Monday, November 23, 2015

How To Create Custom Pinterest Board Covers

Custom Pinterest board cover template from +Andrea Beltrami​ - you know you need it!

Andrea Beltrami originally shared:
How To Create Custom Pinterest Board Covers

Branding doesn’t start or stop with your website and/or blog.

Your website is the pot of gold (at least it should be). But like every pot of gold, you need a vibrant rainbow to find it. Consistent branding on your blog, in your visual content and across your social media profiles will create that rainbow.

You have to understand: Most people will find you on social media these days and not your website.

So it’s your job to create a visually unique look and feel that visitors will immediately recognize. It’s all about the Know, Like and Trust factor, baby!

If you use Pinterest to drive folks to your pot of gold, there’s no better way to brand your profile than creating custom Pinterest board covers.

Grab a board cover template and instructions for creating and uploading your boards here: http://ift.tt/1zdv1nX

#pinterest #pinterestmarketing #socialmediatips #branding

How To Brand Your Pinterest Board Covers
A complete breakdown on how to create custom Pinterest board covers for yoru profile, plus a free PowerPoint template to start creating yours covers right away.


from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/1HitBhc

Finally!

Good to know: in Google Photos, you can now downgrade your previously saved as 'original' quality photos to 'high' quality to stay within your storage quota.

See details below from +Gplus Expertise​.

Gplus Expertise originally shared:
Finally!

Downgrade previously uploaded photos from “Original quality” to “High quality”

When users choose to backup their photos and videos to Google Photos, we allow photos to be uploaded in two ways:
“Original quality” (large file, full resolution). These photos count against a user’s Google storage quota.

“High quality” (smaller file, compressed file). These photos don’t count against a user’s Google storage quota.

If a user joined Google Photos and selected the “Original quality’ setting for their photos, but changed their mind, they could have future media backed up in “High quality”. However, for media already backed up in “Original quality” before then, users were in an awkward state: they had no way to downgrade that media to “High quality”.

With this update, users will be able to downgrade previously backed up photos from “Original quality” to “High quality” by visiting http://bit.ly/211fh3b from their computer and clicking ‘Recover Storage’.

Learn more: http://bit.ly/211fh3c

#GooglePhotos #Photos #FreeStorage




from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/1jghNQL

Sunday, November 22, 2015

+Mark Traphagen Now this is interesting: +Bill Slawski's post shared by +Glenn Gabe with his URL shortener...

+Mark Traphagen Now this is interesting: +Bill Slawski's post shared by +Glenn Gabe with his URL shortener - glennga.be is what's displayed in the image.

Why not +SEO by the Sea? or even seobythesea.com? Makes no sense...

For those of you who have no idea what we are talking about, this is a follow-up to this post: http://ift.tt/1N3kX29






from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/1NmBbtD

HOT OFF THE PRESS 🔥 : Weekly Marketing Skinny • November 21, 2015

Knock, knock!

Who's there?

Your Weekly Marketing Skinny, that's what - only the very important marketing news of the week bundled in a convenient 5-min read! 

http://ift.tt/1SaVUyo

Ana Hoffman originally shared:
HOT OFF THE PRESS 🔥 : Weekly Marketing Skinny • November 21, 2015

Busy week! Changes, shifts, updates, rebirths... the marketing industry saw it all this week.

And if you didn't have the time to keep up with it all, don't fret - that's why you have me and my Weekly Marketing Skinnies I publish at +Traffic Generation Cafe (almost) every Saturday.

Read this week's Skinny: http://tgcafe.it/marketing-news-nov21
Or pin it for later: http://ift.tt/1PShqJg

In the marketing spotlight this week:

♨ Google’s Search Quality Rating Guidelines released;
♨ Google’s new ‘About me’ tool;
♨ Facebook allowed Google to index its app;
♨ rebirth of Google+;
♨ Facebook Pages’ reach down again;
♨ Two major updates to Periscope;
♨ LinkedIn’s rich media embeds;
♨ Buffer’s new calendar view;
♨ Yahoo mail blocks adblock users;
♨ Microsoft Windows turns 30;
♨ offline Google Maps improvements;
♨ …and much, much more.

With special thanks to +Heidi Cohen +Don Purdum and +Craig McBreen for honoring TrafficGenerationCafe.com with a mention in the past couple of weeks; you are featured in this Weekly Marketing Skinny!

Read this week's Skinny: http://tgcafe.it/marketing-news-nov21
Or pin it for later: http://ift.tt/1PShqJg

And PLEASE help me share the ish out of this one, would you? THANK YOU!

Weekly Marketing Skinny • November 21, 2015 • TrafficGenerationCafe.com
In the marketing spotlight this week: ♨ Google's Search Quality Rating Guidelines released; ♨ Google’s new ‘About me’ tool; ♨ Facebook allowed Google to index its app; ♨ rebirth of Google+; ♨ Facebook Pages’ reach down again; ♨ Two major updates to Periscope; ♨ LinkedIn's rich media embeds; ♨ Buffer’s new calendar view; ♨ Yahoo mail blocks adblock users; ♨ Microsoft Windows turns 30; ♨ offline Google Maps improvements; ♨ ...and much, ...


from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/1lD3844

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Google+ keyboard shortcuts - save mouse clicks and time when navigating the new Google+

Google+ keyboard shortcuts - save mouse clicks and time when navigating the new Google+

Pin the image to save it for later reference: http://ift.tt/1NkehmH

Read my full tutorial on how to use the new Google+ here: http://tgcafe.it/gplus-tutorial

[NEW] Download the handy PDF version of the tutorial: http://tgcafe.it/gplus-tutorial

Read it, bookmark it, download it, and please, help me share the ish out of it, would you? THANK YOU!

