CTR = (Click Throughs/Impressions)x100

For instance, if 100 people see an ad online, and 5 people click on ‘learn more’ to know more about the product, then that ad has a CTR of 5%. CTR is used to measure whether PPC (Pay Per Click) search results, CTAs on landing pages, and hyperlinks in blog posts and email campaigns are performing well, or not. Click-Through Rate is basically the number of clicks achieved off secured impressions. If you want to improve CTR, you have to overhaul your keywords and match the type, watch out for your ad copy language, and carefully target your audience. 

Why is CTR important?

CTR is an important metric because you can understand your customers, what works and what does not while trying to reach your target audience. Low CTR means you’re targeting the wrong audience, or not persuading them well enough so they click. 

What is a good CTR?

CTR may vary between industries. If you want to find out what a good CTR is for your business, start by researching the average CTR in your industry. Once you understand the industry average, you could take steps to improve your CTR and reach your business goals. 

How do you improve CTR?

Use Long-Tail Keywords

Use long-tail keywords, especially in headings and title tags, because they are highly descriptive and match your content to search intent. On seeing descriptive long-tailed keywords related to what they’re searching for, users are motivated to click on your URL as they think your post might have the information they are looking for. So, to find long-tail keywords that meet user intent, use keyword research tools like Ubersuggest. Plug your seed keyword in the search bar and click on ‘search’. Next, click on ‘keyword ideas’ in the left sidebar, and then select the relevant keywords, before including them in your content. 

Effective Meta Descriptions

Effective meta descriptions are a great way to organically improve your CTR. Snippets of text that appear below your title tag in SERPs, a good meta description can tell users what your page is about, compelling them to click on your post. Use keywords to show your users that your article can solve a problem and has the answers they are looking for. Optimize your meta description by answering questions, making it specific and relevant, and using powerful language like emotionally charged words to elicit responses. Meta descriptions should convince the user that your content is THE solution. Try including a CTA to aid them.

Implementing Structured Data

A great way to ‘speak’ to search engine algorithms, structured data can be implemented using Schema.org to change content into code that search engines can process easily. This can help them display rich, informative, and interactive search results. Commonly called rich snippets, this type of search results attract more clicks as they appear on top of SERPs, are more attractive than plain URLs, and give more information about content at a glance. People love interactive content, and implementing structured data will boost CTR rates. 

Posts With Images

Using images in posts is fairly common, and a great way to organically improve CTR. Images in content boost engagement because they are an important part of your content, appearing in featured snippets and other infoboxes on SERPs. Images also improve the scope of your URL being clicked on, when users look for search results in ‘images’. You can implement certain SEO best practices like alt text addition, and proper image nomenclature for this to work.

Descriptive URLs 

One of the most vital pieces of information shown on SERPs, your page URL needs to be optimized so your organic CTR improves. Make it as descriptive as possible, including keywords in the URL. This shall reinforce what your core topic is all about, showing users that your content is relevant. Keep your URLs short, making them attractive and easy on the eye to get more clicks. Change your URL in permalink settings, if you are a WordPress user. 

Simplify Title Format

Your title tag is a part of the information displayed on SERPs, and you must format it properly. Keep it simple. People usually sift through search results seeking the most relevant one. If your title is simple, catchy, and explains what your post is about you will get more clicks. Leverage your corporate or personal branding to optimize your CTR. If you are already a leader in your niche, users will get the confidence to click on your URL. Don’t frontload your brand, as that can cause your rankings to drop. Ensure your title is clear, and use tools like Avid Demand to preview the way your content will look on SERPs.

Localize Content

When it comes to traffic sources, mobile beats desktop, hands down. Most cellphones have location and map functions turned on, so Google can read locations and provide local solutions. Localized content is great for SMEs that operate in certain areas, and for in-person service businesses. Localized content allows you to target your audience effectively, receiving high-intent customers who are looking for something that you are selling or offering. Add your location in the content, meta-description, and title tag, so you localize your content. Also, list your business on Google My Business ( GMB), so you are on the map when local searches are made. To drive clicks, you must offer relevant information, and your location needs to be in your metadata for that to happen. 

Listicles

Requiring little cognitive effort to process, listicles are loved by all. Including them in your content strategy can help you get more organic clicks. Include numbers in your headline and title tag, making it clear to users that there’s a listicle beyond the click. Listicles also improve your chances of getting featured in snippets. 

A/B Headline Testing On Social Media

Your headline is one of the first reasons users click on your article. Ensure that it resonates with your target audience. Test your headline on social media. Use tools to optimize your headline, and test your headline by sharing the article on different social media platforms. After a couple of days, change your headline title and re-publish the post. Share the new article on social media, waiting for the same number of days before checking engagement rates. The headline which drives the most engagement wins. 

Yoast Review for WordPress Users

A great SEO tool to improve organic CTR, YOAST can help you preview your snippet as it appears on SERPs. Make changes based on recommendations given. You can also see if any keywords get cut off, or your snippet makes sense overall. 

Google Ads for Preview

Like YOAST, the Google AdWords Preview Tool is a great way to preview ads, so you can optimize them for organic CTR for mobile and desktop. See how different ideas work while generating new ones. 

Identifying Winners and Losers

Calculate winners and losers of your current pages, to see which page titles and content types work well or not. Use Google Analytics for this information. Learning what clicks, impressions, CTR, and average SERP position for your pages, as well as bounce rates, sessions, conversions, etc, can tell you what works and what doesn’t. 

Optimize Site Speed

Google is prioritizing page experience as a ranking factor. People won’t stay on your page if your site is slow, and that will affect your CTR. A leap from 1 to 3 seconds in site speed, can increase bounce rates by around 32 percent. 

