ARE YOU STRUGGLING WITH HACKERS?

ARE YOU STRUGGLING WITH HACKERS?

Losing your blog content can destroy a business reputation or the online presence you have been trying to build; Ponder on This! You’ve got a blog which had hundreds of posts, comments and even affiliate links only to get to your notice that it has been destroyed a while later! Not a good vibe neither a nice feeling. The fact that your blog is small doesn’t mean you’re immune from being hacked. Trust me! Hackers can sometimes prefer to place their target on smaller websites because those tend to have less protection. Hello! Who Says You Can’t Be Protected? Here are a few informative tips to help in securing your blog or website content. I hope it helps you!

Back Up

This is the first and most paramount step. Before making any changes, ensure to backup your entire ‘Data Base’ (DB). This can be done manually or with the use of an available plugin. I strongly recommend backup buddy which enables the backing up of your entire WordPress blog and lets you easily restore it at a later point in time. Always have this in mind!

Use Brawny Passwords

Hackers are used to the default WordPress login which is “admin.” Changing this to something else that would be difficult to think of is the wise thing to do. You shouldn’t make yourself vulnerable to your attackers – a hacker tries to guess the password by going through lots of passwords user combinations.

In securing your password, you should give this following a shot:

Use brawny passwords which include upper/lower case characters

Use unique characters such as !#@…

Ensure not to use a password such as your birth date which has proven to be insecure since hackers can find personal information easily.

Do not forget to have lots of different passwords. If you have only one password, accessing everything through it will be easy by someone who gets to know this password. This is the more reason you need to use lots of different passwords.

Get Unwanted Plugins Out

Are you aware that themes and plugins are often used as entry points for hackers with harmful intentions?

It is wise to review what you have installed regularly and delete any you no longer use. This process reduces the rate of potential entry points into your blog.

NB – Excess plugins can make your job difficult and more complicated than it needs to be. It also can slow down your website’s loading speed by adding extra HTTP requests. If your website loads slowly, the tendency of being haunted is high which may lead to losing customer trust and also cause a decrease in sales.

No Directory Browsing

Prohibiting people from browsing your websites directory structure is very vital. I’ll give you an assignment just for you to know this is real. Enter “index of” into Google and Google will list all the websites that allow the browsing of directories. In order words, it is not a good idea to allow your visitors to browse through your entire directory. NB – This act is easy to find out about directory structures and this makes it easier for hackers to lookout for security holes.

In order to bring this behaviour to an end all you need do is add the line of code from below to your .htaccess file in the root directory of WordPress.

Options All -Indexes

This will stop the behaviour all at once.

Inactive Users Should Be Deleted

Inactive user accounts are not relevant and also can be a security risk to your site. Some persons are not informed when it comes to choosing strong passwords. They end up having weak passwords when they sign up for your blog. If the account is inactive but still on your blog, hackers could use this account to gain access to your blog.

That’s why it is of the essence to delete inactive user accounts in WordPress and also ensure this process doesn’t break anything. To actualize this aim, go to your WordPress dashboard and click on Users. This takes you to the page where you see the list of every user. Then go ahead and delete the ones you are sure are inactive.

I trust these tips to be of great help to you and by applying them, I am sure the chances of being hacked will be less.

How secure is your WordPress blog? Kindly share in the comments below if you have a tip.   

HOW TO USE INSTAGRAM FOR YOUR BUSINESS STRATEGY

HOW TO USE INSTAGRAM FOR YOUR BUSINESS STRATEGY

Instagram is a free, online photo-sharing application and social network platform that was acquired by Facebook in 2012. Instagram allows users to edit and upload photos and short videos through a mobile app. Users can add a caption to each of their posts and use hashtags and location-based geotags to index these posts and make them searchable by other users within the app. Each post by a user appears on their followers’ Instagram feeds and can also be viewed by the public when tagged using hashtags or geotags. Users also have the option of making their profile private so that only their followers can view their posts.

Instagram can possibly be mysterious for business owners. If you are not a celebrity, the tendency of not been known on Instagram is high. As true as this can be, I’m very sure you’re not looking to get popular; rather you want to build a solid presence on the platform in order to engage and connect with your target market. This article will walk you through how to use Instagram to do just that. #FollowMe!