(ht +CircleCount +Mark Tillison ;)




from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/1MJYPKV

Sweeeeet! Google+ is definitely adding more features to their new design: you can now choose which image...

Sweeeeet! Google+ is definitely adding more features to their new design: you can now choose which image to display from a blog post

If you need help navigating the new Google+, read my very thorough tutorial that'll show you the ropes: http://ift.tt/1QQCnoK

#ns






from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/1YmtepW

HOT OFF THE PRESS 🔥 : Weekly Marketing Skinny • November 21, 2015

HOT OFF THE PRESS 🔥 : Weekly Marketing Skinny • November 21, 2015

Busy week! Changes, shifts, updates, rebirths... the marketing industry saw it all this week.

And if you didn't have the time to keep up with it all, don't fret - that's why you have me and my Weekly Marketing Skinnies I publish at +Traffic Generation Cafe (almost) every Saturday.

Read this week's Skinny: http://tgcafe.it/marketing-news-nov21
Or pin it for later: http://ift.tt/1PShqJg

In the marketing spotlight this week:

♨ Google’s Search Quality Rating Guidelines released;
♨ Google’s new ‘About me’ tool;
♨ Facebook allowed Google to index its app;
♨ rebirth of Google+;
♨ Facebook Pages’ reach down again;
♨ Two major updates to Periscope;
♨ LinkedIn’s rich media embeds;
♨ Buffer’s new calendar view;
♨ Yahoo mail blocks adblock users;
♨ Microsoft Windows turns 30;
♨ offline Google Maps improvements;
♨ …and much, much more.

With special thanks to +Heidi Cohen +Don Purdum and +Craig McBreen for honoring TrafficGenerationCafe.com with a mention in the past couple of weeks; you are featured in this Weekly Marketing Skinny!

Read this week's Skinny: http://tgcafe.it/marketing-news-nov21
Or pin it for later: http://ift.tt/1PShqJg

And PLEASE help me share the ish out of this one, would you? THANK YOU!

Weekly Marketing Skinny • November 21, 2015 • TrafficGenerationCafe.com
In the marketing spotlight this week: ♨ Google's Search Quality Rating Guidelines released; ♨ Google’s new ‘About me’ tool; ♨ Facebook allowed Google to index its app; ♨ rebirth of Google+; ♨ Facebook Pages’ reach down again; ♨ Two major updates to Periscope; ♨ LinkedIn's rich media embeds; ♨ Buffer’s new calendar view; ♨ Yahoo mail blocks adblock users; ♨ Microsoft Windows turns 30; ♨ offline Google Maps improvements; ♨ ...and much, ...


from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/1lATsai

11/20/15

11/20/15




from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/1Ymih7Q

Friday, November 20, 2015

Facebook Pages’ engagement and reach continue to slide (Report)

Facebook Pages’ engagement and reach continue to slide (Report)

+Locowise Ltd (social analytics and reporting firm) new report (http://tgcafe.it/1OjGF5n) found that Facebook pages’ engagement rate for October, 5.87%, was the lowest it has seen in the six months it has been conducting these studies.

It was down from 6.15% in September, with the largest pages (those with more than 1 million likes) seeing engagement of just 5.6%.

Note to self: too many FB fans is just that - too many. Ha! Only on Facebook....

Other findings In the report included:

♨ Organic page likes growth for October was 0.2 percent, down slightly from 0.24 percent in September, but larger pages saw organic page like growth of just 0.04 percent.

Videos continued to deliver the most reach by post type, at 9.45 percent, followed by links (8.53 percent), photos (6.84 percent) and status updates (4.44 percent).

♨ However, in terms of engagement, photos led, at 6.23 percent, followed by videos (5.98 percent), status updates (4.19 percent) and links (3.93 percent).

♨ 43.41 percent of Facebook pages used advertising on the social network to buy 30.54 percent of their total reach in October, up from 42.95 percent in September. That number rose to 47.83 percent for larger pages.

Once again, you can read the entire report here: http://tgcafe.it/1OjGF5n

Can't help but think: 'And this is why I am sticking with G+, among other reasons'...

By the way, if you are struggling with the new G+, read my full tutorial to walk you through it: http://tgcafe.it/gplus-tutorial

_______________________________________________________

More marketing news: http://tgcafe.it/your-marketing-news









from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/1Sadpz8

Google Hangouts lives on without G+: Google Hangouts rolls out ability to add users without a Google...

Google Hangouts lives on without G+: Google Hangouts rolls out ability to add users without a Google account to video calls by sending an invitation link

Here's how it works:

1. Invite your external guests with Google Calendar.

2. They click a link in the event description and fill in their name.

3. In order to help give you control and security over your meetings, you’ll get a prompt to accept / deny their entry whether you’re using web, mobile or Chromebox for meetings.

Announcement: http://tgcafe.it/1PF9i07

_______________________________________________________

More marketing news: http://tgcafe.it/your-marketing-news




from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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What Makes a Web Site Link-Worthy?

What Makes a Web Site Link-Worthy?

"...the development of all form and fashion of linking and sharing methods does not change one universal truth: the less useful your content, the less likely you are to ever receive a link to it." +Eric Ward http://ift.tt/1jceR7T

And my favorite:

"...useful content gets linked. Products don’t."