Final Thoughts

Thus, the above methods should help you improve your CTR. In addition to these methods, using rich snippets, activating breadcrumb navigation, leveraging Google Analytics reports, building high-converting landing pages, and using heat maps to improve site clicks are some other ways you can improve your CTR. Read our blog on ROAS to find out how to maximize your revenue from your ad spending.

The post Top 13 Ways to Improve your Organic Click-Through Rate (CTR) first appeared on Publir.

Why is Ad Viewability an important Metric?

A relatively recent concept in the digital marketing world, ad viewability is important because more than half of all ads aren’t seen by users, despite being paid for by advertisers. During the earlier years, ad networks focused more on the number of ads served, with marketers dividing the number of ads by the number of clicks, to calculate a campaign’s success. This ratio, later known as the CTR or click-through ratio, was quite a sought-after metric. Advertisers later, however, realized that if ads appeared at the bottom of a web page, but users did not scroll right down, that ad was non-viewable, with the impression to be negated. Other factors that contribute to ads being hidden are when users navigate away from the page before the ad itself loads, or when bots or proxy servers and not humans, open pages. Advertisers need to know which percentage of their ads are easily viewable, so they can get a better ROI. Media companies are trying to ensure high visibility to keep these customers happy so they stay.

Effects of Low Ad Viewability on Revenue 

Use this step-by-step process to find out whether low ad viewability is hitting your revenue. 

• Check account average ad viewability for AdX/AdSense accounts for the past month.
• Navigate to New Query, from Query Tool, selecting the last one month as a date range, month as the report dimension, and then select ‘Active View Viewable, in the report metrics section. 
• Hit ‘Run Report’, and check whether you get a score above or below 50%. 
• Check this metric against your eCPM over the last year, and using the ‘Edit button, change the date range, setting it to the last 12 months. 
• Re-run the report again, and check whether the average eCPM has dropped, risen, or remained constant and whether your Active View viewability has undergone the same thing. Check if your eCPM has dropped and your ad viewable impressions rate is below 50% or lower. That means that low ad viewability is hitting your revenue.

Importance of Ad Viewability Improvement and its Relationship with ROI

Ad viewability and a high ROI are correlated. Publishers must hike their ad’s visibility, and to do so they can start by designing their pages in a way that the ads get loaded with good potential of being viewed. You can design the page so the ad unit is ‘above the fold’, or is a ‘sticky ad’. The latter refers to a kind of ad that doesn’t change position whether the user scrolls up or down. 

Publishers also push towards their sites being mobile-friendly, using specific responsive templates that resize immediately when viewed on different devices. Guaranteed to give users a good experience no matter what they choose to browse on, UI is quite the priority. Viewability is also important in terms of design, as there should be symmetry, clear proportions and a clean visual hierarchy, and enough white space. Overall, the design should be clean and pleasing. Speed is of utmost importance. Sites loaded with ads from many networks ensure a long loading time, leading to lower ad viewability, as users navigate away from pages. If you speed up your ad delivery, you can improve viewability. Publishers also use 3rd party software to measure and validate ad viewability, making those metrics available to advertisers. Publishers have a choice of partnering with 15 Media Rating Counils’s Accredited Viewable Display Impression or Ad Verification vendors, tasked with measuring ad viewability across campaigns. 

How do you improve Ad Viewability? 

Use the best performing Ad Sizes

Vertical formats (like 300*600, and 160*600) and more, have higher viewability rates. Longer vertical ads work great. Try to use one vertical unit on each web page of your site, preferably in the sidebar so it doesn’t interfere with the main content. 

Ad Position 

A lot of pages have three common ad positions, namely one leader at the page’s top, one ad in the sidebar, and another leader ad at the bottom of the page. This varies according to page design. Small changes in position can make a massive viewability difference. The top leader, if placed below the site navigation bar, affects viewability negatively. Publishers can increase viewability by shifting this ad unit below the site navigation bar. This makes the content visible while the ad loads. Similarly, the bottom ad unit performs better if placed above the comments, page navigation bar, and author biography. Read our blog on optimum ad placement positions to dive deeper into the topic. 

Sticky Sidebar Ads 

If exploited well, sticky ads can really spike the performance and appearance of ads. Ensure they don’t cover other content and are only sticky when there is no content below them. Usually, websites have the main content on the left, with a narrow sidebar on the right. Put your stick ad in the content section on the left if you want your ads to be viewed with, driving better eCPMs. Some users may find this intrusive, so try putting some kind of ad units in the web page’s sidebar. However, these ads have poor viewable impression rates, as users scroll through content without interacting with the ad on the right. Read our blog about sticky ads to learn more about these interesting ad formats.

Page Load Speed 

If your page loads slowly, forget your users. They’ll leave, increasing your bounce rate, decreasing the publisher’s ad viewability rates, leading to publishers leaving too. According to this data, a 1-second delay in page loading reduces views by almost 11%, bringing down conversion rates by around 10%. Publishers can make some technical changes for improving speed, like file compression, image optimization, and redirect reduction, to increase total impressions. Here’s our blog about the relationship between ads and user experience that explains this further. 

Lazy Load Ads 

You can delay loading parts of a webpage till the user scrolls down. This might boost viewability because only ads that are seen will be loaded. Below-the-fold ads are best for lazy loading because the former has a poor ad viewable impressions rate because they load without the user reaching the page’s bottom. They provide no value because they aren’t seen. 

Monitor Viewability Scores 

Keep an eye on your ad viewability metrics, because they directly affect eCPMs, which in turn affect your net revenue. Try to maximize your revenue by implementing some basic changes to your ad inventory to raise your ad viewability. If your revenue has been affected by poor viewability, however, don’t expect any magical changes overnight. Wait for at least a month to see better CPMs from top ad providers on your site. 

