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When you create a website for your brand, remember to include a contact or subscriber form so you can reconnect with your visitors. That said, many distractions and competing priorities often lure people away from websites before they take action. So how can we solve this? Facebook retargeting. In this article, we’ll look at how you can incorporate Facebook retargeting into your social media marketing strategy to get your ads in front of previous website visitors. Then, we will show you how to set up your first retargeting campaign. You can launch and manage your campaign using Facebook Ads by Wix. The tool uses advanced machine learning to automatically retarget people who have visited your site. What is Facebook retargeting? Retargeting is an online advertising method used to show ads to people who once visited your website. These ads appear to your audience on Facebook’s platforms, including Instagram and their Audience Network and are an excellent way to tailor your Facebook marketing efforts. What will your audience see? Ideally you will serve personalized content meant to quickly catch the person’s attention —like displaying a product they recently viewed. Remarketing versus retargeting You may have heard of the term “remarketing” before. While it sounds similar to retargeting, these are two different ways to advertise on Facebook: Remarketing is the process of emailing former customers with relevant offers or information to bring them back to your site. Retargeting is the process of displaying eye-catching, relevant ads to previous visitors to encourage them to pick up where they left off in the buyer's journey or make another purchase. Why are Facebook retargeting ads so effective? You can use a Facebook business page to promote your website for free. Facebook’s users spend, on average, 38 minutes on the platform every day—offering a big window of opportunity for you to reach former visitors and customers. It is easy to control spending on this beginner-friendly platform, too. They target people who’ve already been to your site Most importantly, retargeting ads differ from standard Facebook ads. Running ads online can be tricky. You need to know your audience and, more importantly, how to use the advertising platform’s parameters to reach them. With retargeting, your ads get targeted to people who’ve been on your site, know your brand, and have already shown interest in your offerings. The ads are personalized and, thus, more engaging You’ve likely seen a retargeting ad on Facebook or other platforms: A familiar product image or description you viewed just a few days ago pops up as an ad, and you stop to take notice. You remember that you didn’t complete the checkout process because you left your credit card in the other room. Now, with your wallet sitting atop your desk, you go back and complete the purchase. For many of your former visitors, a personalized ad may entice them back to your site, too. Tip: Check out our roundup of the best Facebook ad examples for inspiration. Retargeting ads can be used to boost new item sales You can also use retargeting ads to promote related items, attractive offers and new product releases to previous customers. Simply segment your audience based on their purchase history to show them an ad that matches their interests. Retargeting ads improve brand awareness Your company may need to interact upwards of eight times with a potential customer before they finally purchase. Help keep your brand top-of-mind with retargeted ads that pop up from time to time. Even if one ad doesn’t trigger a purchase, the stream of brand exposure may influence their decision later. Retargeting can bring back visitors, customers and your competitors' customers While Facebook retargeting ads can remind one-time visitors about your site, you can also use them to reconnect with previous customers. Just target people who’ve performed a specific action, like purchasing a product or buying a subscription. You can also target people from similar demographic or behavior profiles, or even those who visited your competitors’ websites. How does retargeting work? Because your ads will target previous website visitors or customers, Facebook needs to know who they are. Retargeting uses these technical methods: With pixels (cookies) When someone visits your website, your site places a cookie in their browser, or a tiny data pixel that allows website owners to track visitors and learn more about them. For retargeting, the pixel provides valuable information about a visitors’ site behavior, including which pages or products they visited. Facebook Advertising syncs this information with your account to choose who to target. Here, you have two options: Behavioral retargeting, which reaches people who visited and engaged with your site before. Contextual retargeting, which reaches people with similar habits and preferences to your audience, but on other sites. Keep in mind that with behavioral retargeting, Facebook can only reach people who have visited your site. So, if your traffic numbers are low, start with standard ads focused on acquiring new visitors. With contact info (lists) If you use forms, checkouts or landing pages to collect visitor’s contact information, you can import those custom lists into Facebook. The platform will then identify which email addresses or phone numbers match existing users and will serve them relevant ads. The best practice with this option is to upload segmented contact lists rather than your master list and then create relevant ads based on their demographics and previous brand engagement. How to create a Facebook retargeting campaign in 7 steps Ready to harness the power of the largest social media network? You can start by using machine learning technology to run campaigns with Facebook Ads by Wix. Alternatively, you follow these steps to set up a campaign manually: 01. Set up your accounts To retarget on Facebook, make sure to set up the following accounts: A personal account A Facebook business page A Business Manager account 02. Customize account settings Go to your Facebook business page. Click on the section called Ad Center in the left sidebar and open the All Ads tab beneath it. 3. Click on Ads Manager. The campaign dashboard looks like this: You will use this dashboard to create, manage, and track any ads you run on Facebook, retargeting or otherwise. Before you do anything else, go to the Settings (gear) widget in the bottom-left area of the sidebar. Take a moment to fill in your business’s information as well as your Payment Settings: Add a payment method that Facebook can withdraw funds from to cover the costs of your ads. Also make sure to set a withdrawal limit on your account to ensure you never overspend on any given campaign. 03. Create your audience To create retargeting audiences, click on the Business Tools (waffle) widget in the top-left corner of your Ads Manager. Select the Audience option and the following screen will appear: You’ll want to use Custom Audience. Click “Create a Custom Audience” and select the correct source from the next screen: Since we want to retarget website visitors, you’d choose Website. However, you can just as easily use your other sources: App activity if you also have a mobile app Customer list if you have a CRM, email marketing, or eCommerce spreadsheet with customer email addresses or phone numbers Offline activity if you have data to upload from your brick-and-mortar business Click “Next” and fill in the following info: Give your pixel a unique, descriptive name and enter your website URL. Click “Continue” to let Facebook know which data to track from this source: You can get as specific as you’d like here: Decide if your audience meets ANY or ALL of the following rules. Track All website visitors, People who visited specific pages, or Visitors by time spent. To include more than one group, use the “Include More People” option. When finished, name your audience and click “Create Audience.” 04. Install the Facebook pixel Open your Facebook Business Tools menu and go to the Events Manager. You’ll be taken to a list of your Data Sources (i.e. the pixel and site you set up in the previous step): You’ll now need to install the pixel so Facebook can pull in data from your site. Click “Continue Pixel Setup.” There are two ways to do this: Manual or third-party integration. If you built your site with Wix, you can use the built-in integration for Facebook pixels. Select Use a Partner Integration, then click “Use a partner” and choose Wix from the next screen. Facebook will take you through the rest of the Wix setup process: Toggle on the Turn On Automatic Advanced Matching button and click “Continue” to get your instructions for installing the Facebook pixel. Make sure you test that the pixel works when you get to the “Verify Connection” step. Also, follow the steps outlined under “Set Up Events.” This will take you back to the events manager, where you should now see your data source as active. 05. Set up your campaign Go to your Ads Manager and click the green “+ Create” button to set up a campaign. Choose a goal for your campaign: Your goal depends on your audience and what action you want them to take on your site. Should they: Sign up as a subscriber? Message you about services? Buy a product? Pick the objective that most fits your campaign goals. Once you’ve set up and named your campaign, create an ad set with your preferred rules. You need fill in the following information for your ad set: Name The conversion event on your website Budget Start and end date Your custom audience Placement type (automatic is best) When you’re done, click the “Next” button. 06. Set up your retargeting ad First, Facebook wants to know your destination URL; in other words, when someone sees your retargeting ad, where do you want to send them to? Then, give your ad a name—something memorable and distinctive from the other ads you’ll create. Next, you’ll see the option to segment your audience. Rather than use Facebook’s parameters, select your custom audience from the dropdown provided. Next, set a budget for your ad that aligns with your cost-per-lead and return on investment goals. After that, follow our best practices for creating successful Facebook Ads. When satisfied with your ad, click “Place Order” and let Facebook do the rest. 07. Measure your results Keep a close eye on your Facebook retargeting campaign to ensure success. Your Ads Manager dashboard will provide you with rich information about your ongoing and previous ad runs. This metric will tell you if you’ve optimized your ads to reach your visitors and bring them back to your site. If you do not see many views or clicks, this could mean: Your website traffic numbers are too small. Try to drive more traffic to your site. Your ad creative or offer doesn’t convince your target audience to return to your site. Change your targeting settings and test different copy and images. You can also use your most successful retargeting campaign data as a framework for future campaigns, helping you drive even more traffic back to your site.