HASHTAGS

Aside from your image, your hashtags are the most paramount element of your post. Whilst captions help you tell the story behind your image, your hashtags allow you to get your image(and caption) seen by those outside your current domain of followers. It also helps when users search for relevant industry-related hashtags and your post shows up as one of those…

NB: Use popular hashtags that have the best chance of getting searched for(e.g., #wcw #tbt #tgif #love etc). Use hashtags that can attract new followers. For instance, #followme, #follow4follow, and #follow.

Ensure to use at least one hashtag on each post. Research has it that, engagement is highest on posts that have 11+ hashtags.

YOUR IMAGE SHOULD BE IN LINE WITH YOUR BRAND’S VIBE

Why most brands are successful is because they pay careful attention to how their images represent and contribute to their brand’s identity.  They seem to have an umbrella theme to their images for which the theme is closely related to their all-inclusive company image.

Take Starbucks, for instance, whose company mission statement is as follows: “[T]o inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time.” Their Instagram posts support this statement attractively, offering up inspirational and heart-warming images and videos. They use their images to further their mission and story. NB; Check out their Instagram page on the above link and learn from them.

HONE YOUR PROFILE

It takes not much time to properly hone or optimize your Instagram profile, and this can have an outstanding impact on how many people click through to your site talk more of how they see your brand.

NB: See that your images and description get along well with your brand’s vibe.

Make sure to add a link referring your visitors back to your website.

Always use your company logo somewhere in your profile to enable your users to know it’s the official profile for your company.

Should you have a local business, ensure to add your physical location.

The consistency of your images and other content with your other social media properties is key.

Add one brand specific hashtag to you’re your profile so users know it ‘belongs’ to you.

Use your bio to clearly communicate what your brand is about, and to also attract users to click through to your site.

INSTAGRAM Ads

Instagram gives room for all business to advertise on the platform. Have it in mind that you need a Facebook account to create an Instagram ad; ads can only be created in Facebook ad creation or Power Editor.

Instagram ads give your business the opportunity of its organic posts to reach as many people as possible for which may possibly attract new followers, leads that may convert into paying customers. This may be worth trying for your business!

GROW YOUR FOLLOWERS

The secret to increasing your followers is really simple: lasting engagement naturally leads to followers. This is to say, consistency in posting engaging, compelling and relevant images, makes you grow your followers organically.

NB: Did You Know? Quality beats quantity! Polish your account to leave only the best images. Trust me, no one wants to follow someone or a brand with thousands of pointless contents.

Ensure to add a relevant and compelling caption. Doing a call to action within your caption is a great way to increase engagement. e.g., Ask questions in all your posts so as to keep your visitors engaged.

Consistency is Key! So be consistent. Know who you’re posting for(your audience) and why you are posting (purpose).

Engage in your own photos and on other people’s. As people see that you’re regularly interacting, they’ll be more likely to follow you.

Promote your Instagram account everywhere: to your email subscribers, on your physical marketing materials and to your other social media fans and followers.

POST ENGAGING CONTENT

It is very important that you engage your audience with compelling content that leaves them with no option other than to hunger for your post. Make hanging up your strategy and monitoring which formats get the most engagement. take for instance some popular post ideas:

User-submitted photos/User-generated content(UGC)

Sneak peek of new products

Simple image quotes created using a tool like Canva

Short product demos or tutorials

Holiday-themed images and videos

It’s paramount to consider which strategies are most likely to get your photos liked and commented on even as you decide on what to post.

Here are a few numbers of strategies that can help you get to the highest levels of engagement:

Human faces (do not operate like a robot)

Track the real customers using your products

Light colours are always preferable to dark colours in terms of getting likes and as well comments

Did You Know? Photos tend to perform more than videos! It’s also not a yardstick for you not to post videos

High-quality image background space get you more engagement

FOLLOWER OTHER PEOPLE

Should you are not a well-known brand, there’s no way can get away with following other people back. Not only should you follow your followers back, rather be on the lookout for new users to follow. Few strategies you can use to find worthy followers are as follows:

Search for companies or people you know using Instagram’s search bar

Do a Google search for influential users in your industry (e.g., “social media” + Instagram).

Follow influencers in your industry. A tool like Keyhole will allow you to search users and posts by hashtag, and sort the results based on the number of likes they have received

Follow users who are following influencers in your industry.

Use a tool like gramfeed to easily search Instagram for people, places and photos.

Search for industry-related hashtags. This is perhaps the most effective strategy for finding targeted users to follow in your niche.

Conclusively, I suppose these strategies above have been able to motivate you to start making use of Instagram as a part of your marketing strategy, or to increase your present investment in the platform.