What Makes a Web Site Link-Worthy? - EricWard.com -
What Makes a Web Site Link-Worthy? Original July 2002, updated July 2009, April, 2014, November, 2015 What is the motivation for one web site owner to link to another web site? The fundamental principle of the web is to allow any document to link to and to be linked from any other document. This is …


from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/1I57sOe

YouTube now lets creators crowdsource subtitles, add translated titles and descriptions

YouTube now lets creators crowdsource subtitles, add translated titles and descriptions

According to YouTube http://tgcafe.it/1QU7rnA, on average, over 60% of a channel’s views come from outside of its creator’s home country.

That means two out of every three people who watch your channel might speak a different language than you.

So how can you make sure viewers around the world can easily discover, understand and love your content?

That’s where YouTube latest set of translation features comes in.

Creators can now let their community of viewers contribute subtitles. In addition, YouTube will also provide access to title and description translations and connect creators with translators through a new YouTube-hosted marketplace.

Want to give it a shot? Check out the translation tools overview page for more information: http://tgcafe.it/1S9TGPT

YouTube announcement: http://tgcafe.it/1QU7rnA

_______________________________________________________

More marketing news: http://tgcafe.it/your-marketing-news




from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/219heKT

Google Hangouts lives on without G+: Google Hangouts rolls out ability to add users without a Google...

Google Hangouts lives on without G+: Google Hangouts rolls out ability to add users without a Google account to video calls by sending an invitation link

Here's how it works:

1. Invite your external guests with Google Calendar.

2. They click a link in the event description and fill in their name.

3. In order to help give you control and security over your meetings, you’ll get a prompt to accept / deny their entry whether you’re using web, mobile or Chromebox for meetings.

Announcement: http://tgcafe.it/1PF9i07

_______________________________________________________

More marketing news: http://tgcafe.it/your-marketing-news




from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/1MHuzjW

Good for Zuck: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will take off two months for paternity leave

Good for Zuck: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will take off two months for paternity leave

Facebook’s Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg is taking two months off when his daughter arrives.

Facebook allows its employees to take four months off, which more companies are starting to provide, such as Amazon, Spotify, Netflix, and others.

“Studies show that when working parents take time to be with their newborns, outcomes are better for the children and families,” Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post. http://tgcafe.it/1O8arM7

ht +VentureBeat http://tgcafe.it/1S9RxDO

_______________________________________________________

More marketing news: http://tgcafe.it/your-marketing-news




from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/1jbZFaV

WOW - For the first time ever, Google has released the full and complete version of the Search Quality...

WOW - For the first time ever, Google has released the full and complete version of the Search Quality Rating Guidelines

The only other time SEOs had their hands on this full version was when it was leaked in 2011.

Is this THE the key to their ranking algorithm? Of course, not.

According to Google http://tgcafe.it/1jbYet3:

"Ratings from evaluators do not determine individual site rankings, but are used help us understand our experiments. The evaluators base their ratings on guidelines we give them; the guidelines reflect what Google thinks search users want."

Rather, it is a great way to get in the mindset of what types of pages Google wants to show in their search results.

You can find the full PDF version of the Search Quality Rating Guidelines at this link: http://tgcafe.it/1PRxwTh

Also, if you want the Skinny on the most important points, read my previous coverage on G+ here: http://ift.tt/1QqNjda

ht +Barry Schwartz http://tgcafe.it/1MZmqX2

Who's up for some weekend reading? +Eric Enge? +Mark Traphagen? +Glenn Gabe?

_______________________________________________________

More marketing news: http://tgcafe.it/your-marketing-news

Google Search Quality Rater’s Guide: October 2015 version - Mobile Rewrite …
Google Search Quality Rater’s Guide: October 2015 version - Mobile Rewrite +Jennifer Slegg has gotten her hands on the most recent (as far as we know)… - Ana Hoffman - Google+


from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/1X3A2M1

Microsoft Windows is 30 (you heard me right!) years old!

Microsoft Windows is 30 (you heard me right!) years old!

The Windows brand was announced in 1983, and the final Windows 1.0 arrived in November 20, 1985 — 30 years ago today.

Other notable milestones for the technology realm this year: both eBay and Amazon celebrated 20 years in business, while IMDb turned 25.

More on the history of Microsoft, as well as some great #ThrowbackThursday screenshots, visit +VentureBeat: http://tgcafe.it/1MZmoOW

_______________________________________________________

More marketing news: http://tgcafe.it/your-marketing-news




from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/1OWHlRb

Facebook Pages’ engagement and reach continue to slide (Report)

Facebook Pages’ engagement and reach continue to slide (Report)

+Locowise Ltd (social analytics and reporting firm) new report (http://tgcafe.it/1OjGF5n) found that Facebook pages’ engagement rate for October, 5.87%, was the lowest it has seen in the six months it has been conducting these studies.

It was down from 6.15% in September, with the largest pages (those with more than 1 million likes) seeing engagement of just 5.6%.

Note to self: too many FB fans is just that - too many. Ha! Only on Facebook....

Other findings In the report included:

♨ Organic page likes growth for October was 0.2 percent, down slightly from 0.24 percent in September, but larger pages saw organic page like growth of just 0.04 percent.

Videos continued to deliver the most reach by post type, at 9.45 percent, followed by links (8.53 percent), photos (6.84 percent) and status updates (4.44 percent).

♨ However, in terms of engagement, photos led, at 6.23 percent, followed by videos (5.98 percent), status updates (4.19 percent) and links (3.93 percent).

♨ 43.41 percent of Facebook pages used advertising on the social network to buy 30.54 percent of their total reach in October, up from 42.95 percent in September. That number rose to 47.83 percent for larger pages.

Once again, you can read the entire report here: http://tgcafe.it/1OjGF5n

Can't help but think: 'And this is why I am sticking with G+, among other reasons'...

By the way, if you are struggling with the new G+, read my full tutorial to walk you through it: http://tgcafe.it/gplus-tutorial

_______________________________________________________

More marketing news: http://tgcafe.it/your-marketing-news









from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/1OWHlAO

Did you hear about Yahoo blocking ad-block users from their email? Well, now Yahoo says it's just a ...

Did you hear about Yahoo blocking ad-block users from their email? Well, now Yahoo says it's just a test.

News broke yesterday that Yahoo is stopping ad-block users from accessing their Yahoo Mail accounts. These individuals couldn’t get to their inboxes without first disabling their ad blockers

Yahoo told +VentureBeat (http://tgcafe.it/1PRw6s0) that not everyone is getting blocked.

“At Yahoo, we are continually developing and testing new product experiences. This is a test we’re running for a small number of Yahoo Mail users in the U.S.”

A test?!! Riiiiiiight....

_______________________________________________________

More marketing news: http://tgcafe.it/your-marketing-news





from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/1MHnsYF

The Real Value in Social Media For Businesses (Infographic)

The Real Value in Social Media For Businesses (Infographic)

Businesses are using social media but how well are they using it to connect with customers?

Source post +Adweek's Social Times: http://ift.tt/1l9MoAM




from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/219b51j

Instead of pushing YOUR agenda, help your readers with theirs.

Instead of pushing YOUR agenda, help your readers with theirs.

#ns




from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/1X3rTr0

🔥 How to Use [the New] Google+: Tutorial 🔥

🔥 How to Use [the New] Google+: Tutorial 🔥

Here's everything - and I mean EVERYTHING - you need to know about using the new Google+.

Read it now: http://tgcafe.it/gplus-tutorial
Pin it for later: http://ift.tt/1X3qyAv
[NEW]Download a handy PDF version: http://tgcafe.it/gplus-tutorial

Read it, bookmark it, download it, and please, help me share the ish out of it, would you? THANK YOU!





from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/1MHhYgs

The Yahoo Directory is finally absolutely dead... It now redirects to to aabacosmallbusiness.com.

The Yahoo Directory is finally absolutely dead... It now redirects to to aabacosmallbusiness.com.

RIP, Yahoo Directory!

#ns


from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/1MHg6nU

WOW - LinkedIn just introduced a great publishing feature: ability to embed ALL kinds of rich media ...

WOW - LinkedIn just introduced a great publishing feature: ability to embed ALL kinds of rich media in your Pulse posts

All you need is a link to embeddable content (videos, tweets, presentations, etc) and LinkedIn will take it from there.

I even tested embedding a G+ post; works like a charm!

ping my LinkedIn comrades: +Mark Traphagen +Neil Ferree +Dennis Brown +Zara Altair ...

_______________________________________________________

More marketing news: http://tgcafe.it/your-marketing-news





from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/1I20xdQ

✨ I decided to create a ℬ℩G  ℒ℩sԵ of great articles that explain

A massively awesome list of great articles that explain
Co-Occurence and Co-Citation pretty well.

Thanks +Eren Mckay (and +Darren DeMatas for putting it on my radar!).

Eren Mckay originally shared:
✨ I decided to create a ℬ℩G  ℒ℩sԵ of great articles that explain 
Co-Occurence and Co-Citation pretty well. So here goes:
🐦 Great Twitter convo with +Bill Slawski about co-occurrence in case you missed it:
https://twitter.com/bill_slawski/status/457265111762485249
•  More resources on Google's patents on co-occurence, here are some more articles that Bill Slawski wrote:
http://ift.tt/14I2qsT
http://ift.tt/17T2DUw
🌱 Build healthy links with co-citation and co-occurrence in SEO via +Wordtracker  
http://ift.tt/1l9Y46N 
G+ A conversation started by +Steve Wiideman  about this here on Google Plus with experts chiming in:
http://ift.tt/1l9Y7iI
👂Link Building: What are Co-citation and Co-occurrence via +SEMrush 
http://ift.tt/1AWN7qP 
🍁 Semantic Keyword Research with KNIME and Social Media Data Mining by +Paul Shapiro 
http://ift.tt/1d8CTNV
🍃Another free tool shown to me by +Adrienne DeVita  that can be used to seed for more words: http://lsigraph.com/
🐺 Speaking of free tools that will help you in this:
+seoquake http://ift.tt/phZRSy
• This article also references the difference between co-occurrence and co-citation by +Positionly 
http://ift.tt/1fU9cNl
🍃 This overview by +SEO Hacker  is pretty cool too:
http://ift.tt/1I20uyO
👉 Although this concept seems to be all the buzz nowadays it was written about by +David Harry  on +WordStream back in 2010. (I like to remember these things because "some SEOs" love to say they came up with a concept when it was being said way before them cough cough ( not citing names but we know who they are))
http://ift.tt/1l9Y7iS
✨ Also back from 2009 by +Jeffrey Smith was already talking about this: http://ift.tt/1l9Y4n5
http://ift.tt/1I20uyS
☺A lot of people don't understand how google works, so I will end with this reference:
http://ift.tt/RY5jkg
#Seo   #seotips   #seotools   #seoservices   #linkbuilding   #semantic
#citation   #lsi   #searchengineoptimization   #search     #WednesdayWisdom   #HappyHumpday  




from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/1l9Y7iV

Thursday, November 19, 2015

HOT OFF THE PRESS 🔥 : How to Use [the New] Google+: Tutorial

HOT OFF THE PRESS 🔥 : How to Use [the New] Google+: Tutorial

This week marked a turning point for Google+. 

It went from being the ‘everything-for-everybody site’ to focusing on what Google+ is truly great at: passions.

The new Google+ is all about connecting around common interests (Collections and Communities) rather than people (Circles).

And it's quite a bit different from the 'classic' Google+, as Google fondly refers to it. 

In this A to Z tutorial to the new Google+ you'll find everything - and I mean EVERYTHING - you ever needed/wanted to learn about it.

find the full tutorial here: http://tgcafe.it/gplus-tutorial
or pin it for later: http://ift.tt/1QQCnoK

(and I guarantee you'll want to bookmark it... I'll also be working on creating a PDF of the entire tutorial; I'll make it available in the tutorial tomorrow)

If it hadn’t been for Google+, I might’ve not met some of the brightest minds in the marketing industry today – +Eric Enge  +Mark Traphagen  +Chef Dennis Littley  +Rebekah Radice  +Peg Fitzpatrick  +Mike Allton  +martin shervington  +MaAnna Stephenson  +Denis Labelle +Glenn Gabe +Yifat Cohen +Gina Fiedel +Stephan Hovnanian +Dustin W. Stout +David Amerland +Eli Fennell +Ronnie Bincer +Christine DeGraff +Mia Voss +Vincent Messina +Linda Buquet and many, many, MANY more. 

If you, too, want to meet and build strong relationships with some of the best deep thinkers in just about any niche, Google+ is definitely for you.

Once again, here are the links:

find the full tutorial here: http://tgcafe.it/gplus-tutorial
or pin it for later: http://ift.tt/1QQCnoK

Please help me to share the ish out of this tutorial! THANK YOU!

How to Use [the New] Google+: Tutorial
The new Google+ is here. It's bolder. It's faster. It's all about your passions. Learn how to use the new Google+ in this complete tutorial.


from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/216mP4D

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Great thoughts from +Gideon Rosenblatt on ​why Google+ had to change.

Great thoughts from +Gideon Rosenblatt on ​why Google+ had to change.

Why Change Google+? Many of us are wondering what's behind the changes now…
Why Change Google+? Many of us are wondering what's behind the changes now rolling out on Google+. Reactions seem mixed. For what they're worth, here are… - Mark Traphagen - Google+


from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/1MUjgIC

Google now lets any live blog show up in its search results in a publisher carousel

Google now lets any live blog show up in its search results in a publisher carousel

Earlier this year, Google started showing carousels with news content on the Search results page, powered by structured data markup that publishers implement.

Today, Google’s launching a new form of publisher carousels, specifically for live blogs.

Starting today, Google is making the markup that powers these live blog carousels publicly available.

So, if you’re a publisher interested in improving the way that users find your content in Google Search, head over to g.co/LiveBlogMarkup to learn more.

And if you’re interested in learning about other ways Google Search can help you drive acquisition and engagement for your app and web properties, visit g.co/DeveloperSearch.

Announced by +Google+ Developershttp://tgcafe.it/1X8byMg

_______________________________________________________

More marketing news: http://tgcafe.it/your-marketing-news




from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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HOT OFF THE PRESS: Google Plus Is Dead - Long Live Google Plus!

HOT OFF THE PRESS: Google Plus Is Dead - Long Live Google Plus!

I love what +Luke Wroblewski, Google Product Director, said in regards to the new Google+:

“We’re building to how people are using.”

Google Plus was never meant to be shoved down people's throats as many thought.

It was built to change with how people used it.

And now Google revealed the biggest change to Google+ as of yet.

Learn more about the changes, where to find things you are used to seeing on G+, and more in my newly published post on LinkedIn: http://tgcafe.it/1WZjpRJ

_______________________________________________________

More marketing news: http://tgcafe.it/your-marketing-news

Share on LinkedIn


from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Tuesday, November 17, 2015

I've seen a few of 'such and such added you back' notifications today... Must be doing something right...

I've seen a few of 'such and such added you back' notifications today... Must be doing something right! Or at least, I hope so. ;)


from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
http://ift.tt/2116NsC

Here's how to get the new Google+ NOW

Here's how to get the new Google+ NOW

1. Go to Settings.
2. Under Manage other apps & activity, click "Manage Google+ activity".
3. Then click on the search bar.
4. The page will refresh - WELCOME TO THE NEW GOOGLE+.

(thanks to +Michael J. Coffey for digging up the instructions!)

More on the new Google+: http://ift.tt/210sp8z

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Introducing a fully redesigned Google+ that puts Communities and Collections front and center

Introducing a fully redesigned Google+ that puts Communities and Collections front and center

This is big. HUGE. The biggest change Google+ has gone through yet.

Now focused around interests (Communities and Collections), the new Google+ is much simpler.

The new Google+ also makes it easier to post, search, connect, and keep up with great content in a fully redesigned home stream. 

You can preview the new Google+ on the web today by signing in and clicking “Let’s go” when you see the prompt. (And since not every feature of Google+ has made its way into this new design, for now, you can toggle back to the classic Google+ with one click in the bottom left-hand corner.) In the coming days, we’ll roll out updated apps for Android and iOS. 

Google announcement: http://tgcafe.it/1HUBlpN

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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♨ Be Everywhere: How to Convert a Blog Post into PDF in Under 60 Seconds ♨

♨ Be Everywhere: How to Convert a Blog Post into PDF in Under 60 Seconds ♨

Understanding the Pareto principle is no rocket science, if you think about it.

“For many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.”

In other words, most of the things we do on a daily basis to move our business forward don’t actually make an iota of a difference.

So why aren’t we focusing on the causes that DO bring about 80% of the desired effects?

Hey, I am no psychologist.

However, I’d like to share with you a quick traffic hack I learned not too long ago that will increase your traffic, build links, AND create an appearance of “being everywhere“.

All using what you already have: your existing blog content.

Read about it here: http://tgcafe.it/blog-post-into-pdf
Or pin to read it later: http://ift.tt/1PMEfxI

Help me share this post around please! THANK YOU!

#ns




from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Monday, November 16, 2015

Gotta love Google Photos auto-awesome creations!

Gotta love Google Photos auto-awesome creations!

This is the Halloween Parade at my daughter's school. She's the one dressed like a flamenco dancer. OLE!

#ns




from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Google Search Quality Rater’s Guide: October 2015 version - Mobile Rewrite

Google Search Quality Rater’s Guide: October 2015 version - Mobile Rewrite

+Jennifer Slegg has gotten her hands on the most recent (as far as we know) Google Search Quality Rater’s Guide dated October 2015.

According to her report http://tgcafe.it/20Xcnwi, Google has completely written major parts of their guidelines with major emphasis on mobile.

Not only most of the examples Google includes in the handbook are showing mobile results and no longer the desktop versions, but there's also a brand-new mobile section in the guide, in which Google details multiple issues that tend to make websites less visitor-friendly viewed from a mobile device. 

Read the full report on it at Jennifer's blog http://tgcafe.it/20Xcnwi

And here's a quick Skinny:

Mobile Quality Guidelines

Google stresses that smartphones should make tasks easy, not problematic, thus the raters are instructed to consider:

♨ entering data in forms may be cumbersome;

♨ how the site conducts itself on small screen devices;

♨ whether webpages are difficult to use on a mobile phone (issues like side-scrolling, menus and navigation menus that either are too small or don’t work, images that don’t resize for mobile, and sites that use Flash or other elements that cannot be viewed on a mobile device.)

♨ how a website reacts to Internet connectivity issues.

Know Queries & Know Simple Queries

This version of Google Search Quality Rater’s Guide has also introduced another new section: Know Queries & Know Simple Queries.

Know Simple queries tend to be the type of queries that often show a featured snippet or other type of knowledge boxes - the examples Google uses are things like “how tall is <someone>” or “what is the <company> stock price”.

Know Simple Queries are ones that can be answered in a short list or in 1-2 sentences.

Know Queries tend to be ones were the result couldn’t be answered in a short list or 1-2 sentences, because the result would either be too broad or would need to be much more detailed.

While “how tall is <someone>” would be a Know Simple Query, simply searching for “<someone>” would be a Know Query.

Needs Met Rating Guideline

Needs Met refers to raters answering “how helpful and satisfying the result is for the mobile user?”

Fully Meets is the highest score available for the Needs Met rating. It refers to a site – or special content block such as a featured snippet – that fully meets the query of the searcher.

FYI, Google considers this type of rating difficult to achieve for many queries and websites. They suggest that if raters aren’t fully clear on whether it truly is a Fully Meets result or not, to default to the lower rating.

Jennifer explains in more depth other levels of Fully Meets results in her report. http://tgcafe.it/20Xcnwi

Highly Meets Results

Highly Meets are the next step down on the quality scale for meeting the needs of the searcher.

These results are typically a “good fit” for the specified query, but for whatever reason, fail to achieve the Fully Meets rating.

Typically it would be because the answer isn’t fully given, but a searcher can generally get to the answer from the result.

Moderately Meets

Moderately Meets refers to content that would be “helpful for many users or very helpful for some users.” 

Moderately Meets results could be less up-to-date, less comprehensive or simply from sites that aren’t really an authority in that space.

Slightly Meets

Google judges content that gets a rating of Slightly Meets as results that are low quality, outdated, clearly neglected, or far too broad or specific.

These are results that are helpful to only some or few searchers.

Fails to Meet

This is the lowest rating… but beyond that there is one major thing all webmasters and SEOs should know – ALL sites that are NOT mobile-friendly will be rated as “Fails to Meet”.

This post will be updated with even more information from Google's latest Search Quality Rater’s Guide...

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Coffeeholic's Monday mantra: 'Bring me a coffee and KEEP THEM COMING!'

Coffeeholic's Monday mantra: 'Bring me a coffee and KEEP THEM COMING!'

Good Monday morning, Internet! 




from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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The partnership of two rivals: Facebook began allowing Google to crawl and index its mobile app

The partnership of two rivals: Facebook began allowing Google to crawl and index its mobile app

Google got a surprising ally in its quest to stay relevant in the world of mobile app search last Friday: Facebook. (reported by +Wall Street Journal http://tgcafe.it/1ObR1nK)

The agreement means that results from Google searches on smartphones will display some content from Facebook’s app, including public profile information. The listings will appear as “deep links” that will take users to the relevant part of the Facebook app, the spokeswoman said.

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Friday, November 13, 2015

Twitter introduces “ScratchReel” GIFs you can play with by dragging a finger or cursor

Twitter introduces “ScratchReel” GIFs you can play with by dragging a finger or cursor

ScratchReels are GIFs that can be scrubbed using a finger or a mouse cursor.

I know, I know... that's all we need... another type of gif!

See it in action in my (what else!) gif below or in Twitter's original tweet: https://twitter.com/twitter/status/664870989361119232

Turns out there's an actual @scratchreel account on Twitter as well: https://twitter.com/scratchreel

Have fun 'scratching'!

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Love it... Cop pulls over Google self-driving car for driving too slowly

Love it... Cop pulls over Google self-driving car for driving too slowly

+Google Self-Driving Car Project wrote in their post on Google+: (http://tgcafe.it/1RTSZKB)

Driving too slowly? Bet humans don’t get pulled over for that too often.

We’ve capped the speed of our prototype vehicles at 25mph for safety reasons. We want them to feel friendly and approachable, rather than zooming scarily through neighborhood streets.  

Like this officer, people sometimes flag us down when they want to know more about our project. After 1.2 million miles of autonomous driving (that’s the human equivalent of 90 years of driving experience), we’re proud to say we’ve never been ticketed!

ht +Barry Schwartz 

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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*PDF Traffic Generation: How to Tap into the Untapped*I‘ve heard about using PDFs for link building ...

*PDF Traffic Generation: How to Tap into the Untapped*I‘ve heard about using PDFs for link building and traffic generation in the past, but to be quite honest with you, I’ve never given it a second thought.
 
After all, can Google really read non-HTML files such as PDFs, spreadsheets, and presentations?
 
Turns out Google can do a whole lot more than simply read PDF files.
 
It can even index and rank them in the search engine results.
 
FUN FACT: did you know Google first started indexing PDF files in 2001 and currently hasover a Billion of PDF files indexed?
 
Sweeeeet! ...Now what?
 
Let's see what we can do about it: http://ift.tt/1NQbCjn
Or pin the post for later: http://ift.tt/1iZcdlE  
Also, would you please share this post while you are at it? THANK YOU!

PDF Traffic Generation: How to Tap into the Untapped
Is it possible to get website traffic by repurposing content as PDFs? Or build links? Absolutely. Is PDF traffic generation worth it? You decide.


from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Thursday, November 12, 2015

Blab update: Blab show cards new dimensions: 1000px x 450px

Blab update: Blab show cards new dimensions: 1000px x 450px

Right now you can upload them when you start a new Blab - just add a custom image.

Details: http://tgcafe.it/1Y6WwZz

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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{LIMITED TIME OFFER} High Resolution Seamless Patterns For Your Brand

A no-brainer offer from +Andrea Beltrami.

Andrea Beltrami originally shared:
{LIMITED TIME OFFER} High Resolution Seamless Patterns For Your Brand

If you need any seamless patterns for your brand identity and visual content I've got a 'here today, gone tomorrow' offer for ya.

I'm extending the perks of my commercial account with the BEST pattern creation app to you!

If you need any patterns THIS is the way to get them. Easy. Affordable. Painless. BAM!

So how will this exchange go down?
 
I've put together a pdf packet which outlines the whole thing. It's got the run down on how you will place your order and how I will deliver your customized patterns, it's got the FAQ's, the cost, and the timeline. Basically, it's got all the deets you need.
 
The short version: You choose your pattern and customizations, I plug those in on my side and save you out a 2000 x 2000px high resolution pattern and send it your way. Not much more to it. 

Download the packet here>> http://bit.ly/pattern-cooler

#visualcontent #branding #brandingstrategy #bloggingforbusiness




from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Buffer’s new calendar view helps you schedule social posts

Buffer’s new calendar view helps you schedule social posts

@Buffer now offers an even more visual and manual way to schedule and publish content on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and Pinterest - Social Media Calendar.

See the Social Media Calendar in action in the video below.

The Calendar is available to all paid +Buffer customers with prices starting at just $10/month.

You can learn more about the features at Buffer blog: http://ift.tt/1HCMyes

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Notify, a Notifications App from Facebook, officially comes to the lock mobile screen near you

Notify, a Notifications App from Facebook, officially comes to the lock mobile screen near you

Notify is Facebook's new standalone iOS (for now) app that pushes alerts to people’s mobile phones, serving headlines throughout the day.

Users customize their selections by subscribing to media sources or “stations” of specific content from those sources.

There are currently 72 such sources; you can see the full list here: http://ift.tt/1Hznm8F.

Here's the Skinny on the features/functions: 

♨ Once you subscribe to 'stations', you’ll start receiving notifications from the publishers, delivered right to your lock screen.

♨ If you want to see more, just swipe or tap through any Notify notification to open the link in the app’s browser where you can read the full article, watch the video, or view the site.

♨ You can share your favorite notifications with friends via text, email, Facebook or other social networks, right from your lock screen. 

♨ If a notification catches your eye when you’re busy or distracted, just swipe to add it to your Saved Notifications list. 

♨ You can discover all the notifications you’ve received from Notify in the last 24 hours via an in-app feed so you can easily stay up to date.

The content is served independently of Facebook; when people swipe or tap through, they are taken to the link in the app’s mobile browser.

Once again, Notify from Facebook is available today in the US for iPhone. No word on the Android app as of yet.

Learn more at notify.co.

Story sources: Facebook http://tgcafe.it/1MXz6nI and +Marketing Land http://tgcafe.it/20MWt7F

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Ungrumpify - wake up and smell the coffee!

Ungrumpify - wake up and smell the coffee!

#wakeupandsmellthecoffee   #coffeelovers  

thanks to +Ben Carew for forwarding me the image




from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Twitter: hearts (likes) are winning over stars (favorites)

Twitter: hearts (likes) are winning over stars (favorites)

Twitter Product SVP Kevin Weil shared data on the heart’s performance vs. the star in a talk at the Open Mobile Summit in San Francisco (reported by +BuzzFeed http://tgcafe.it/1QuSo3m).

“It’s a change that’s been fantastic for the platform. We see now 6% more hearts, 6% more likes on Twitter than we saw with favorites.”

He also noted that new users tend to engage 9% more with this change.

Looks like hearts are here to stay.

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Tumblr rolls out Instant Messaging on both web and mobile

Tumblr rolls out Instant Messaging on both web and mobile

Tumblr has launched a full-fledged threaded, instant messaging. 

If you see a “smiley balloon” hanging on your screen, that means the feature has been turned on for your account.

At that point, if you choose to message another Tumblr user, they, too, will receive the messaging feature, if they didn’t already have it.

The feature is rolling out now on the web as well as within Tumblr’s mobile apps on iOS and Android.

More on the feature at +TechCrunch http://tgcafe.it/1M6CPfh

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Google Maps search and turn-by-turn navigation are now available offline

Google Maps search and turn-by-turn navigation are now available offline

Now you can download an area of the world to your phone, and the next time you find there’s no connectivity—whether it’s a country road or an underground parking garage—Google Maps will continue to work seamlessly.

What you'll be able to do while offline:

♨ view an area of the map offline,
♨ get turn-by-turn driving directions,
♨ search for specific destinations,
♨ find useful information about places, like hours of operation, contact information or ratings.

Other 'good-to-knows':

♨ You can download an area by searching for a city, county or country, for instance, and tapping "Download" on the resulting place sheet, or by going to "Offline Areas" in the Google Maps menu and tapping on the “+” button.

♨ Once downloaded, Google Maps will move into offline mode automatically when it recognizes you’re in a location with spotty service or no connectivity at all.

♨ When a connection is found, it will switch back online so you can easily access the full version of Maps, including live traffic conditions for your current route.

♨ By default, Google Maps only download areas to your device when you are on a Wi-Fi connection to prevent large data fees.

The first set of these improvements is now being rolled out with the latest version of Google Maps on Android (coming soon to iOS). 

Google Maps announcement: http://tgcafe.it/1QuMqiU
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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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New on Pinterest: Easily find Pins you saved for later

New on Pinterest: Easily find Pins you saved for later

Your Pinterest profile is a great place to save ideas for later.

Finding those pins later is a different story though.

Sometimes you forget what board a Pin’s on, even when you just Pinned it. I know I do!

So Pinterest has made some improvements to help you find and sort your Pins in a more intuitive way.

♨ Recent Pins are right up top

It's now super easy to get right to your most recent Pins.

♨ Browse your Pins by topic

Once you have enough Pins, your profile will start showing you the topics you Pin about most. Just tap to see all the Pins you saved for each topic.

You’ll see topic filters for all your Pins and individual boards.

So if you’ve saved a ton of Pins to your Healthy Eats board, now you can get cooking faster by filtering your recipes by "salad" "avocado" and more.

♨ Quickly find specific boards and Pins

You can view your boards by when you Pinned to them last, or alphabetically.

Or just do a quick search to find a specific board or Pin.

If you’re looking for your Likes, now they’re right there with your boards.

Look for the new profile on your iPhone and Android starting today.

Pinterest announcement: http://tgcafe.it/1MKvO0K

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Two major updates to Periscope: a revamped Global Map, Skip Ahead on replays, plus Zoom on Android

Two major updates to Periscope: a revamped Global Map, Skip Ahead on replays, plus Zoom on Android

The following Periscope updates are available on both iOS and Android.

1. Global Map

The new map has some major improvements.

♨ Every time you zoom to a new place on the map, Periscope will reload broadcasts from this region, including replays from the last 24 hours.

♨ Red dots are live broadcasts, and blue dots are replays. You can look at the most remote area of the world and see both what’s happening now, and what’s happened recently.

2. Skip Ahead in Replays

Just press down while watching the replay, and drag left and right. You can even drag up and down to change the seek speed.

And while you’re seeking, with your finger still pressed down, you’ll see a preview of that moment in the broadcast.

3. Zoom on Android

Periscope has also introduced the long-awaited pinch to zoom on Android, which lets you zoom in and out while broadcasting, just like on iOS.

Periscope announcement: http://tgcafe.it/1ROd7xy

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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Google’s new ‘About me’ tool lets you control personal information shown across Google's various products...

Google’s new ‘About me’ tool lets you control personal information shown across Google's various products

Google has launched a new tool called About me that lets you see, edit, and remove the personal information that the company’s services show to other users.

http://ift.tt/1WLhvE2

Google confirmed to VentureBeat (http://tgcafe.it/1HHUHc1) that the feature started rolling out to users this week.

The new About Me is Google’s way of keeping track of your personal information without forcing you to use Google+.

That said, if you have a Google+ account, this is the same set of details. If you add or remove content on Google+ or on About me, the changes will be reflected on both.

The tool does still have some limitations, but it's a good start.

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from Ana Hoffman - Google+ Posts
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