Top 12 Hiring Tips from Talent Acquisition Specialists

It is a significant recruitment problem for many businesses to find out how to get work offers to freshly minted software engineers before the competition. It may take weeks for in-person interviews to be completed and much longer to submit letters of the offer while hiring managers to discuss which applicants to pursue.

But at Amazon, that's not how it works. Instead, recent graduates interested in applying for a software engineering job are expected to take online tests as part of a new experiment to assess their coding abilities and cultural fitness. If they score above a certain threshold, a job offer is created automatically by the company's system—no needed interviews.

"There’s no evidence that those who interviewed did better in their jobs than those who didn’t," says Danielle Monaghan, director of talent acquisition-consumer at Amazon in Seattle. It can be an equally challenging task to recruit senior medical professionals. Few are open to jumping ship later in their careers, especially if it involves moving to a smaller company. The solution: invite prospective hires of corporate leaders to a dinner party, who can then schmooze with their guests while explaining the work climate’s specific advantages.

"We’re able to tap into a pipeline of people who are already in our backyard and generate interest in a casual setting where both parties can see if there’s a fit, "We can tap into a pipeline of people who are already in our backyard and generate interest in a casual atmosphere where both parties can see if there is a fit.

For several HR practitioners, developing a world-class talent acquisition initiative that integrates cool recruitment ideas like these may seem impractical. The strain to fill the ever-larger pile of available requisitions, after all, leaves no time to experiment. And in smaller organizations, where recruitment roles frequently fall to an HR generalist who has to squeeze between several other everyday tasks in interviews, the bar for new hires is often "good enough," leaving the best talent undiscovered.

Yet, even though you recruit just one worker a month, you can take advantage of many of the same successful methods as the top talent acquisition firms, claim the people who lead them. You just need to know about the latest trends and then try to integrate some of them into your everyday recruitment routine.

The hiring managers we represent expect us to get the best talent, but to do that, you need to know what the recruiting leaders are doing," says Tim Sackett, SHRM-SCP, a blogger for talent acquisition and president of HRU Technical Resources in Lansing, Mich. "You don't have to reinvent the wheel. If a strategy works very well for someone else, copy it, and it will work again.

Most HR specialists believe that they want to get better at talent development. In a 2016 survey of more than 2,300 HR professionals by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), respondents said recruiting was their most significant business/HR challenge, ahead of enforcement, employee training, and compensation/benefits. It can be as challenging to find the time to incorporate new ideas as the job itself.

To that end, according to several leading voices, here are the 12 most significant steps to creating a more productive talent acquisition effort, including those who participated in a panel discussion on recruiting trends at the Talent Management Conference & Exposition of SHRM in April. Many of these methods do not require a large expenditure of time or resources, and they can be integrated into the recruitment strategies you are already using.

1. Brand your business as a great place to work.

You must not only use your website as a forum to show what makes you unique to prospective candidates, but you must also bring the brand message in all your marketing materials, through social media platforms, and in the stories you share in person. For example, on your website and social networks, you could post written and video testimonials from current workers describing why they enjoy their jobs. Doing so would create an impression of what it's like to work for your company among prospective hires. 

2. Charge at least as much for talent as your rivals, and be open about what you are offering.

Ensure that the overall compensation package is compatible with your form of industry and sector. Emphasize what differentiates you from anyone else. At the same time, if there is a pause in some part of what you sell, tell applicants why. Then focus on improving your services with your senior management team.

3. Embrace mobile

Research shows that more than half of all applicants look for jobs exclusively via their mobile devices; Weddle says, "so if you don't have an advanced mobile recruiting platform, you won't find those applicants." Luckily, he adds that the cost of implementing a smart mobile recruiting presence has dropped significantly in recent years.

4. Build robust talent networks.

Learn to build relationships well before specific job openings are posted with potential new hires. One approach is to create online "communities of engagement" through social media. These are networks in which applicants can learn about your business and see how it can make a difference to current employees.

