience.