DO YOU THINK Search Engine Optimization(SEO) is important?

In this week's post, I will be focussing on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results. 

                                 

SEO is one of the more important aspects of digital marketing, that demands attention and is constantly changing rapidly. It is crucial for a brand to start with a well-known SEO service if a company is focussing on starting their SEO as a start.  As mentioned that SEO is always changing, it is necessary to follow the trends. I will be discussing some of the prominent ones that are transforming businesses globally. 

1. THE FOCUS ON VOICE SEARCH

With voice search, people are using conversational phrases and terms instead of using specific 2-3 keywords. This means that long-tail keywords will matter for SEO. Brands and businesses who are optimizing their content for such phrases and keywords are already reaping the benefits. Voice search drastically improves user experience. Programs such as Google Assistant, Siri, Microsoft Cortana and Amazon Alexa all utilize voice search capabilities. As the point of SEO is to rank websites accurately so users can find the best information for their search efficiently, Google has since placed a higher emphasis on voice search optimization. User experience is, ultimately, at the forefront of search engine optimization.  

2. THE SHIFT TO MOBILE-FIRST INDEXING

Google came out with mobile-first indexing in 2018. SEO experts and web designers have been focussing on creating websites that are responsive, especially on optimizing keywords and content for mobile audience. As more than 50% of all web searches are from mobile devices (why am I not surprised?🤔), search engines has to constantly keep up with the changes, and incorporate these changes in their SEO plan.

3.PAGE SPEED & WEB CONTENT

Page speed is a very important aspect to focus on in offering the best possible experience for users. Google has been pretty focussed on this! Companies should check their website frequently and erase unnecessary things that could possibly influence and hinder the page speed and loading time. To reap the most out of SEO, it is essential to focus on page speed and site optimization!  Companies should also focus on creating relevant and genuine content. Ensuring frequent updates will also help in attracting people in visiting your website again and again.

4.SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE

Living in 2019, social media has taken over a big part of our lives. Many brands have been using social media and SEO hand in hand to have online influence and we all know it is definitely working really well for them! Google frequently checks for contents on social media such as Twitter and Instagram. This helps to add value to a company's efforts in SEO. Today, not only Google, Yahoo and Binge are associated to SEO. MOST SOCIAL MEDIA SITES WORK AS SEARCH ENGINES AND THE TERM 'SOCIAL MEDIA SEO' IS REAL.

In conclusion, I feel that SEO is a really important thing for a company/brand to have to promote themselves! With a reliable SEO company, goals can efficiently and effectively be reached. If I have a brand/company , i will definitely follow Google's guidelines as it will definitely help my website do well.

WISH TO HAVE A LIFELONG PERSONAL CHEF??

In week 8, I will be blogging about the Internet of things (IoT). IoT is the interconnection via the internet of computing devices embedded in our everyday objects such as our laptops and smartphones, enabling them to send and receive data to each other.  With the rapid advance in technology, there are more and more powerful and impressive IoT that really catches my attention and entices me! There are even IoT that are wearables like healthcare devices such as the connected contact lenses and activity trackers and even GOOGLE GLASSES! 👓

With the variety of unique and spectacular IoT available, I have discovered a series of low-key IoT devices on Postscapes that really intrigued me under the 'Connected Smart Kitchen' section. Users are able to monitor and control their cooking devices and appliances from their Smartphone App📱Among the many different gadgets, one of them really stood out the most to me! Introducing to you the.....

EVERCOOK AUTOMATED PRESSURE COOKER🍲

 'EVERYCOOK' 

As stated, this cooker is designed for people who aren't comfortable in the kitchen, however to me this cooker is definitely for someone who doesn't enjoy the hassle of cooking; this cooker is made for me!🙋🏻‍♀️ 'Everycook' is part processor, part pressure cooker, and part robot🤖Firstly, users will select a recipe from an online database via their mobile app. Secondly, they will just need to feed the required ingredients through the slicer and into the cooking pot. A mechanical stirring paddle keeps things moving, and the heat settings and cooking time are handled automatically according to the recipe you chose. There’s even a scale so you don’t have to measure!!!! just add an ingredient until Everycook tells you to stop. Imagine every meal being prepared for you and the only thing you have to do is purchase the ingredients? 

However, this device has yet to be in the market, and the designer's work seems to be continuing. I honestly can't wait to see the future of this device as well as other IoT devices! However, will IoT really benefit us as much as it seems and feels? will personal datas and our privacy be at risk? will the ability of controlling our own lives be affected? will future generations get lazier since more and more things can be done for us? I really hope not!

Sources:

(n.d.). Let IT cook for you. Retrieved from https://everycook.org/

CAN YOU LIVE WITHOUT YOUR MOBILE PHONE?

Living in 2019, mobile marketing is prevalent in everyone's daily lives. Almost everyone spend a full quarter of their time awake on their mobile device. Technology has greatly taken over humans' lives that we are often interacting with people through our mobile devices, instead of the people who are physically around us. There are 5.11 billion mobile users in the world today! Thus, mobile marketing is definitely a great way to market a business to appeal to mobile device users, as it will reach a huge amount of audience very efficiently, through push notifications and emails, among others, that are sent directly to customers.

There are many successful mobile marketing such as the IKEA catalog app and Starbucks that happened in 2010 and 2011 respectively, where there are mobile apps for customers to create augmented reality by creating 3-D virtual image with their phone camera, as well as make payments with their phone from the Starbucks card mobile payment program.

All these successful apps shares common features. Here are some of the main features to me. Firstly, these apps solve problems for customers/users where it provides assistance as well as a greater ease for them, where they are able to complete a transaction solely with their mobile phones. Secondly, they are very user-friendly and efficient. With the simple steps provided , consumers are able to use their apps right away, without having to spend their time learning for long. Thirdly, these apps also update frequently, where they provide new features to keep customers engaged and excited to use the app again. Last but not least, FREE APPS are always more preferred by everyone! With a mobile app being free for download, it will definitely attract a massive amount of users!


As for recent years, eCommerce advertising has been rapidly growing. Advertisers and brands have been marketing their products via the 'stories' section on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, a powerful mobile marketing tool. Taking instagram as an example, an increasing amount of blogshops selling clothings and apparels have been selling their products with 'instagram story links and highlights. Even well known brands are doing so too. This has attracted and engaged a huge amount of customers to purchase their product online. With this, customers are also encouraged to make their purchase with mobile payments as well.

All in all, I feel that mobile marketing is definitely a great way for businesses to engage a huge amount of people efficiently, and it will only continue to expand rapidly.

In week 5, the topic of this lesson is going to be viral marketing, on why ideas spread, specifically through social media. Living in 2019, where social medias and technologies are heavily used in our everyday lives, people around the world has been increasingly outspoken and more openly sharing their thoughts, opinions, and even their lives, on almost everything and anything. 

More than 2.56 billion social media users exist today. 
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???

Facebook’s viral #10YearChallenge

Today, I will be blogging on Facebook’s viral #10YearChallenge. Since 2019 kicked off, a trend started where people posted photos/images of themselves that  were 10 years apart. People posted diptych photos of themselves, and placed both photos side by side for comparisons. These posts where typically posted on Facebook and Instagram. Once lots of people are doing something, more and more people often jumps on the bandwagon to be part of the group.

This challenge got so viral that there was a #10YearChallenge from our very own Singapore’s Prime minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong who partaken in it too!

Other politicians have also joined in, such as Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam posting the challenge on his Facebook page.

Why has this particular trend of posting then-and-now photos of a person aging so popular when one doesn’t get any incentives at all?  

Isn’t social media a place where everyone only posts the “best photos “ of themselves?

Well, If you ask me, I feel that there’s a huge reason and motivation behind it. People will get the opportunity to show off and brag about themselves. They are able to put out their photos of 10 years difference and show a huge amount of audiences that they haven’t changed at all even after 10 years, still looking ever so youthful and good or; how much they have improved and ‘evolved’ over the years, into an even better and more attractive version of themselves. Looking good in other’s eyes or desire for social approval is a fundamental human motivation where people tend to share things that make them look and feel good about themselves. I’m sure any of you reading this right now agrees with me !

But why this particular challenge and not something else in the first place?? 

Was The Facebook '10 Year Challenge' A Way To Mine Data For Facial Recognition AI?

Which one(s) of these 6 STEPPS by Jonah Berger do you think is most present in this viral challenge?

Personally, I feel that there is social currency, emotions, practical value and public.

 Social currency makes a person look better in social eyes. The fact that people participate and share their own #10YearChallenge gives them satisfaction. As mentioned above, people tend to share and brag about something to make themselves feel good, and look good. 

As for 'Emotions', people tend to jump onto the bandwagon of sharing their very own #10YearsChallenge on their social media ,after seeing an increasing amount of people constantly sharing their own. Posting photos of 10 years ago is a reminiscent of the past as well, evoking emotions and bittersweet memories. Furthermore,  it is as simple as placing 2 diptych photos side by side. The 10 years challenge has definitely inspired and motivated more and more people to create their own. 

As for 'Practical Value' , this challenge is extremely straightforward, simple and quick for anyone and everyone to create their own and share it on their social medias. Also, this #10YearsChallenge is very relevant to many social media users, as they are of the sufficient age to be able to share their own photos, and pass the 'challenge' on.

Lastly, as for 'Public' : Monkey See, Monkey Do', which is very much self-explanatory don't you think so too? 🤨The more public something is, the more likely people will imitate, furthermore, this #10YearsChallenge has even spreaded to even Instagram and Twitter.

WHICH ONE(S) OF BERGER'S 6 STEPPS DO YOU GUYS THINK IS PRESENT IN THIS VIRAL #10YEARS CHALLENGE?  

sources:
Zhuo, T. (2019, January 18). PM Lee Hsien Loong takes viral #10YearChallenge. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/prime-minister-lee-hsien-loong-takes-viral-10yearchallenge