The Wix SEO team has compiled the top 11 SEO trends we think will not only help your target audience find you on Google, but also help you build a solid organic growth strategy. But this important list comes with a disclaimer: we don’t really believe in SEO “trends.” SEO is not a short-term game or gimmick, but rather a part of your strategy that involves constant evolvement and growth. So whether you want to create a website, start a business, or just get your pages more visible in search—we’ve got you covered with SEO trends that will make your brand stand out. PS. Still not sure what SEO is? Start with our What is SEO guide. The SEO trends we’ll discuss: UX and performance Clustering SERP features Artificial Intelligence Brand trust Video content International SEO Site hierarchy Backlinks Conversion rate optimization Google updates and ranking volatility 01. UX and performance Key takeaway: Keep an eye on Google’s evolving user experience and performance metrics and measurement tools. Google introduced Core Web Vitals (CWV) over two years ago, and since then has gradually incorporated them into their algorithm (first mobile, then desktop). These performance metrics show us Google’s increasing focus on user experience and website performance. Not only should we aim to deliver the best content that matches a user’s search intent, but also Google also prioritizes fast-loading content that allows for immediate interaction. Since 2020, Google hasn’t introduced or updated CWV metrics. For the most part, how a site is measured against CWV is almost the same as when they were first introduced. But according to Asi Falcon, Technical SEO Expert, two recent updates show that Google is not only placing more emphasis on the user experience, but also making it easier for developers to improve page performance. First, in March 2022 Google introduced their Performance Insights panel, a tool that simplifies the CWV optimization process for developers. For example, it shows where a render blocking resource sits on a page, and makes it clear what slows it down the most. Additionally, in May 2022 Google introduced INP (Interaction to Next Paint), an experimental metric that measures all interactions in total runtime, beyond first load and responsiveness. Google states that INP is, “about making sure the website lets you interact with it within a short period of time.” Let’s say a user presses a button on a site. Originally, Google measured performance based on First Input Delay (FID). This metric indicated the time between the button being pressed and the signal sent to the “event listener” (what triggers the interactive element). Today, INP, by contrast, measures the entire time between the user pressing a button, and the interactive element actually appears. Google has not made it clear if INP will become a new metric or if it will replace FID entirely. But what is clear is that user first SEO is here to stay. 02. Clustering Key takeaway: Match your clusters with on-point internal linking. It’s no surprise that content quality matters alongside optimization for users and search engines. In the past, two specific Google updates—Hummingbird in 2013 and RankBrain in 2015—have placed topic-centered content in the spotlight. However, Ofir Buchsweiler, Content SEO Expert at Wix, predicts that the search engine is looking beyond single pages, and instead is looking for the big picture. “A satisfied user will get a whole journey around the topic on your site," she says. Judit Ruiz Ricart, Head of Growth for the Wix Blogs, agrees: "As search engine algorithms advance, our content efforts must evolve from keyword-centric to topic-wide.” Enter: clustering. Clustering means organizing your blog’s content according to relevant topics, in a way that helps signify to Google that you’re an authoritative source. Ricart says that at Wix, by covering a high percentage of entities (what Google refers to as a definable subject or concept) for a certain topic or cluster, all related content is more likely to rank in high positions. Let’s see what a marketing cluster looks like as an overarching topic: We’d create an in-depth article targeting “Marketing Strategies,” which will function as the cluster’s pillar page. We’d then expand on that cluster by breaking down its overarching topic. For example, creating a “types of marketing” subcluster, creating another pillar page that contained a complete guide to the different marketing types. But our marketing cluster doesn’t stop there. Let’s say that now, within the ”types of marketing” cluster we have an article about social media marketing. Our research shows us that this trending topic interests our readers and comes with a lot to write about. In this case, we’d build the topic of “social media marketing” into a sub-cluster and expand on “types of marketing” even further by including articles on Facebook marketing, Instagram marketing, etc. Eventually, each type of social media marketing we wrote about on the pillar page turns into their own articles and even subclusters of their own, down the line. To help connect the dots, Yael Iba Tepeleni, International SEO Expert at Wix, recommends using the most “overlooked” SEO tactic: Internal linking. “It will help Google discover your pages faster, users navigate easier, and most importantly, boost your rankings for a specific keyword/anchor. It’s a quick win,” she says. Semantic SEO is a part of the process when it comes to clustering and worth checking out. 03. SERP features Key takeaway: The SERP always evolves, and Google always experiments—keep an eye on what SERP features your target keywords rank for and adjust your content accordingly. Google knows that even if users search enter very broad terms, they are still searching for a relevant answer. That’s why featured snippets, which highlight specific excerpts from articles to provide users with quick answers, have become a favorite among SERP features. For years, SEO experts have copiously tracked and secured featured snippets, but some of the most eagle-eyed have noticed that Google is now testing the position of other SERP features like People Also Ask or Videos, to more accurately meet user intent. This example from Mordy Oberstein, Head of SEO Branding, shows just how much query filtering Google offers searchers, especially when searching broad terms: With this, Kyle Place, SEO Content Expert, says that a fluctuating SERP can affect your clicks and CTR—even if your ranking remains the same. “As Google adds or removes features, the number of organic results varies from the familiar 10 blue links. So while you may not see a drop in position for a particular keyword, you could be pushed further down the page or onto another one,” he adds. Mikki Ben-Or, SEO Content Expert, elaborates on this, saying that in the past, when Wix gains a keyword’s featured snippet, the CTR for that particular page increases— even compared to ranking in the first position on the SERP without the snippet. 04. Artificial Intelligence Key takeaway: Be open to change—automation can only help you. AI is an exciting space in any industry, and where it goes in SEO remains to be seen. Ido Shazkin, SEO Content Expert, has his eye on the scope and impact of AI on SEO from three angles: search, content writing, and on- and off-page analysis. AI and search: The SEO world had Artificial Intelligence on its radar since Google introduced MUM (Multitask Unified Model) in May of 2021. MUM works with natural language processing (NLP) to process Google’s extensive global data (text, images and video in multiple languages) and accurately answer search queries. MUM highlights the following best practices for SEOs should: Focus on the specific intent of users more than ever Bring multimedia to your content when it matches users’ intent Cluster your content according to topics Organize your content by implementing internal linking and schema AI and content writing: Not every search query demands the best content in the world. Someone searching “how to start a YouTube channel,” for example, probably wants something straightforward, informative, with step-by-step instructions. They don’t want Pulitzer-winning content, so why waste time and resources creating it? It seems that AI-generated content (like those created by Natural Language Generation platforms Jasper, Copysmith and Writesonic) is stepping in to fill this void. One of the biggest concerns is if AI-generated content can meet the user’s expectations and Google’s strict content standards. Will they deem it of high enough quality or will they penalize it? Since this space is developing, there are no straight-forward answers with AI content generation. Plenty of content creators already use AI content tools for pre-publishing input, such as Grammarly and Wordtune, but Google is against AI pure AI-generated content. We predict that there’s room to experiment using AI to create a mix of article briefs and drafts, but we’re not losing the human element in the editing and publishing process. AI and on-page/off-page analysis If AI can make content creation faster, it can also help us organize, prioritize and scale our day-to-day workflows and research. AI has the potential to make SEO analysis more efficient in two areas: On-page analysis: An example is tracking and scaling tests to improve a page’s meta titles’ click-through-rate. AI tools like Rytr, Frase and Simplify can not only rewrite meta titles using SERP analysis, but they can also analyze your data and identify which keywords don’t reach your benchmark. Off-page analysis: AI tools like Similarweb can crawl the web and identify quality sites or content that advance your outreach efforts, saving you time. From niche podcasts, to sites with high topic authority and field experts—AI tools can help highlight relevant professionals to connect with. 05. Brand trust Key takeaway: First and foremost, be a great company—then focus on building up the signals that tell search engines just how great you are. Expertise, Authority and Trust (E-A-T) is not a new SEO concept, but a venerated and essential factor in creating high-quality, high-ranking content. What makes this worthy of our trends list, according to Ido Shazkin, SEO Content Expert, is that external brand and reputation reviews are now influencing the SERP and have a growing impact on a company’s online authority. Shazkin predicts that, in response, brands will signal authority to Google via expert-authored or verified content, dedicated author pages and expert-reviewed content supported by citations schema. Outside of on-page content, Adela Ance, International SEO Expert, suggests that a brand’s overall reputation can affect Google rankings as well. As consumers demand more commitment to trusted and sustainable practices, any material published that can detract from a positive and transparent brand image could also affect a brand’s E-A-T. One way your content team can establish company transparency is through webinars, which, regardless of topic, inform a large audience on essential information. As Clémence Arthur, International SEO Expert points out, webinars are not only a great way to build authority with strategic SEO content. They’re also a great way to make your online material more immersive and engaging, allowing your brand to speak directly and personally to its audience. 