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, ad viewability has quite an effect on publishers’ revenue. If you aren’t seen, there won’t be any earnings. Viewability data can assist publishers in boosting their display inventory’s value. Advertisers and digital marketing teams seek out publishers with a high viewability rate. Sharing viewability data helps brands compare your rates with that of their competitors.

About Publir

As experts in the programmatic advertising domain, Publir offers a one-of-a-kind unified platform specifically built to maximize earnings for digital content creators. We provide complete solutions for Ad Optimization, Subscriptions, Crowdfunding, QuickShop, and AdBlock Recovery. We can help you implement our tools and maximize revenue, all from a single dashboard. Reach out to us here –

• Phone : +1 (877) 229 9767
• Email: inquire@publir.com

The post Ad Viewability and its Impact on Publisher’s Revenue first appeared on Publir.

What Is An In-Feed Ad? 

In-feed refers to a type of ad format that is placed inside the newsfeed to monetize a site and enhance user experience. It relies on branded content on digital properties. A feed might be an editorial feed or list. These ads can be customized to match the look and feel of the content. These ads are placed between content on the feed, or where it begins or ends. As visitors scroll down the content, they encounter in-feed ads. They fit seamlessly into the feed, and are non-intrusive, as they don’t interfere with user flow. To qualify as an in-feed ad, it has to be part of the user experience and match the format and aesthetics of the content. Moreover, it should specify that the ad is sponsored or promoted content

Where can we use In-feed Ads?

Feeds may be either content sites, like Forbes, or news aggregators like Yahoo or CNN. Or eCommerce sites and apps like Amazon and eBay, and social networking and media sites like Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn. The ad may be placed in-feed in a news site, or somewhere on a product listing or eCommerce site. As this ad is native, it matches the content in terms of aesthetics. Preferably palace the ads between two content units on the feed, or at the beginning or end. As visitors scroll through the feed, they can see the ad, but it doesn’t interrupt their user experience. These ads don’t break user flow and complement the content. This ad format was adopted by tech giants like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, to seamlessly present content to users. Usually, the ‘infinite scroll’ method of content delivery was used in social media networks. As mobile grew, the trend of organising content in a proper ‘feed’ format was adopted by the publishing industry too. A lot of publishers started using this ‘feed’ format to deliver stories across properties. Forbes, Gawker, and CollegeHumor, as well as 9gag, are all adopting responsive design so ‘feed ads’ can be incorporated into their mobile sites and apps.

As the ‘feed’ format of content delivery becomes popular, publishers have realized that banner ads aren’t great for monetizing, because they disrupt the user experience, especially when inserted between content. They don’t help in delivering rich experiences to consumers on mobile. In-feed native advertising may be the solution to delivering branded content to users without disrupting user experience while increasing engagement with ad units, both static and video.

Types of In-Feed Ads  

These ads are often placed between content appearing on news sites and social media that use the infinite scroll format. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, in-feed ads may be classified according to the type of feed. The IAB defines the different types of in-feed native ads as 

Summary of Sponsored Content 

Placed in a normal content feed and written by partnering with the publisher’s team, the performance of this content is measured using brand metrics. Since the ads are on a publisher’s website, the users remain on the website. Endemic in-feed ads are in a publisher’s content, written in story form in partnership with the publisher’s team, to match the surrounding content on the website.

Static In-Feed Ads 

Static ads link to the websites of the brands being promoted. They take the user off-site to a particular brand’s landing page. The efficiency of this ad may be measured in terms of click-through rate and conversions. 

According to the IAB, there are 4 kinds of ads that are in-feed – 

• Story ads, that are written ads inside editorial content pieces. 
• App installs ads, which direct you to download a mobile application. 
• Product ads that link to landing pages for products on eCommerce sites.
• Video ads that direct users to videos which may be either in short or long formats, on Vimeo or simply GIFs. 

Are In-Feed Ads A Type of Native Advertising? 

Matching the form, function, looks, and aesthetics of the page on which they appear, native ads are usually found in social media feeds or as sponsored content on websites. The IAM includes in-feed ads in the main kinds of native ads. The special thing about native ads is that they don’t look like ads. They appear to be part of the content on the page, so they don’t disrupt the user experience. There are 4 kinds of native ads. 

1. In-feed ads, or ads that appear in the feed like news, eCommerce or social network sites. 
2. Paid search ads or listings that appear on the top of Google search results or the sidebar. EIther text or non-text, these could include images and product descriptions. 
3. Recommendation widgets, or content pieces like sponsored posts, recommended articles, and more, appear on the screen after the article. 
4. Promoted listings, or paid content that appears on eCommerce platforms like eBay. Served with priority to more high-intent buyers, these increase the possibility of a purchase.

In-Feed Ads And eCommerce Platforms 

eMarketer estimates that the global eCommerce market has grown to approximately 4 trillion in 2020. Some eCommerce platforms enhance their user’s experience by serving in-feed ads. For instance, ‘recommended products’ or ‘articles you may like’, or other forms of paid content. This form of sponsored content doesn’t appear like an ad but looks like a recommendation. This makes it more likely for a user to click on it. Nowadays, with the help of tech, in-feed ads have expanded to include mobile, carousel catalogs, and video formats. In-feed ads are great for eCommerce platforms because they keep consumers engaged as the latter keep proceeding down the customer journey funnel. Such ads are flexible and are able to meet each stage of the journey.

What Is The Difference Between In-Feed And Standard Ads?

Display ads, banner ads, and other standard formats are placed around website content. Pop-up ads spring upright in the middle of the screen. All the aforementioned ads irritate users and disrupt the customer experience. Moreover, customization options are limited. In-feed ads are part of the user flow. Highly customizable, they are greeted by high-intent users. 

What Are The Advantages of In-Feed Ads?

Such ads have a lot of advantages for both publishers and advertisers. Some of these are enumerated below. 