Kindly leave your best tips in the comments below!

HOW TO DIVERSIFY YOUR  CLIENT BASE

HOW TO DIVERSIFY YOUR CLIENT BASE

It is key for your business to reach a broader audience and by so doing, you will attract a new kind of buyer which makes you more resilient and profitable. In this post, I will give you a few strategies to diversify your audience and expand your reach. Let’s Go!

Assess Your Business

Ensure to take a candid look at your operations, marketing tactics, website, etc. Find out should there be any wrong attitude you are displaying that has been pushing away your customers from your business. NB – “YOUR ATTITUDE DETERMINES YOUR ALTITUDE.”

Conducting a thorough analysis and review of your entire business as a whole has proven to be paramount. The possibility of turning off millennials should you don’t have a website or social media presence is high. This is the more reason for assessing or evaluating your business is relevant.

     Reanalyze Your Products

Starting an entirely new product or simply modifying your present core product is one great way to attract a new demographic. For instance, over the years the NFL has been trying to attract more women and finally found success largely via mechanizing, as well as offering every necessity. The right approach to expanding your products or services is to develop apps and use gamification tactics which typically has proven to be an online marketing technique to encourage engagement with a product or service.

     Networking

Ensure your focal point to be on networking. According to Ronald Burt, he said, “Instead Of Better Glasses, Your Network Gives You Better Eyes.” Did You Know? Personal connections are a great way to increase your audience. The tendency of someone to forget an email is highly possible, but it is much harder for someone to forget you, especially if you make the right impression.  “Most of my business comes through referrals. Each successful client is a link to another potentially successful client,” says Sharon Kraun. This is exactly what you get when you network rightly. So take every opportunity you have to talk about your business because people can’t support what they don’t know about.

     Accept Your Competition

Fighting your competitors has and can never be the right approach to succeeding in business rather working together can often be much more efficient. In business, you face a lot of setbacks, and you have to keep pushing yourself to grow.

When you recognize your competitors are better than you, don’t settle for being envious or angry. Use their superiority as a goad to improve your own operations and strategy. Learn from what they do better and find ways to match or surpass it.

     Public Relations 

Ramping up your public relation is one strategy to be productive in business. In public relations, your only expenses are generally phone calls and mailings to social media. So publicity is more effective than advertising. Publicity has greater longevity than advertising. NB – “An article about your business will be remembered far longer than an ad.”

I suppose you have gained from today’s tips? Now, it’s your turn. Kindly let us know your thoughts in the comments!

TIPS TO BOOST YOUR INSTAGRAM ENGAGEMENT.

TIPS TO BOOST YOUR INSTAGRAM ENGAGEMENT.

Instagram is one of the biggest and busiest social media platforms. Research has it as of 2018 that it boasts more than a billion monthly active users, half of which are active on a daily basis!

Yet it’s not just the colossal audience that makes it an ideal marketing platform. Rather it’s a highly-targeted and visual marketing platform that is great for building a loyal audience.

Forging ahead, let’s consider a few tips that can succour you increase your organic engagement on Instagram.

  • Be Strategic With Your Hashtags

The power of hashtags on a platform like Instagram cannot be downplayed. The right, important and relevant hashtags can help you grow and reach the right people on the platform.

Generally, everyone wants their hashtags to be relevant to their brand, their products, their posts and also the message they are trying to convey.

The question is, how do you find the right hashtags to use? Here’s how you tackle such: I strongly recommend the use of Websta to find the right hashtags.

  • Post Compelling Content

What better way to boost Instagram engagement than post compelling content that allures users to engage?

It’s not just about the image and engrossing captions that count but also the kind of content.

Your contents should be able to address the needs, wants, frustrations, aspirations or fears of your audience. For instance, a fitness business, you could share before-after photos of your clients who’ve benefitted from your services.

That’s precisely what fitness expert Kayla Itsines does to recommend her Bikini Body Program. Frequently, she shares the success stories of her clients on her Instagram page. @Kayla_itsines

  • Be More Active On Instagram Stories

Research has it that Instagram users spend more than 24minutes on Instagram stories on a daily basis which can attest to the fact that it has gain popularity of around 300 million people using it daily. This has proven to be a better way to engage your audience, share behind-the-scenes images and bloopers videos with them. You really need to give it a shot!

  • Be Time Conscious When Posting

posting at the right time is key to increasing Instagram engagement for your business page.