06. Video content Key takeaway: Start prioritizing video content by embedding videos in written content and devising a wider plan to get your videos ranking. Many companies overlook the game-changing SEO potential of video content, even when they already use videos as part of their marketing strategy. However, according to Yana Arad Raduzky, SEO Domain Expert, videos can be an easy win for SEO. “One of my greatest ROI successes was recycling paid ads promoting an RPG game into evergreen SEO content for YouTube and Google,” she says. Two key indicators show us that video could have a big future on SERPs: Video rich snippets appear as the top result for a growing number of user intents, especially on mobile search. In July 2021, Google announced automated identification of parts within a video, meaning that more videos will have the extended snippet showing ‘key moments” (or, specific chapters within the video). Video rich results take up a lot of SERP real estate. If you see a video tops the results page, Google likely has identified video as the most relevant content form for the query. This hints that another well-optimized video will have the best chance to rank, too. Following the pre-launch of YouTube Shorts in 2020, Google added a "Short Videos" carousel to mobile SERPs featuring clips from TikTok and Instagram Reels. Shorts are a new product, so it makes sense that Google makes them more visible on the mobile SERP to ensure their success. Let’s also not forget that Gen Z prefers to use video-first platforms, like TikTok, over traditional search engines like Google to identify and consume intent-driven content. 07. International SEO Key takeaway: To win international SEO, you need to go beyond translating keywords. International SEO is not a short-term strategy, Like other SEO strategies, scaling globally takes time and involves constant tracking and reporting. That’s why you should seriously consider if international SEO fits your marketing strategy and if you have the resources to do it properly. If you do want to dip your toes into localization, you’ll first need to decide if your audience needs localized content. You can get your answer by combining geo-specific competitor research with keyword research to understand how your target audience searches and behaves online. For example, if you’re targeting an Indian market, you may consider localizing your content for a Hindi-speaking population. But through your research, you may find that Indian consumers want English content, and that your translations would be in vain. According to Marieke Ehlers, International SEO Expert, the only way to win at International SEO is to localize everything along your site’s customer journey. Nothing turns off a potential customer more than arriving at your site via a blog post in the local language, only to be sent to a pricing page that isn’t. That may mean re-thinking where to start with your SEO research. While Google has a hold on search all over the world, that doesn’t mean you should disregard local search engines, too.. In Korea, for example, you might see pages behave differently in Google compared to Naver, the local equivalent. Once you gain international visitors, make sure you adapt images, videos and other multimedia to match local needs. A great example is the German Wix homepage, which includes an image of an actual person, rather than a product, since the German audience proved to respond more to this. 08. Site hierarchy Key takeaway: Make sure your internal linking strategy reflects the importance of site hierarchy—if you get that right, you’ll show your search engines your authority where it matters. Since site hierarchy is one way to show Google authority on a topic, you should identify your most important pages. According to Nitzan Papirov Eiges, Technical SEO Team Lead, the Pareto principle is a great way to understand what percentage of pages should be your authoritative ones. This ~20% (following the principle) will represent the pinnacle of your expertise—and you want Google to see these pages. The rest of your pages will support these top 20%, through internal linking. While you can show your authority in several ways, internal linking, sends a clear signal to both Google and your users about how your content fits together. To learn more about creating a strategy for your site, check out this internal linking webinar featuring SEO consultant and co-founder of Zyppy Cyrus Shepard as he delves into a recent case study on 23 million internal links. Two more ways to improve your authoritative content is to make sure: Your main menu (and its links) is consistent across your site pages. The menu, header and footer includes your most important links, as they will become the most linked to. 09. Backlinks Key takeaway: Focus on a diverse set of high-quality backlinks that support your site’s goals. Speaking of linking, the importance of backlinking and the best way to secure them is a practice that’s constantly evolving. “Backlinks are one of the more essential aspects of optimizing a site to gain the online presence and credibility it wants to achieve,” says Ophyr Hanan from the SEO Outreach Team. “The world of earning high-quality backlinks is a crucial and inseparable part of SEO.” While on-page SEO focuses on optimizing the pages themselves, off-site SEO focuses on increasing traffic to your website and improving your online reputation through backlinks. Since backlinks help search engines decipher how authoritative your site is, the more high-quality and relevant backlinks your site gains from reliable websites, the more likely a search engine will rank it high on the SERP for relevant queries and keywords. A high-quality backlink comes from a related page with original or well-reported content, from a reputable site. For example, if you published an original report about your site's SEO practices and related, reputable SEO sites (e.g. SEMrush's blog) cited the page in a round-up of the best SEO teams in enterprise marketing, there's a good chance Google would consider that a high-quality backlink. According to Sharon Greenfeld, Outreach and App Store Optimization Team Lead, the first step to gaining quality backlinks is regularly publishing and updating your site’s content. The next, more challenging part comes when you must audit your site’s backlink profile and rid it of duplicate or low-quality referral links. While Google suggests that toxic links don’t hold any weight on your site’s ranking (meaning you can just ignore them), you can still “Disavow” spammy links, or signal to Google that it should ignore them, too. While many of your backlinks may come organically, you can actively reach out to high-quality sites and seek strategic backlinks. To learn more about developing a backlinking strategy, read Wix SEO Hub’s Backlinking 101 guide, or their guide to getting started with backlinking. Check out Ophyr Hanan sharing her story as an SEO specialist with Semrush. 10. Conversion rate optimization Key takeaway: Not every page should convert, but when it can, make sure it does it well. Your conversion rate can impact how Google views your site and how well you can meet your user’s intent. “Google cares that your site is accurate and reliable,” says Amanda Weiner, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) Specialist. “Of course, it [also] doesn’t hurt that if your elements are spot on, visitors will spend more time on your pages, clicking through to more inner pages. This ultimately shows Google that your site is what they were looking for.” Best practices for improving conversion rates include having clear cut buttons, text that explains exactly what you sell, plus images that support said text. 11. Google updates & rank volatility Key takeaway: Turn the focus from major algorithmic events to tracking ranking and behavior trends over time. SEO doesn’t sleep. While your rankings may have fluctuated after major Google algorithm updates, Mordy Oberstein, Head of SEO Branding, thinks these updates are becoming seemingly less powerful over time. Instead, the algorithm is heading towards more consistent, if not “real-time” updates. In October 2021, Oberstein found that there was a 68% increase in the instances (i.e. number of days in the year) that presented significant levels of rank volatility (i.e. the number of positions sites tended to move up or down the SERP). However, the actual rank movement was less drastic. Much of the volatility experienced in the past represented a series of rank reversals. Meaning, Google changes the URL’s SERP position only to reverse its ranking days or weeks later (with a possible reversal after that, and so on,). At times, Google tests new positions for URLs of a given keyword, reversing the rank to its former position only to release an official core update that cements the initial ranking change Google. Oberstein adds, “Google constantly changes the SERP rankings, testing new constructs (hence the reversals) and deciding on what makes sense for the query. At the same time, Google seemingly relies less on major algorithmic landmarks (i.e., core updates) to alter SERP rankings. Meaning, we seem headed towards Google making consistent (though perhaps less dramatic) and continuous ranking changes. This may sound like an outlandish concept, but remember Google’s Penguin went from infrequent specific releases to real-time functioning.”

If you're a business who prioritizes staying "in the know," keeping up with social networks is just a part of the job in the online world. We’re not just talking about posting regularly either — even though responding to questions and concerns from customers is an important step for your online business presence. However, if you often find yourself semi-swamped with Tweets, Facebook posts, and Instagram DMs, imagine how many people out there are discussing your business or product without directly mentioning you? There are so many conversations happening on social networks that several pertaining to your business can go unnoticed if you’re not mentioned or tagged within the post itself. If you’re missing these conversations, you’re missing potential opportunities to help existing and find potential customers, as well as resolve issues that may have risen for past ones. Moreover, these conversations can allow you to see how others feel about your business. This is called social listening, and it’s a vital tactic to improve the perception of your brand. From the way you choose to create a free website to all of your social media marketing strategies, below, we’re going to tell you about what social listening is and how you can apply it to your own business. What is social listening? Social listening is actively monitoring conversations that are happening across social networks about your brand, products, your competitors, or other industry-related and relevant keywords. Then, you try to find actionable responses to these conversations. These responses could be in the form of a literal response to a social post or an adjustment to your marketing strategy due to feedback you found. Social listening allows a brand to be proactive in conversations about it, improving reliability, social relevance, and trust with your audience. Social listening also allows you to see the social media sentiment, which is how people feel about your brand by gauging whether the responses (on either a particular post or a broader range, such as account as a whole) received are positive, negative, or neutral. Knowing this can let you respond accordingly by changing your wording, advertising strategy, and more, so you can increase your positive reactions. Social listening versus social monitoring If you’re new to the world of social media management for your business, the terms “social listening” and “social monitoring” may seem interchangeable, but they aren’t. While the two share similarities, each has their own purpose and benefits. Social monitoring is the act of responding to customer comments, questions, and issues as they’re received. This reactive approach is primarily in place to get the commenter from point A to point B — whether point B is a how-to guide, support article that solves the issue, or information, such as how to contact support. This type of social interaction is not only vital for customers, but also the minimum effort you should be putting forth on your social media branding. Social listening, on the other hand, is proactive. It zooms out on social monitoring’s macro focus and looks at the bigger picture: How are people talking about your brand in conversations you’re not tagged in? For many businesses that don’t take part of social listening, these conversations are as far gone as the dark web, and this valuable data is lost to the ether. It’s not just about your brand, either. Social listening zooms out to your entire industry, so you can identify trends, keep up with competition, and let your customers know you’re there for them when they need you. Why is social listening important? Now that you know the difference between social monitoring and social listening, it’s a little easier to discern why the latter is important. In a nutshell, it provides insight that social monitoring doesn’t and wasn’t intended to do. It doesn’t mean this reactive tactic is not important, but here are some of the things you can’t find with monitoring that you can with listening. Proactive tactic: Allows you to take initiative and create opportunities instead of waiting for them. Identify happy customers: Surprise and delight happy customers by thanking them, giving special offers or perks. Find unhappy customers: Address unsatisfied customers head-on, without being prompted, to direct them to the solutions they seek. Pinpoint influencers in your industry: Find social accounts that hold clout within your industry. Define trends in your industry: Provide relevant, on-the-nose posts that respond to a trending topic in your industry. Take note of potential customers: Chime in when people are looking for suggestions within your industry. Provide customer service: Offer help to customers or remind them that you’re available to help them if they need it. Avoid PR nightmares: Address potentially brand-threatening situations before they grow into a full day of damage control. Get a sense of what people think of your brand: Without adding a mention or tagging you in a post directly, people will tend to speak more freely about your brand, allowing you to get an idea of how people perceive your brand. This kind of customer feedback is invaluable. Social listening in action Sometimes seeing is believing, even if we’re talking about listening. While we can tell you all the ways social listening can be used, seeing real examples can be just as helpful. Below, we’ve detailed a few examples of the tactic in action. Netflix Socks: Sometimes, just showing that you’re listening can be effective. Netflix proved that in a big way. It received several complaints on social media from users that were falling asleep while watching Netflix, only to wake up to spoilers or rolling credits. So, the streaming service took action in the most hilarious of ways. It made socks. Not just any socks — socks with a built-in sleep detection system that will pause Netflix if you doze off. Falling asleep to Netflix is far from Netflix’s problem. Still, the socks it created were in response to the comments it received from its users. It’s funny, fairly amazing, and more than a little bit clever. The cherry on top? The socks won a Shorty Award for Best Creative Use of Technology. Samsung responds to competition: As mentioned earlier, social listening requires you to take a look at your industry as a whole, including your competition. When Samsung noticed that one of its competitors, Huawei, released a new smartphone and focused on its camera and slow-motion video capture features, it was able to respond by adjusting its marketing strategy and focus on its own phone’s slo-mo prowess. Morton’s Steakhouse delivers to airport for one traveler This one sounds too good to be true, but there’s enough coverage on it to shirk any non-believers. In 2011, Peter Shankman jokingly tweeted out to Morton’s Steakhouse, asking if they’d deliver a porterhouse at the Newark airport when he landed. Well, the steakhouse saw the tweet and a man in a tuxedo holding a bag was waiting for Shankman when he got off the plane. You can even read Shankman’s full rundown of the story here. Social listening tools After reading about the opportunities you can find via social listening, we’re sure you’re excited to start trying it out yourself, but it wouldn’t be right to send you off without knowing the tools to make the entire process easier for you. Hootsuite Insights: Not only does Hootsuite Insights offer a rich set of social media analytics tools specifically aimed at listening, they also include an analysis of sentiment, trend-tracking, and in-depth performance reports. Brandwatch: This is a “does it all” tool that may be overkill for many small businesses. Still, Brandwatch offers a fantastic set of tools for things like competitor analysis, brand management, influencer marketing, and much more. Awario: If you’re looking for a sophisticated suite of social listening tools, Awario can help. It specializes in social media monitoring, social selling, social listening for both teams and agencies, and influencer marketing. Audiense: If deep insights into your audience is what you’re looking for, Audiense Insights should definitely be on your list. Whether you’re trying to understand your audience, or looking to further develop it, Audiense will get you there. Sprout Social: To say that Sprout Social offers an elaborate set of solutions would be an understatement, but that’s very much a good thing. Whether it’s social monitoring, customer care, or data and analysis (including social listening), it’s really hard not to recommend. Starting with Sprout Social may be a smart idea if you plan on seeking out additional social media management solutions after you’ve become a social listening master. By Blake Stimac Wix Blog Writer

Climate change and the existential threats of global carbon emissions have become a primary concern worldwide — and not just one reserved for governments and political figures. The topic has worked its way into the modern conversation, leading many consumers to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle. In fact, a third of global consumers will pay more for brands that produce environmentally-friendly products. A good marketing strategy must align with consumer values, and in response, many brands have modeled their businesses around sustainability and have shifted their strategies to provide transparency around their efforts. But before you add a sustainability page promoting your brand’s environmental initiatives while creating a website, it’s important to understand how to ethically—and impactfully—implement sustainable marketing in your strategy. A carefully designed sustainable marketing plan will help you avoid greenwashing, or misleading consumers into thinking your product, service, or organization is more environmentally-responsible than it actually is. In this article, we’ll not only define sustainable marketing, but show you how to effectively incorporate this concept into your business activities. What is sustainability? It’s important to understand the term sustainability in it’s modern conception before diving into how it affects marketing. The 1987 United Nations Brundtland Commission first defined sustainability as, “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Born from this definition, British management consultant John Elkington coined the term triple bottom line, or the idea that business decisions should balance people, profit and the planet. Elkington wanted to rethink capitalism and challenge business owners to consider the energy, natural resources and waste produced from sourcing, manufacturing, transporting and disposing of product material in addition to potential profit. What is sustainable marketing? While sustainability can have different meanings in terms of business, sustainable marketing refers to how a brand promotes its socially responsible products and services and commitment to environmentalism. Unlike other marketing trends, this type of marketing is not just another brand marketing strategy to promote a brand or product-–it’s the culmination of your business’ commitment to environmental and societal change. A sustainable marketing plan also needs to be just that: sustainable. This may imply an entire refresh of your marketing strategy and business operations while still considering your value proposition and customer pain points. To avoid greenwashing, sustainable marketing needs to also integrate and inform core business functions to ensure that the company practices what it preaches. If a sustainable marketing plan does not reflect actual business practices, it can lead to a huge loss of consumer trust. For example, fast fashion brands like Zara and H&M contribute a large portion of the 80% of discarded clothing worldwide. Both launched sustainable product lines but provide insufficient detail regarding their supply and production chains, inviting harsh scrutiny. Critics wonder if this lack of transparency is a false marketing ploy designed to make the companies appear environmentally cautious. Benefits of sustainable marketing Tensie Whelan and Carly Fink of the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business wrote in the Harvard Business Review that sustainable businesses, both large and small, experience greater business efficiency and better financial performance. This is important as the cost of climate change is impacting businesses indiscriminately. Since sustainability requires a holistic business approach, it often leads to more innovation since these companies, as nonprofit digital marketing firm Yodelpop puts it, “look ahead to potential societal issues as opportunities.” Sustainable marketing also contributes to long term consumer trust, giving businesses a competitive advantage. Consumers identify more closely with brands committed to the triple bottom line and transparency. Creating a sustainable marketing plan Sustainable marketing requires a multi-faceted approach. All departments must unify to achieve sustainability goals without deterring each other's business efforts. Because of its transformative nature, adopting a sustainable marketing methodology is a worthy, but complex, process. And the route you’ll take depends greatly on how long your business has operated. Many newer companies were founded with sustainability as a fundamental brand value and adopted these practices from the get-go. For example, Oatly was created to reduce the demand for milk and the impact of the dairy industry’s greenhouse gas emissions. Oatly’s vision is to create “a food system that’s better for people and the planet,” and their sustainable marketing strategy centers around making customers feel that their purchase creates a more sustainable world. According to Forbes, 70% of Millennials pay more for brands that support a cause they believe in, a statistic Oatly has taken and ran with: As part of its sustainable marketing strategy, the oat milk company uses a casual, hipster brand voice that speaks to its young, environmentally-aware target demographic. The company aligns its vernacular, graphics and font across all marketing assets to emulate the characteristics of its branding. But they also know the value of consumer trust and work to attain it: Oatly is dedicated to ensuring all aspects of its business are as sustainable and transparent as possible. They do this by minimizing its impact, creating an alternative to milk, reducing the demand for dairy as well as committing to transparency. The company publicizes its environmental targets and their plan to meet them in its 2020 Sustainability Report. In addition, this document not only outlines the steps they’ve taken to reduce their carbon footprint, but how their product positively impacts the environment. While the reality remains that no business can produce zero waste or carbon emissions, there is still tremendous opportunity for companies to reduce their impact as much as possible. Oatly is a great example of how newer companies should create a sustainable marketing strategy because it exemplifies how to gain—and keep—the trust of your target audience. On the other hand, legacy companies often need to update their product and marketing strategies to better align with sustainable values. One of the most well-known examples is Lego. When the company was established in 1932, environmental impact was not a primary concern. But with the increased consumer demand for sustainable business practices, the company announced its new sustainability plan in September 2020. Today, Lego has an entire website page dedicated to its sustainability goals. Two primary targets include a commitment to creating all Lego pieces from plant-based materials, such as sugarcane, by 2030 and producing all packaging using recycled or renewable materials by 2025. Lego markets this initiative with website images and a YouTube video of Lego men collecting trash as well as tree structures made entirely of Legos. The toy company uses recognizable visuals of its iconic colorful building blocks and of course, the classic Lego man. The connection to childhood evokes emotion and nostalgia, and also screams the importance of creating a sustainable world for future generations. Lego shows that older companies are still able to incorporate sustainability into their business strategies. Now that you have an idea of what your business needs to do, here’s how you can start creating a sustainable marketing strategy. Take advantage of existing resources Keep in mind that sustainability is not a separate sector, but should be incorporated into your entire business. However, the idea is still relatively new and companies may not know where to begin. Here are some useful resources you can use to get started: The Small Business Administration offers a free Sustainability Toolkit that includes an abundance of information. You can also check out Constellation Energy’s guide on creating a business sustainability plan. In addition, there are climate consulting firms your business can hire such as: Green Places - Helps businesses calculate their carbon footprint and set reduction goals. Carbon Trust - Works with companies worldwide to become climate neutral. Lastly, check out these free online carbon emissions calculators to get a quantitative understanding of your company's environmental impact: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Carbon Footprint Conservation International Start broad and think long term As Adanma Onuoha, the Marketing and Communications Officer for the Network for Business Sustainability says, “The public knows that sudden change is almost impossible, so you need an objective that targets high-scale change over a large timeframe.” It’s helpful to designate a point person or team to keep track of your sustainability efforts as your business works toward its goals. Depending on your company size, you may even want to hire a sustainability director. Once you’ve named an owner of the project, have them create a list of sustainability goals, in collaboration with the rest of your staff. These goals shouldn’t be new marketing campaigns–they should be actionable steps you implement over time so your company can slowly adapt. Once you have a comprehensive strategy in place, start thinking about how to market your company’s dedication to sustainability to consumers. Promote communication across your company Your strategy needs to address your product’s lifecycle. While your product development may cause minimal environmental detriment, other areas of your company may still produce unnecessary waste and carbon emissions. Ensure all departments communicate their processes as part of your sustainable business strategy. Product developers, business executives and marketers need to align business activities and ensure that sustainability goals are implemented. If you do this, you’ll not only earn the public’s trust, but you’ll safeguard the business from any unintentional greenwashing. Form partnerships with other companies Sustainability forces businesses to think on a broader scale beyond profit through collaboration and transparency for the greater good. Marketers need to consider how combined industry activities contribute to a sustainable ecosystem. According to the Guardian, doing so allows all parties to do away with the “limits of their individual power to create transformational change.” A primary example of this is B-Lab, the nonprofit organization that certifies B-Corporations. According to their website, B-Lab “creates standards, policies, tools, and programs that shift the behavior, culture, and structural underpinnings of capitalism.” This organization works with business partners to create more holistic, economically-beneficial and environmentally-friendly business models. Those who certify as B-Corps have access to the organization’s resources to help bridge the gap between individual companies. In addition, B-Lab helps unify values and goals while ensuring they still earn a profit. Another example of an industry partnership is Sephora’s Clean and Planet Positive program. This partnership expands their original Clean at Sephora program, which included 50 makeup and skincare brands dedicated to chemical-free and plant-based ingredients. Sephora announced this new alliance in July 2021 and to be considered, companies must meet four requirements: a commitment to climate, sustainable sourcing, responsible packaging and donation to an environmental cause. All packaging is labeled with a green seal so customers know which products are a part of the program. As of writing, the program includes only 18 brands.

Not all that sparkles is gold. It could be a really beautiful Wix website with images of gold, like these jewelry websites we have here today. The exquisite taste of the Wix users who created these sites is evident not only in the jewelry, but also in the web design itself. Beautiful photographs placed just right, wonderful use of typography and great product display are just some of the niceties these sites have to offer. These websites, created with the Wix website builder, do a terrific job in presenting jewelry pieces as prestige and desirable objects. This is not bling, this is class.

Running Facebook ads is something that many small businesses eventually consider at one point or another. However, if you don’t know a lick about advertising, let alone on Facebook, it can be very intimidating. Don’t worry though, the insight and knowledge you gain far outweighs the learning curve. (Plus, you have us!) Seeing real success with your Facebook ads comes down to getting to know your audience. Gathering these insights through long, personal conversations with each of your customers isn't always possible. Instead, what if you could collect specific data about them that helps you better target your ad campaigns? Enter the Facebook pixel. When added to your free website, this small piece of code can give you incredibly valuable data that will help you along your path of Facebook advertising. We’re going to show you how to get started with it below. What is the Facebook Pixel? The Facebook pixel is a small piece of Javascript code that can enhance your Facebook marketing efforts when you add it to your website. Those who have actually heard of it may have the assumption that the pixel is only used for tracking and measuring user interactions. While it can very much do this, it’s not its only trick. This feature can be used in conjunction with your Facebook business page to build your audience, track general or specific conversion events, and assists with ad retargeting. The data gathered from these functions translates to sharper audience targeting/ad delivery and more thorough knowledge about how visitors use your website. So when creating a Facebook account, don't forget to remember the pixel. I’m not ready to advertise on Facebook, should I still install the pixel? YES. A resounding yes! Even if you’re not ready to begin Facebook advertising, you should install it as soon as you can. Why? When you're ready to start advertising, you'll already have an immense pool of data to work with. Simply because the pixel will begin collecting data from the time it’s added and you elect to keep that data for up to 180 days with certain tracking methods. This is also necessary for later facebook retargeting so don't neglect it. How to create the Facebook pixel Possibly the best part of the Facebook pixel? It’s not rocket science to implement. Creating and adding it to your website is a pretty straightforward process. Once you create a Facebook page, you’ll first need to make sure you’ve correctly set up Facebook ads before you can create a Facebook pixel. Once you’re ready to go on that front, follow the instructions below to create your very own pixel. Login to the Facebook Ads Manager Click on ‘Tools’ from the top bar menu Click ‘Pixels’ Click ‘Create a pixel’ Give your pixel a name Click ‘Create pixel’ Seeing something different? If you’re on a page that doesn’t show the top bar menu shown in the video above, click on the hamburger menu at the top left of the Ads Manager. Under the Measure and Report section, select ‘Pixels’ and follow steps four through six above. How to install the Facebook pixel to your website While creating a Facebook pixel is nothing but a series of clicks, installing it can be a little more involved, depending on your website host. Once you have created the pixel, it’s time to install it, and you’ll be asked what you’d like to do next. You’ll be presented with a couple of options: Connect a Partner Platform (like Wix), Manually Install Pixel Code Yourself, or Email instructions to a Developer. The installation process will depend on your website host and whether you’re comfortable enough working with code. (Some installations will be easier than others out there.) Luckily, Facebook does a great job guiding you where you need to go and how to install your pixel on your website. What can the Facebook pixel do, exactly? If you haven’t guessed yet, the Facebook pixel isn’t just a one-trick pony. It’s designed with a few core functions in mind, but how you use it depends on what type of goals you have and what data you’re looking to track. Below, we’re going to show you just how powerful and flexible it can be. Conversion tracking Conversion tracking lets you explore the specific actions your site visitors performed on your pages. You can use this information to your advantage — optimizing your ads for the actions people take or promote certain pages from your website that were previously visited by them. You could even add a coupon code within the ad, which will incentivize them to come back to your site. Conversions tracked will appear in the Facebook Ad Manager and Facebook Analytics dashboards for review. There are three ways to track conversions with the Facebook pixel: Standard events: Standard events are typical actions that are predefined when you create your pixel, such as when a visitor adds an item to their cart or wishlist, initiates or completes a checkout, views content, fills out a form, and more. fThey allow you to track specific activities performed on your website. Each standard event requires an additional piece of code added to your website, though you can avoid this by using custom conversions (more on those below). Custom events: Custom events are actions that you define and that the pixel tracks. These events go beyond what the standard events offer. For example, use custom events to track the visitors that clicked a specific CTA and see the paths they take from there. When you name these events after the action they correspond to, it makes it all the more easier to follow user paths through the data later on. Essentially anything outside of the standard event presets is considered a custom event. For example, inbound/outbound links. Custom conversions: If you want to get a little (or a lot) more specific in the data your tracking, set up custom conversions. This type allows you to add multiple rules to events that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to with standard events. Example: Track sock sales over $20 Add a rule for the socks page of your website Add an additional rule for the value of ‘20’ A benefit to using custom conversions is that since they’re URL-based, there isn’t any additional code to add to your website, like with standard events. You’ll simply need the base pixel that you created. While custom conversion tracking is flexible, it’s not without its limitations. For example, there’s a limit of 100 rules per ad, and they do not work with dynamic product ads. Feel a little lost with custom conversions? Don’t worry. Facebook has an article for just this. Custom audiences The Facebook pixel allows you to create custom audiences for ad retargeting. Custom audiences are flexible, and you can make them basic or complex, depending on what you’re looking to achieve and who you’re trying to reach. When creating a custom audience, you have the option to target all website visitors or people who visited specific web pages. Both options allow you to filter your list by setting a maximum on the number of days that have passed since someone’s last visit. This is important, depending on who you’re trying to target. For example, if someone has abandoned a cart on your site and you’re looking to target this group of people, they’re more likely to return if they visited your site 2 days ago versus 90 days ago. When choosing the option to “Target people who visited specific pages,”, you can either add the exact URL you want to be tracked or use the “URL Contains” box. This section will track all links that include a specific portion of a URL. To break this down:, If you have individual sock pages for both men and women, you can use the value of “socks” in the “URL contains” section to keep your eyes on both pages. You can also use “exclusions” to further home in on the exact audience you’re trying to reach. You can exclude specific site pages or parts of your audience that have performed certain actions. Say you’re looking to advertise to people who’ve already gone to your website’s online store, but never purchased anything, so they never got to the “Thank You” page that appears after someone completes a transaction. You can create a custom audience for just this by including visitors that went to the Store page and excluding the Thank You page. Another example would be if you’re trying to run an ad to a wide audience for potential new customers. In this instance, you could exclude people who have made a purchase within the past 30 days, so only new customers or people who haven’t bought anything from your site in over a month would see your ad. You may also create a custom audience based on the amount of time visitors spent on your website. It happens all too often: People spend a long time on your website but never make a purchase. Not to worry! A well-placed ad targeted at them, with a possible incentive (such as a discount or free shipping) may be just what they need to return to your website and make it through checkout. Lookalike audiences If you’re trying to reach potential new customers, you can create a “lookalike audience” based on a group of your existing customers. Creating a lookalike audience is very straightforward, asking only for a source group, location, and audience size. There’s a decent chance that your Lookalike Audience will be interested in your business but may not have been exposed to it yet. People that have similar qualities or interests of your source group will be placed in your new lookalike audience so you can begin targeting them. Audience size The audience size range is between 1% and 10% of the total population of the chosen country, with the 1% being those who most closely match your source group. So, if you’re selecting the United States, 1% will give you a Lookalike Audience size of over 2 million people. The further you widen the audience size, the less similar the people will be from the source group. Still, it can be a good idea to go with a more significant selection if you’re trying to get your ad in front of new faces. If you want to create multiple Lookalike Audiences that are different only in size, you can choose the “Show Advanced Option” drop-down at the bottom of the screen. Select the number of audiences you’d like to create, and then choose the value in size percentage for each. Creating a Lookalike Audience from a Custom Audience You can create a lookalike audience from a custom audience using your Facebook Pixel’s website traffic data. A great example would be building a custom audience of all the people who’ve purchased from your website. Then you can choose that custom audience as your source when creating the Lookalike Audience. Source groups for Lookalike Audiences aren’t limited to your Pixel data, and you can create one from sources such as the fans of your Page and more. You can create up to 500 Lookalike Audiences from a single source audience. Once you know how to use the Facebook Pixel to track conversions, retarget your ads, and optimize ad delivery to the best people, you’ll never look back. It’s an indispensable tool in your business toolkit to get in front of your customers. seo

In today’s sophisticated digital marketplace, people have more options and more opportunities to test and compare products and services before they make a decision. When you develop a marketing strategy, you need to take into account that your target market has more choices than ever. You have to adapt to a new style of marketing that is more authentic and more people-oriented. It’s time to stop making these marketing fails in your modern-day business because they have long stopped bringing any results and could be potentially damaging to your brand. Keep these marketing no-no’s in mind as you develop your marketing plan: Fabricating Telemarketing Direct mail marketing Spam Intuition Selling over dialogue Unreachable Poor content Fake testimonials 01. Marketing fail - fabricating In the past, online consumers were way more gullible; you could easily funnel them to your landing pages by playing on their fears and creating a false need. Today’s consumer can see right through half-truths in marketing messages and go directly to sites that offer real information, products or services. 02. Marketing fail - telemarketing Avoid this at all costs. You won’t even get one bite and you’ll embarrass yourself. Chances are your call will initially be screened thanks to caller ID and many times will go unanswered. Nobody wants to be read from a script about a new and exciting exclusive offer available only through you. 03. Marketing fail - Direct mailing Direct mail is completely ineffective unless you know everyone on your mailing list and their buying habits, which is highly unlikely. If you do send snail mail, make sure it’s in the form of a letter, not a postcard and be sure to offer something of value. Giving a free sample and a coupon still works, but not for every type of customer or business. 04. Marketing fail - Spam It’s crucial that your emailing list be streamlined to contain only members of your target audience. Segment your audience into different customer types, and send out only content that is relevant to their interests and needs. 05. Marketing fail - relying on intuition instead of relying on hard data and stats. Those who do not test and analyze are destined for failure. In order to produce results you need to focus on that which has proven to be successful, and you can’t do that without controlled testing of promotions and thorough evaluations of your available stats. 06. Marketing fail - selling over dialogue You must communicate with your audience, don’t just show them adverts. If you focus too much on selling, you won’t get very far. Open a dialogue with your audience and connect with them. 07. Marketing fail - being unreachable Never underestimate the customer’s need to reach you. Many clients will not even consider your business seriously if you don’t display at least two contact options on your website. By allowing them to get in touch easily you are creating reliability and loyalty. 08. Marketing fail - poor content Writing crappy keyword-stuffed content instead of providing worthy and useful information. Long gone are the days when search engines couldn’t tell good content from bad. Remaining in the top 10 search results requires top quality content with value being placed on the number of shares your articles have achieved as opposed to the number of backlinks as in the past. 09. Marketing fail - fake testimonials. It is essential to offer third party credibility. People need to know someone they trust recommends you as well.

CTAs, or calls to action, are ubiquitous on the web. Every banner ad, blog post and knowledge base article will finish off with a directive about where to click. When writing in the online realm, we not only want to inform and delight our users, we also want to show them what their next step should be – in the clearest way possible. Through tests, trial and error, and more than a decade of experience, we’ve honed in on some best practices when it comes to CTAs, and learned the hard way what doesn’t work. Following these guidelines – and steering clear of these pitfalls – has helped us create a consistent style when it comes to writing CTAs. It helps us streamline what we do, provide clarity to our audience, and – best of all – it helps us get clicks. Here’s an inside look at some of our rules of thumb when it comes to writing CTAs: 01. Don’t say, “click here” Though this call-to-action example is about as clear and concise as you can get, we’ve found it falls short because it tells users that they should click, but not why. Rather than go for this classic (and boring) CTA, we opt for benefit-driven CTAs that show our users where they’re going, why they should go there and what they’ll get from doing so. 02. The problem with, “Do this, this and this” A common error we’ve come across is too many ideas in one CTA. Not only does this make the CTA long and unwieldy, but it also confuses users. If you ask visitors to do 2 or even 3 things in a CTA, they won’t know which action to take, or why they should click at all. Write CTAs with just one directive. And if you need to provide more information, do it in your body text. This is not just great for the users; it will also help you when the time comes to measure the effectiveness of your CTA. 03. Embrace action words Convincing users to take action depends on many factors, from how attractive your offer or product is to the appeal of your design and text. But a good, action-oriented CTA can go a long way to giving your visitors the extra little push they need to click, call, or send you an email. Start your CTAs with a verb – an action word that helps to sell users on the benefit of clicking. 04. Match the tone and voice of your text It’s easy to write a CTA that’s cute, funny, or simply looks right in the space that the designer has given you. But your CTA should tell the same story as the rest of your text – and use the same language to do it. Otherwise, your users can get confused or annoyed, and they may simply give up and click away from the page without taking action. So while it may be tempting to make every CTA, “Click here for world domination,” stick to the story you’re telling. 05. Don’t try too hard to sell We’ve all experienced the moment when someone tried a bit too hard to sell us something. This makes most of us pretty uncomfortable, and oftentimes leaves us with a lasting, negative view of the brand. Moreover, it smacks of desperation and probably decreases the chances we’ll ever purchase from that business. At Wix, one of our core values is “tell, don’t sell,” and we carry this through to the way we write our CTAs. We want our users to make choices based on our products, their merit, and how we describe them. And we’ve found that trying too hard to sell them on a product can quickly backfire, giving them instead a feeling of suspicion or mistrust. While you may find that the CTA, “Buy It Right Now,” works for you, don’t overuse it. Instead, focus on what users have to gain. You can keep words that create a sense of urgency, however, particularly if what you’re promoting comes with an expiration date. Including “today” and “now” in your CTA makes a lot of sense when you’re running a sale. Let’s wrap it up The way you use CTAs depends on what type of material you’re creating and what you want to achieve. That being said, it’s vital that you measure your CTAs. Determine what’s getting your users to click and what they’re not interacting with. This will give you a really good idea of what works – and what doesn’t – for your brand. Did you like this article? Subscribe to the Wix Content Blog for your dose of free expert writing tips, ideas and inspiration. You won’t regret it! You can also check out this guide for more beginner CTA tips. Ready to establish a powerful online presence? Create a website with Wix today!

The internet is a living thing. It changes, evolves and responds to live events. With technology constantly developing, one can blink and miss the current golden age of the latest online phenomenon. So if you suffered from a really long blink during the last decade, give or take, you might have missed the divine wonders that go by the name – “memes.” Before we begin with this “everything you wanted to know about memes, but were too afraid to ask” guide, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page regarding the pronunciation of this funny word. The word “meme” is pronounced with a long “e,” like the word “seem,” just with an “m” instead of the “s.” Afraid you won’t remember the right pronunciation and cause havoc mixed with embarrassment if the subject comes up during the next family dinner? Remember this sentence: “Low self-esteem? Every night the same bad dream? No one wants to join your team? Don’t worry, it’s not extreme. Have a cup of ice cream and send someone you like a funny MEME.” We could have just given you a link to a recording of someone saying the word, but where’s the fun in that? Not everything can be as easy as creating a website. What are memes? The original “meme” was a term coined by Richard Dawkins to describe how cultural information spreads. However, unless you’re wandering through the halls of the nearby sociology school, when someone mentions the word “meme,” they’re probably referring to a funny image or a video being shared on social media. The common use of the word “meme,” usually refers to the “internet meme,” a subset of the general meme concept. Remember that thick book you used as a weapon during fights between you and your brother? Well, dictionaries have other purposes. One of them is to provide us with dry but informative definitions. Case in point: Most common internet memes are image macros – photos with a bold caption written in Impact font. The text will usually be humorous or sarcastic. Aside from this familiar form, memes can also be a video, GIF, saying, an event or pretty much anything that can be copied or slightly changed and go viral across the web. Why do we use them? If you got this far, you probably understand what memes are, so the next question in line is, why do so many people use them around the world every day? Simply put, they are the internet’s inside jokes. They convey a feeling of familiarity and relevance, being a part of something bigger. The cultural knowledge you gained from years of watching television and browsing social media channels has now made it possible for you to understand and enjoy this joke. That’s the secret ingredient that turns memes from regular jokes to viral material. There are few more reasons why memes are one of the go-to moves of the average social media user, as well as your more seasoned social media influencer: They're eye-catching. They enable you to express complex ideas through a simple concept by relying on the meme context, origin and common use. They have a viral potential. They push you to paint your creative thoughts in more humorous colors. They're easy to create. How to use memes The most vital part of using memes is to understand the context of the content you’re sharing and to know how to leverage its full meaning. The best way to do so is by spending some quality time with your best pal Facebook, and start putting some work into the scrolling wheel. If your Facebook friends prefer a wild bingo night over sharing funny memes, you can always visit Know Your Meme. This website documents internet memes and serves as a knowledge hub about their origins. You can browse the most popular memes and check out common uses of each one. Examples of the best memes We can continue with more detailed descriptions of meme usage, but sometimes, it’s better to show the flying, yellow elephant than to talk about it. For this showcase, we decided to focus on image macros, so “Rickrolling,” “Be Like Bill,” “All Your Base Are Belong To Us,” “Spinning Dancer Illusion,” “Double Rainbow Guy” or “Dancing Baby” – we’re sorry, but don’t wait for an invitation to this party. Here are 10 examples of the web’s greatest, funniest and most popular image macro memes: 01. Bad Luck Brian 02. First World Problems 03. (Captain Picard) Facepalm 04. One Does Not Simply 05. Philosoraptor 06. What if I Told You 07. Success Kid 08. Condescending Wonka 09. Conspiracy Keanu 10. X, X Everywhere How to create memes Wondering how to create a meme by yourself? Well, you can sleep late and prepare the pancakes, because it’s easy like a Sunday morning. Meme generators are scattered all over the web like flyers on the sidewalk, just next to the guy who hands them out. They’re free, simple, accessible and they don’t require any kind of software installation. No need to waste time on choosing a font or trying to center the text – all of these preferences are already set. Because we don’t want to exhaust your tired fingers with typing “Meme Generator” on Google, here are some great resources you should try: imgur.com/memegen – A meme generator by Imgur, the popular free image hosting platform. Straightforward and simple. https://imgflip.com/memegenerator – Fast, clear and easy to use. Allows users to create “private” downloadable memes that won’t go online unless you decide to publish them. The evolution of memes Internet memes have evolved, hand in hand with the rise and transformation of the internet. From the Hamster dance meme of the mid-1990's, to the rise of TikTok today, memes have grown in popularity and evolved into almost an art form of their own. Today memes encompass a range of styles and types from dank memes, to deep fried memes, to those inspired by surrealism. Some brands have even decided to get involved in the world of memetic marketing, which is using memes for marketing. Gucci did it as early as 2017 with their tfw gucci watch campaign which saw them using memes on Instagram as part of their marketing efforts. Love it or hate it, it generated a lot of interest and attention - which is what it's all about anyway, right? What are memes FAQ

A large part of email marketing is setting a good first impression and leaving with a lasting one. However, we can only get so much across these days in our often impersonal, digitally-driven world. So many people do business without ever meeting the person on the other end of the computer. These types of interactions aren’t going to disappear anytime soon, nor should they have to. Instead, as a business owner it should be your duty to leave a lasting impression in every online interaction with a professional email signature. That's why it is so important to connect your email to your Wix website . A well-written email signature can say a lot about a person or business without taking up too much space. It’s basically a digital business card . It provides a way for you to be contacted and also for you to share other important pieces of information like your business website . Below, we’re going to give you some top tips on how to write great email signatures to leave lasting impressions. What is an email signature? An email signature, sometimes referred to as a digital signature or signature block is a piece of text that is added to the end of an email. It contains contact information and sometimes other pieces of relevant content pertaining to a person's or brand’s online presence - such as graphics showing portraits or a logo design . Some countries have regulations that require that each business email has a proper email signature containing specific pieces of information for all company-related emails. Email signatures: Importance and benefits Even if you live somewhere that doesn’t require an email signature for business-related communications, it’s a very good idea to create one in order to place at the end of your emails for a couple of reasons: Shows professionalism and willingness to communicate further. Great resource for branding and recognition. Free promotional tool for your business, website, or other CTA . Sometimes serves as the last impression between you and the recipient. The perfect place to add social media icons so others can follow you or your brand. 9 tips on how to write professional email signatures: While it may sound like you simply need to write a couple of things about yourself or your business and slap it to the end of every email, there are some practices that will help you along the way. Below, we’ll give you some tips to consider while you’re creating your own email signature. Keep it simple: There’s nothing wrong with staying minimal with your email signature, foregoing a photo or a logo. An effective email signature can be simple as long as it’s approachable and provides the essentials. If you are going to go the minimalist route, just make sure that the information you do place in your digital signature has the most impact. An example of a great, minimalist email signature example is below, showing only the name prominently displayed in bold, along with the job title and two contact methods. Don’t write a book: Following along with the previous tip, remember that sometimes less is more. Don’t write too much information. If you have a lot of things you want to share, you can create a website and keep it all somewhere else. Then, insert a link to this information in your email signature. Adding a large block of text in general to an email signature will have the recipient’s eyes glazing over in no time. Use color to accent, not showcase: There’s absolutely nothing wrong with adding some color to your email signature. In fact, it’s encouraged. However, it’s important to note that the use of color can be used to both your advantage and disadvantage. It can show personality, or to highlight the most important pieces of information you want to share. However, with all of your text in one uniform color, no single element will stand out amongst the rest. Stay in the (font) family: While your favorite font combo of Comic Sans and Times New Roman works for your personal computer notes, believe us when we say no one else wants to see them, especially when it comes to your business. The fonts you choose should be legible and similar to one another. If you’re looking to differentiate your fonts, you can use different weights of the same font family to stay consistent and avoid any visual messiness. Whether it’s your website or your professional email signature, we have just the article if you want to know how to choose the best fonts . Use social media icons: While adding links to your social media profiles in your email signature is 100% optional, if you are going to do it, opt for using icons instead of text links. It should be a bit obvious as to why, but adding 2-4 separate text links to the end of your email signature will look cluttered. This also adds unnecessary bulkiness to your overall signature. Using small social media icons that have individual links allows you to avoid this. Having your social media linked in your email signature is a good practice in general for email marketing . If someone follows you on social media based off of clicking a link from your email signature, it’s a sign that you’re strengthening your relationship with that person. Add graphics: The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” can be aptly used here. Whether it’s your own photo or your business logo, a graphic will draw the eyes of a recipient to it and you’ll have a better chance of them actually reading your signature text. Be mobile-minded: Just like websites, it’s important to expect your email signature to be viewed and interacted with on a mobile device. This may require you to adjust the structure or design of your signature so it doesn’t have any alignment issues, given that the screens on mobile devices have a shorter width than that of a computer screen. Place the most important info first: Just because you’ve worked hard on your email signature doesn’t mean it’s going to be an effective one. We live in an age where ads are everywhere. So much so that we tend to tune them out without realizing it. Not only that, readers also tend to move on quickly after they’ve gotten the information that they want. This means it’s super important to get your message across as quickly as possible, which includes prioritizing your most crucial pieces of information at the top of your signature. It will more than likely be your name/title, but it could also be your business name. Follow this with something like your website address or contact number. However you decide to order the information is up to you. It’s all about what you want the reader to know most. Have your signature pieces fit together like a puzzle: After you’ve decided what your digital signature will consist of, you want to look at all the pieces and make sure they look like they belong together. This is not just in terms of alignment, but also that the information presented isn’t too dense or imbalanced. If it feels cramped, consider rearranging the placement of things for a bit more freedom. Get inspired by email signature generators and creation tools We can give you tips until we’re blue in the face, but you may need to get your hands digitally dirty before you get a good idea for creating your own. Here are just a few sites you can check out to create yours for free. Mail Signatures - This is a free, no frills, and straightforward generator for those who want a simple email signature. Design Hill - This digital signature generator offers some advanced controls, but also come with a few hoops to jump through to get a free email signature. MySignature - A very easy to use generator to help you create professional email signatures. It will come with a small, “Create your own signature” ad at the bottom unless you pay to remove it. Wisestamp - One of the more robust options available, Wisestamp requires you to create an account to receive your free signature. The paid option offers an assortment of additional features. So whether you want to play around with free options or pay up to make sure you have everything you need for your professional email signature, you’re not stuck without options.