Better User Experience – In-feed ads make for a better, non-disruptive user experience. Being part of the user flow, they don’t interrupt the user’s journey or change the website’s look and feel. They integrate seamlessly into the website and serve their purpose.

Superior Monetisation – These ads give publishers the chance to find and monetize new spaces on their web pages, right inside their respective feeds. 

Fabulous for Mobile – Because they can help you monetize small screen spaces like mobile devices, such ads are great for mobile. 

Conclusion

Superior Reach – For advertisers, such in-feed ads offer a great opportunity to reach out to a highly-engaged audience. In conclusion, in-feed ads are loved because they don’t ruin the user experience. In an age where that is the deciding factor on which customers may return to your website, in-feed ads can make the difference. Read our blog about how to strike the right balance between ads and user experience to always get it right.

The post What Are In-Feed Ads – How Can You Make The Best Use Of Them? first appeared on Publir.

This changed something in the industry. From being annoying intrusions, recent pop-up ads are non-disruptive, and take user experience into account. Public opinions about pop-ups are changing, which is good news for businesses. Earlier, pop-ups were considered controversial and used to increase bounce rates. However, today they’re instrumental in lead generation. Companies today are seeing as high as a 40% drop in bounce rates, with conversion rates of 10% to 50%, if pop-ups are used correctly.

What Are Pop-Up Ads? 

Pop-ups are small windows that display either some offer, discount, or sale that pops up while a user browses a website. Each website visitor has their own experiences with a pop-up ad. It is a simple and age-old marketing technique used by businesses for grabbing eyeballs. A marketing message can be broadcast using a pop-up. Similarly, it can be used to promote offers, share information, and more. 

Why Are Pop-Up Ads Important? 

Pop-ups, though old, are an effective way of advertising products and services and attracting web traffic. Here’s why they are important. 

Increase Brand Awareness – Maximum visibility is always the most important aspect for websites, and pop-ups grab the attention of visitors, making them the perfect way of reaching out to a targeted audience.

Instant Customer Feedback – Pop-up ads are great to get an immediate reaction from customers. Visitors can leave feedback regarding user experience, product quality, or customer service. You can get to know your customers better and improve your products/services to give them a better experience.

Increased Conversions – Since the ultimate goal of businesses is sales, pop-ups can help you achieve your marketing and sales goals if placed in the right palace at the right time. If the copy and CTA are good, businesses can boost conversion rates. 

Versatility – You can present any message to website visitors. Videos, creative graphics, and more, according to your wish. Make announcements, guide visitors to promotions, and do a lot more. Pop-ups have many benefits, and businesses can utilize them to their advantage. 

What Are The Best Practices of Creating Pop-Up Ads?

While creating these ads is really easy, if you want to generate quality leads, market products, and boost conversions, you need a perfect website pop-up strategy. Here are some best practices to follow while setting up pop-up ad campaigns. 

Timing Matters  

Give site visitors enough time to engage with the website before displaying pop-ups. The best time to re-engage visitors with one is when they show exit intent. You could set triggers to display pop-ups when visitors have been around for 30 seconds, for example, recommending some best-selling products to them if they’ve been on your website for some time without navigating. 

Prominent CTA

CTA buttons are the most important elements that determine whether visitors may engage and convert. These words prompt the visitor to the next action. Some common CTAs found on eCommerce stores are ‘sign up now’ or ‘order today’, etc. If your CTA is not visible, visitors won’t complete any action. Hence, CTAs are highlighted in different colors. Try ensuring it is as prominent as possible so viewers are bound to click on it. 

Easy To Close

You must respect the website visitor’s choice. If they want to ignore the pop-up, you must make it easy to close the ad. Else the visitor will get annoyed and may never visit the site again. Keep the ‘X’ close button as visible as possible. If possible, include a button or a line near your CTA that says ‘No I Don’t Want Your Offer’ or something similar.

Frequency

Frequency matters a lot. Instead of leaving the default frequency settings, adjust them. For a weekend or flash sales, increase the frequency, but for regular pop-ups that offer a discount code or free shipping, keep the frequency to once a week or once a month.

Don’t Solicit Too Much

Visitors hate taking quizzes and tests. Keep your pop-up ads straightforward and fast, forms short and sweet and if you can get your job done with a name and an email address, do so. Most of the best pop-ups have just a couple of fields, so customers don’t waste too much time filling out forms. 

A/B Testing – 

If you have more than one pop-up, experiment with them to find out your best-performing one. Keep at least one unique difference in each pop-up, like a CTA, copy, or a varied headline. For A/B testing, display two different pop-ups at different times to the same visitor, which can help in identifying the change in the pop-up that makes the current one better, thereby improving the results of your ad campaigns. 

In order to create engaging pop-up ads, you can use one or more of the below services. 

Hello Bar – With the lowest price for an unlimited number of pop-up ads, this also has a free version, which will limit the number of ads to 10.

GetSiteControl – The pricing for this starts at $7 per month, and there’s a free trial available. There’s also a pro max package. It’s a great service for collecting emails, promoting deals, increasing ad revenue, decreasing abandonment of shopping carts, etc. There are a lot of customizable templates for different goals. 

Mailmunch – The free version of Mailmunch allows you to create website pop-up ads to get more emails, converting subscribers to customers. 

Sumo – This is a free service that helps you automate site growth, offering independent tools for entrepreneurs and marketers. Most of Sumo’s features are free, with their pro version coming in at $39 per month.

AddThis – This is a free service that provides tools for eCommerce for lead generation and to reduce shopping cart abandonment, CMSs, and audience segmentation. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is very important to create pop-ups that are engaging, creating, and high-converting so that you can deliver a positive experience to website visitors. Your visitors should always be prioritized when it comes to displaying popups. Create them using the free tools we’ve mentioned, and customize them so you can delight your website visitors. Remember, that the key to an effective pop-up is how it interacts with the user. They are annoying if they appear at the wrong time, during the website or landing page experience. They should be shown when users have read the page, and should always have an option to close it. Read our blog about striking the right balance between ads and user experience to always get that balance right on your website. 

The post How to Create Conversion-Boosting Pop-Up Ads first appeared on Publir.

Why Are Chatbots Popular? 

People don’t want to talk to companies. They want to talk to other people. Rather than calling and asking for help, or filling out a form hoping someone calls them back, companies want answers to their questions immediately, with control of the conversation. Chatbots are programmed chat interfaces that website visitors can interact with. Programmed to closely mimic human behavior, they interact with website visitors in a conversational manner. If you have used a live chat tool on a website, you’ve spoken to a chatbot. The questions and responses are programmed, instead of human reading and responding to each individual message. Chatbots help consumers get from point A to B quickly and smoothly, and are often referred to as little guides helping consumers find their way around your website.

What Are The Different Kinds Of Chatbots?

There are 2 main kinds of chatbots. Simple Chatbots and Advanced Chatbots. 

Simple Chatbots  

These respond to pre-written keywords or commands and are programmed by developers. Simple and limited in terms of communication, they fail to understand non-standard commands which aren’t in their scope of operation. 

Advanced Chatbots 

Advanced chatbots rely on AI (Artificial Intelligence) while communicating with online visitors. They can understand basic language and communication, and their responses are many. They don’t rely on pre-programmed keywords or phrases being entered. AI Chatbots are not human, but online visitors will feel as if they’re talking to someone in your office. 

What Are The Benefits Of Using Chatbots? 

Zero Waiting Time 

Hate waiting in line? The feeling is common. If there is a video that takes 10 extra seconds to load and play, 50 users shift to something else. This behavior is common for all services. We want something immediately. Imagine losing half your website customers just because you can’t respond to their queries. This is quite a bad loss because customers leave with a bad taste, never to return.

Personalization 

Personalization can transform a prospect into a customer, and a customer to a recurring client. Conversational chatbots that are dependent on AI, make the customer feel as if they’re having a conversation with a human being, not a robot. There are no commands to the website users, like CTAs. Instead, chatbots make customers feel at home by offering information or services in a conversational, friendly way. On a retail business website, a chatbot isn’t different from a salesperson, ready to help the visitor with product information, payment, and order tracking.

High Customer Service Levels 

Chatbots that use Natural Language Processing (NLP), can process or decode natural languages at different levels. They can break down syntax, semantics, discourse, and speech to get down to the sentence’s hidden intent. They can dive into human psychology to understand customers with relevant information. Timely responses are key in this regard. 

Improved User Engagement 

Under pressure to build the right User Experience (UX), web designers and developers are always under pressure. Customer expectations know no bounds, so UX improvement is an important part of it all. Chatbots if correctly designed, coded, and integrated into a business ecosystem can serve users constantly and spontaneously, delighting them always.

Target A Wider Audience 

A lot of messaging platforms like FB Messenger, Slack, Telegram, and Skype, give consent and resources for chatbot development and businesses. It is easier to target a wider audience because these messaging platforms already have success and a wide user base. It easily gets accepted into the market. 

Help in Deriving Business Intelligence 

The integrated AI (Artificial Intelligence) and machine learning, help these chatbots collect and process a lot of conversational data accumulated over time, process it, and derive valuable actionable insights from it. This is very important for any business because it gives clues to improve and innovate products/services, staying relevant to customers and market demands. 

Help WIth Payments and Checkout 

If there are complications during checkout, customers might abandon their shopping cart altogether. This is a major challenge for eCommerce vendors. Sometimes it’s also the unsolved queries, besides the complexity of the process. A chatbot developer could integrate the API of a payment system like (PayPal, EasyPay, and Stripe), with the built chatbot, to help shoppers get answers to queries that are stopping them from completing the checkout process.

Assistance in Performing Surveys 

Chatbots can help survey customers’ experiences with purchased products and services, as well as process their requirements and expectations. Surveys are seen as tedious, and most attempts through emails and sites go in vain, as audiences, due to a lack of time, refuse to engage. Talking bots that involve customers in real-time discussions, make the survey engaging and successful.

Push Notifications Become More Relevant 

A lot of times, customers fail to notice notifications, both email, and push. They think it’s distracting. However, AI chatbot developments can make a difference to this. Customers might start paying more attention to alerts. 

Keep Up With The Trends 

Oracle estimates that around 50% of customers want businesses or service providers to stay online 24X7. Apps like Facebook Messenger, Kik, Skype, and others, are contributing to this. FB Messenger and Kik alone support around 30,000 chatbots. Customers feel at ease communicating with a brand online, through a chatbot, to make a purchase. 

Build Trust 

Since AI chatbots are the first interaction that a potential customer has with your brand, it is a great chance to educate the buyer about your products and services, and what they can do for them. Chatbots make a positive impression, and a bond is formed between your brand and your audience.

Chatbots Are Always There

As cheesy as this might sound, chatbots are the ones who will never leave us! They are programmed to be better than that. Chatbots are always there whenever you need them, day or night. Whether you have an urgent query at 2 am, the chatbot will be there waiting to help you for sure.

Chatbots ‘Talk The Talk’

Chatbots might not be human, but they are quite natural. They don’t need a filter to engage appropriately with customers. They keep conversation easy and flowing, so business is conducted in a natural and organized manner. Sometimes, the conversation is so natural that you might forget that you are talking to a bot. Bots are not human, so they don’t have the emotional hang-ups we deal with. They can keep customers cool, calm, and collected. If customers get worked up, a bot will not mind. 

Conclusion

Thus, chatbots are very useful and can diffuse some of the issues that arise out of human error. For instance, have you ever spoken to a representative who may be having a bad day, or may have an unpleasant tone in their voice? Bots treat everyone with equal, undivided attention and respect giving your company the advantage in the tricky field of customer service.

Read More

Ad Viewability and its Impact on Publisher’s Revenue

Top 13 Ways to Improve Your Organic Click-Through Rate (CTR)

The post Important Benefits of Integrating Chatbots with Your Business Website first appeared on Publir.

Understanding SafeFrame and its Functionalities

SafeFrame is an API-enabled iFrame, that allows digital publishers to earn ad revenue without relinquishing control over web page layouts or losing out on data sharing. The IAB or the Interactive Advertising Bureau is all set to overhaul SafeFrame from 2022, hence this is a great time for digital publishers to get familiar with ad protocol. SafeFrame originated in 2013 when some volunteers from the world’s tech giants convened to solve the technical and logistical challenges of iFrame. 

To understand how SafeFrame works it is imperative to understand iFrame. An HTML code that publishers insert into their web page code, the iFrame provides a fixed display window for 3rd-party content like videos or advertisements. Google Maps, YouTube, and Flickr use iFrames. 

Using iFrame has both advantages and disadvantages 

Pros – 

• It isolates and prevents ad code from interacting with page content. 
• It prevents ad content from affecting the rest of the page’s functionality. 
• It prevents ads from collecting sensitive user information. 

Cons – 

• They have intractable dimensions, and prevent user interaction, and are not very flexible in advertising terms. 
• Ad dimensions may be incorrectly displayed. 
• Ads cannot dynamically interact with website visitors. 
• Collecting and viewing performance data is impossible. 

How Do You Overcome These Disadvantages?

Placing JavaScript within the web page code is one way to overcome these limitations, and this is what publishers, working with advertisers, end up doing. Using JavaScript, you can resize an iFrame and make it interactive. There are disadvantages to this though. Once JavaScript is inserted, permission to read and change anything on the host page becomes possible. The publisher and advertiser must maintain the trust that the latter will not purposely or unknowingly serve ad content that goes against the former’s interests. That control could lead to distortion of page layouts while paving the way for door-to-door conflicts that can end in the ad, webpage, or both broken. In such a situation, publisher-side files are used. 

Publisher side files or PSFs are custom JavaScript codes that advertisers create that are used on publishers’ websites. These codes dictate what an iFrame can or cannot access. Using such files you can serve rich media ads while retaining publisher control, protecting sensitive consumer information. Publishers may however find that they have to manage and maintain too many ad-specific pub-side files. In such a case, adopting the IABs SafeFrame method is the best recourse. 

What Is A SafeFrame and How Does It Work?

An open-source technology created and released by a group of volunteers from 21 IAB member companies in 2013, SafeFrame got an update in 2014. Yahoo! And Microsoft executives led the initiative, which had volunteers from Google, Disney, CBS Interactive, AOL, Adtech, and Adobe involved. The standard IAB definition for SafeFrame is a “managed API-enabled iFrame that opens a line of communication between the publisher page and the iFrame-contained ad creative”. So, without risking page security, you can overcome iFrame restrictions on advertising and web page interaction, and take full advantage of rich media ads. Publishers run SafeFrame on a secondary domain, and IAB recommends a CDN (Content Delivery Network) be used for optimum performance and availability. This secondary domain is termed an ‘agnostic processing space’, sitting between a web page and ad server. Advertisers can implement JavaScript code in their ads, sending them to many secondary domains belonging to multiple publishers. From there, these advertisements are then funneled to their respective iFrame. There are some advantages to doing this. 

Thus, SafeFrame opens a unified path of communication between ad content and page content. iFrame creates containers around the ad’s content, the API allows interaction between the ad and web page content. 

Benefits of SafeFrame for Publishers 

Greater Control 

SafeFrame isolates the webpage code from the ad code and helps publishers maintain greater control over page layout, also preventing interference from ads. API-enabled SafeFrame also allows publishers to decide what information buyers or third-party vendors can access. 

Greater Efficiency 

Ad units with SafeFrame allow for rich interaction while disabling the page function from breaking due to the ad code. This can boost revenue while keeping down operational costs so you don’t have to outsource this to a developer team. 

User Protection 

Ad slots with SafeFrame enabled to share information with ad content served on API-enabled iFrame. However, it is up to publishers to choose what they want to or don’t want to share. You can withhold sensitive user data like phone numbers or email addresses. 

Enabling SafeFrame in Google Ad Manager 

If you want to reduce the chances of malicious ads being served, activate SafeFrame within the Google Ad Manager. To enable SafeFrames in Google Ad Manager, the ad unit should have the Google Publisher Tag type enabled. 

The four types of ad creatives on offer are 

1. Custom
2. System-defined templates
3. Third-Party
4. User-Defined Templates. 

For 1 and 3, you don’t have to make changes, as for the creatives, SafeFrames are on by default. If you don’t want it you can disable it by checking the box. For 2 and 4, you follow the same method, enabling/disabling the SafeFrame according to your needs. 

The Future of SafeFrame 

Ever since SafeFrame 1.1 was released in 2014, IAB Tech Lab didn’t release anything significant for a couple of years. SafeFrame 2.0 was launched for a 2-month public consultation, sometime in the middle of 2020. IAB has configured SafeFrame 2.0 to include programmatic ad support. While SafeFrame does execute post the header bidding process, wrappers might get shunned because of a lack of support in the programmatic advertising process. IAB is working with programmatic advertisers to bolster features that might be better compatible with SafeFrame. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, SafeFrame is a big step ahead for digital publishers in terms of maximizing web page ad revenue. Publishers need to implement protocols themselves, and doing so can open up fresh revenue chances, bring down maintenance and operational costs, and hike website security. SafeFrame has benefits that can help digital publishers work better with the latest ad technology. For publishers, their primary concern is to ensure the best user experience for site visitors while ensuring that users interact with ads while keeping personal data secure. SafeFrame offers all the benefits and more in doing so. Read our blog on how to strike the balance between ads and user experience to ensure a smooth experience for users on your website.