Ensure to maximize your engagements by posting content when most of your followers are likely to be browsing their feeds.

Using the Instagram native analytical tool to get a picture on when your audience is most likely online is very vital. This act will help when you make a post, you will gain more engagements within minutes of posting which count more than engagements gained ages later.

Furthermore, I recommend the use of Sprout Socials’s social media publisher to schedule post beforehand.

  • Add CTAs To All Your Instagram Posts

The act of simply requesting your audience to comment and inviting them to engage will prove very advantageous. This is the reason its paramount to include a call-to-action in your post captions.

This medium encourages your followers to engage with your content through comments and spend more time on your post. It can also be seen as an effective means to boost your Instagram engagement. You could also opt for a much easier approach like asking users a question.

Kindly take a look at this page @bestvacations and how they leverage CTAs to inspire users to get engaged with their posts.

Engagement is the secret to marketing success on Instagram. Ensure to experiment to find the strategies that best increase Instagram engagement for your brand. I trust these tips to help in achieving that.

It’s your turn now. What is the foremost stratagem to boost Instagram engagement rates? Let us know in the comments!

USEFUL CONTENT MARKETING HACKS 2

USEFUL CONTENT MARKETING HACKS 2

  • Segment Your Audience To Truly Know And Reach Them

In order to know what type of content you should produce to drive traffic, it’s helpful to learn about your current and potential audiences. Audience segmentation provides a way to understand various customer personas and characteristics — who they are, how they’re different and how best to reach them. Segmenting your current audience will also better equip you to find and reach out to new target audiences.

Analyzing demographics is a great place to start. Group your audience members by age, gender, geographical location, income, family size and other factors. You’ll need to dig deeper, of course, with insights and data that indicate behaviours and preferences. These indicators can help you create data-driven personas, which will then help you create and serve up relevant content.

  • Diversify Your Reach  

A diversified approach to content distribution is the best approach, from my experience. According to a study by the Content Marketing Institute, on average, business-to-business (B2B) marketers use 13 different content marketing tactics. If you are only creating one kind of content (like a weekly blog) and only promoting it through one channel (say, Facebook), you’re severely diminishing the potential impact of your content.

Utilizing the right channels will help your diversified content generate targeted, qualified leads. Facebook is the most well-known social media channel, and YouTube is great for video-driven content like tutorials, reviews and inspirational shorts. In my experience, LinkedIn and Twitter are more appropriate channels for B2B interactions, and newer platforms, such as Instagram and Snapchat, can be great for reaching millennials. Understanding what social media platforms best fit your particular needs will help you reach a wider audience with your content.

  • Be Consistent

Consistent content engages customers. Being consistent with your content doesn’t just mean you’re publishing regularly — it means you are also maintaining a consistent voice, tone and quality.

A style sheet can be helpful in curating a consistent voice and tone, and a content calendar can be a big help with planning consistent distribution. These items can hold your team accountable to a clearly defined schedule, prompt the sharing of content ideas, notate special events (that may require a content boost) and fine-tune distribution. Having a consistent content plan will likely give you a leg up on your competition.

  • Utilize SEO

Incorporating accurate SEO into your content marketing strategy can do wonders for organic site traffic. SEO can help your website rank higher in search, and highly ranked pages consistently have higher click-through rates (CTR). A good SEO strategy — complete with long-tail keywords, effective meta-descriptions, quality images and descriptive URLs — can help increase CTR and website traffic.

  • Analyze And Optimize

You’ll never know if you’re driving traffic if you don’t measure the performance of your content. Split A/B testing is a particularly useful tool for finding out what kinds of content drive the most traffic. And, as an added benefit, A/B testing also helps you understand your target audience more deeply, which will only serve to help you create more effective content.

What do you want to test? Almost anything on your website or in your shared content that can affect user behaviour can be tested, but you’ll want to focus on the elements most important to driving traffic. These elements include your headline, call to action, content length, images, site speed, landing pages and so on. Once you’ve determined what kinds of content work best for your purposes (namely, driving traffic) your work becomes that much more effective and your overall content marketing strategy clearer.

At the end of the day, it’s critical to provide a clear path to how content will help foster the overall strategy and what will be tracked to ensure success. Doing so will help streamline both content production and marketing efforts.

CC: www.forbes.com

I trust these hacks to help harness your content marketing ability… Should you have any other hack, kindly share in the comments!