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Top Podcast Statistics

Podcasts can also be a pretty niche tool if looked at from a marketing perspective. There are many content creators and brands that leverage podcasts for business. You can really build up a large following and that could help your brand. Alternatively, if you are an enthusiast, there are amazing podcasts to tune into. Anyways, whether you are a person who listens to or creates podcasts, here are some interesting podcast statistics that you should know in 2022.

Podcasts Are Available in Over 100 Languages 

There’s literally something for everyone. Even if you are in the US, if you want to tune into something in a foreign language, you can always listen to a podcast. A podcast in another language can be a great way to pick up new linguistic skills. Since all you really need to do in order to create and spread a podcast is to record and advertise it aptly, there are thousands of podcasts in different languages worldwide. 

78% of Americans are Aware of Podcasting

Compare this to back in 2006 when you had just 20% of the adult population in America aware of podcasting, and this number seems significant. The majority of the population today tunes in to something of their choice today.

Over 2 Million Podcasts Exist

There are more than 2 million active podcasts currently, according to these insights. If we went back by about 3 years, there was just a quarter of that figure. Today there are millions of episodes across a wide range of topics to choose from. 

Over 150 Million Americans Have Listened To A Podcast

This data says that around 163 million US citizens older than 12 have listened to a podcast. Compare that to 2006, when the number was just around 11 million.

Podcast Ad Revenue May Exceed 2 Billion in 2023

eMarketer estimates that US marketers may spend more than around $1.3 billion on podcast ads this year. This might exceed the 2 billion dollar mark after 2 years, touching 3 billion USD in 2025.

The US Accounts For The Highest Number of Podcast Listeners Worldwide

The US accounts for 47.9% of all podcast listeners, while the UK ranks way below 6.3% and Canada with around 5%. 

The Podcast Listener Base is Diversifying

If we look at gender and race specifically, data from Edison Research says that podcast listeners are growing diverse, demographically. In 2021, listeners were predominantly white males, but over the recent past, they include females and listeners from South American countries as well. 

Comedy Still Is Priority

This is funny because data from last year says that 22% of podcast listeners in the US prefer comedy as a genre. The news comes a close second, followed by true crime, sports, and health and fitness, amongst others. 

The Best Brand Awareness is by Pandora 

Infinite Dial’s data says that in terms of audio brand awareness, Pandora, a music and podcast delivery platform, leads. More than 80% of all respondents have heard of it. It edges out iHeartRadio, which has 73%, and Spotify, which has 72%. This data says that Spotify might become the best podcast platform in America in 2021.

The Average Listener Tunes In For More Than 6 Hours Weekly

The average listener spends a lot of time listening to podcasts, especially during commute hours. Downloaded to smartphones, podcasts can be heard through car speakers, earphones, or as people choose. 

Podcasts Influence Purchasing Decisions

This data says that around 60% of all podcast listeners have purchased something from a podcast ad, a healthy percentage, head and shoulders above other advertising mediums. 

More Listeners Are Going Mobile

This should come as no surprise. More and more smartphone users are going mobile, with around 78% tuning in from mobile devices in 2019, a jump from around 42% in 2013. 

More Listeners Spend More Time Listening

In 2019, podcast listeners spent a little more than 28% of their time listening to podcasts, leaving behind regular radio, at 24%, and streamed and owned music at 15% and 13% respectively. Podcasting is very engaging. 

61.1 million American Families are Fans of Podcasts

A lot of Americans tune into music podcasts, followed by television and movies, with around 60.5 million households watching or listening to such podcasts regularly. Other major podcast genres are technology, science, arts, politics, games, business, sports, and religion. 

74% of Podcast Users Listen To Learn Something New

Edison Research says around 74% of all listeners listen for educational purposes. Around 60% of US citizens use podcasts to keep abreast with the news, and 51% of listeners say they find podcasts relaxing. 

Podcasts Are 10% of All Content Millenials Listen To 

Millennials are very keen on podcasts because they fit into life’s daily schedule. You can listen to the latest episode regardless of time and space. Popular podcast platforms allow users to stream and download on demand.

Only Half of All Podcast Listeners Listen To Entire Episodes

According to data from Edison Research dated 2019, 52% of podcast consumers listen to the whole audio episode. Americans who use podcast platforms to download episodes are more likely to watch or listen to the entire broadcast, as they are attracted to this kind of broadcasting that gives them whatever information they want whenever they want it. Podcast users develop a kind of relationship with podcasters, interested in what the latter has to say.

Majority of Podcast Consumers Prefer to Tune In From Home

This is ironic because the entire point of a podcast is that you can listen anywhere, anytime. In reality, however, consumers prefer to listen to podcasts at home. Other popular locations amongst American listeners include the car or truck (64%), the gym (43%), work (37%). 

The Best Times To Release A Podcast

Data shows that Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays are days consumers are most likely to download podcast episodes, with the number falling to its lowest during the weekends. 

Around 39% of Small and Medium Business Owners Are Podcast Users  

Around 65% of these owners listen to podcasts weekly, according to podcast listenership statistics from 2018. Around 70-72% of business owners with around 100-500 employees listen to podcasts.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, podcasts are all the rage, and their popularity shall only continue to grow. In no particular order, here are some amazing podcasts that you can tune into, from across various topics as listed by the New York Times. If you are a marketer and want to tap into the potential of podcast advertising, read our blog on how to do so. Our blog on the unique features of podcasting for marketing and brand building can help you use this tool to reach your audience in a big way. 

The post 20 Podcast Statistics You Should Know in 2022 first appeared on Publir.

Websites today are dynamic and mobile-friendly because most of us use our phones to browse. Have you ever tried to click on an article and ended up clicking on an ad itself because the page layout suddenly changed? This is a very common scenario, because lots of people accidentally click the wrong item, leading to a poor user experience. This is highly prevalent on phones due to their smaller screens and resolutions. With everyone vying for the smoothest user experience, this isn’t exactly desirable, especially since Google has come up with a metric to rank UX. 

What Is Cumulative Layout Shift Or CLS?

A Core Web Vital Metric, CLS calculates the total of all layout shifts on a page that aren’t caused by user interaction. It uses a speed-dependent calculation to look at the ratio between the impacted viewport and movement distance. Google would like publishers to be more mindful of layout shifts and minimize them. Publishers can use the CLS score to objectively measure and optimize their page. So, why is it important to ensure that your CLS score remains high? That’s because CLS measures the page’s visual stability. It is frustrating when content shifts during the interaction, like menu items making way for ads that then redirect you to a third-party website. These cause a massive inconvenience to users, and can even lead to issues for publishers, causing high bounce rates and ad policy violations.

Google counts CLS score among the top three ‘Core Web Vitals’, meaning a low CLS score will ensure a low CWV score, leading to a fail grade. Google’s updated search algorithm ranks sites that pass the CWV assessment. It is imperative to improve your CLS score to ensure a better UX and rank higher on Google, to boost your organic traffic. 

How Is Cumulative Layout Shift or CLS Calculated? 

When an element changes position, the shift is recorded and that element is deemed unstable. A layout shift is only recorded if visible elements change their start position, not if new elements are added or size changes occur. A CLS score is obtained by measuring the impact fraction and distance fraction and multiplying the result. 

The impact fraction is the measurement of unstable elements and their impact on the viewport between the two frames. It is calculated by measuring the union of the shift and the original element as a ratio of the site’s total visible area. The distance fraction is the biggest distance covered by an unstable element, wrt to the viewport. 

The CLS threshold, therefore, determines layout shift score and ranking factor and is a very important metric for UX and SEO performance. Google’s PageSpeed tracks 6 metrics, with CLS accounting for around 15% of the score. It summarises all unexpected content shifts that happen on that page, and users need a high CLS grade to pass the assessment. 

• A good CLS score is– below 0.1,
• One that needs improvement – between 0.1 and 0.25,
• 0.25 is a poor CLS score.

CLS or Cumulative Layout Shift = impact fraction X distance fraction

What Leads To A Poor CLS Score? 

1. Unspecified width and height for images.
2. iFrames, Ads, and embedded elements with unspecified sizes. 
3. Dynamic content on the page. 
4. Flash of Unstyled Text (FOUT) and/or  Flash of Invisible Text (FOIT), caused by web fonts.
5. Actions awaiting network response before updating DOMs.

How to Fix CLS Issues and Improve Your CLS Score and User Experience?

Reducing unstable elements, or shifting behavior isn’t easy. However, there are certain steps that you can take to ensure that your CLS score remains favorable. 

Measure the CLS Score of All The Major Templates on Your Website 

Websites receive CLS scores depending on how they are structured. For instance, article pages might have better CLS scores than homepages. A good idea would be to measure the CLS scores of all major page templates. 

Including and Defining the Width and Height of Images 

Size attributes for images and videos are vital. For responsive images, define aspect ratios. Reserve any space for elements using CSS aspect ratio boxes, so the browser can give the document the correct amount of space while assets load. Earlier, web developers would include width and height for images by implementing a code, ie 

<img src=”example.jpg” width=”800″ height=”300″ alt=”Example Image”>

Responsive images changed all that with more and more developers turning to CSS. Space is given only after the browser starts downloading the image. The layout would move after all the images were displayed. This is why the aspect ratio is better for image resizing, reducing the risk of layout shifts. Responsive images also work well with secret attributes, so you can set up different photo sizes so the browser displays the best one. 

Optimize Ads 

Layout shifts are often caused by ads, especially if ad placement isn’t optimized. Reserve space for ad slots, and don’t collapse this using placeholder in case ads aren’t returned. Beware of non-sticky ads on top of the viewport because they push down content. Ads require space, and if they aren’t given some, will shift other content on the page when they load eventually. Leave space for the largest ad size configured. Read our blog on how to effectively use sticky ads without ruining the user experience. 

Beware of Wrongly-Injected Dynamic Content 

Don’t inject dynamic content on top of the content that has been already loaded, unless it’s a response to user interaction and an expected layout shift. Such content won’t affect CLS if it is loaded 500 milliseconds after user interaction. Basically, if user inputs cause layout shift regions to grow, your CLS score won’t be affected.

Using ‘font: display’ Values ‘link rel=preload’

If your site depends on online fonts, and browsers download fonts from servers, they display blank space before the font loads. Termed FOIT, as discussed earlier, can be avoided by using font: display causes like swap, auto, block, fallback, and optional. You could also preload font files using, link rel=preload for important fonts, so they are downloaded on priority.

Conclusion

In conclusion, apart from these best practices, there are many other steps that you could take to ensure that your layout doesn’t shift too much. Don’t try implementing all these steps in one shot. It is better to break them down, measuring the effect of each optimization post-implementation. Users can code layout shift fixes or use plugins to improve their CLS score. If dynamic content remains static, that will happen

Don’t underestimate the CLS score even if it isn’t as intuitive as other Core Web Vitals. It is very useful and can tell you why users are unhappy with your website and give you useful pointers in improving the user experience. Read our blog on striking the right balance between ads and user experience, another important area to watch out for if you want your site visitors to be happy. 

The post What is Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), And How To Optimize It first appeared on Publir.