5. Study and perform predictive analytics. 

Learn to build relationships well before specific job openings are posted with potential new hires. One approach is to create online "communities of engagement" through social media. These are networks in which applicants can learn about your business and see how it can make a difference to current employees.

6. Maintain your contact.

Although advancements in technology have drastically changed recruiting effectiveness, courting top talent still needs a personalized letter and a guarantee that when he or she joins your team, the career of a potential employee can flourish.

7. Make job applications simpler

Among other issues, online applications that are overwhelming to complete will result in the loss of top applicants. Negative word-of-mouth evaluations of excessively complex procedures, for example, or bad reviews on rating websites such as Glassdoor can hurt your brand. And as they work under cost-per-click recruitment models, businesses may also lose money from abandoned applications.

8. Hire more recruiters. 

During any budget analysis, talent acquisition is not a cost center that should be squeezed. Hiring is an investment in the future, and the best and brightest prospects will be attracted by organizations that support this conviction.

9. Expand the use of remote workers, but have a strategy for handling them.

Why fight the battle of relocation? There are countless career opportunities for successful applicants, and many of them will choose against moving to seek a work opportunity. So, consider allowing remote staff to perform tasks that do not require personal contact with colleagues to broaden your candidate pool (and your global footprint). But be sure to build a practical strategy for handling those workers before you move down this road.

10. Establish partnerships with relevant high schools and universities.

Try partnering with learning institutions to co-create a program in exchange for having the first shot at new learners if you are not finding the skills you need in the open market.

11. Maximize referrals to staff.

According to a 2016 SHRM benchmarking report, an astonishing 96 percent of firms with 10,000 workers or more and 80 percent of those with less than 100 employees claim referrals are their No. 1 source of new hires.

12. Consider recruiting and embracing their flexibility for more part-time contributors.

This strategy acknowledges that individuals will make hasty and even bad career decisions and then, once they understand their error, attempt to return to their former work. "You have to allow people grace in this economy," Browne says.

 

Investing in Stocks: an Easy Guide for Beginners

 

Investing is a way to set money aside when you are busy with life and make the money work for you so that in the future, you can truly enjoy the benefits of your labor. Investing is a way to an end that is happier. Investing is described by legendary investor Warren Buffett as "…the process of laying out money now to receive more money in the future." The purpose of investing is to put your money to work in one or more forms of investment vehicles in the hope of increasing your money over time. Let's say $1,000 is set aside, and you're ready to enter the world of investment.  Or you could only have an extra $10 a week, and you'd like to get into investing. We'll direct you through getting started as an investor in this article and show you how to optimize your returns while minimizing your expenses.

What kind of investor are you?

You need to answer the question before you commit your money: what kind of investor am I? An online broker like Charles Schwab or Fidelity will ask you about your investment goals when opening a brokerage account and how much risk you're willing to take on.

Some investors want to take an active hand in managing their money's growth, and some prefer to "set it and forget it." Like the two mentioned above, more "traditional" online brokers allow you to invest in stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), index funds, and mutual funds. 

Online Brokers

Either full-service or discount brokers are available. As the name suggests, full-service brokers provide the full spectrum of conventional brokerage services, including retirement financial advice, healthcare, and everything related to finance. Typically, they work only with higher-net-worth consumers. They may charge considerable fees, including a percentage of the purchases, a percentage of the assets they control, and even an annual membership fee. It is normal at full-service brokerages to see minimum account sizes of $25,000 and up. However, conventional brokers justify their high costs by offering advice that meets the detailed requirements.

The exception used to be discount brokers, but they're the rule now. Discount online brokers give you tools to pick and position your transactions, and a set-it-and-forget-it Robo-advisory service is also provided by several of them. As the field of financial services has expanded in the 21st century, more features have been introduced by online brokers, including educational materials on their websites and mobile apps.

Moreover, while there are various discount brokers with no (or very low) minimum deposit requirements, you might be faced with other restrictions, and accounts that do not have a minimum deposit are charged such fees. If they want to invest in stocks, this is what an investor should take into consideration.

Robo-advisors

Also, while there are several discount brokers with no (or very low) minimum deposit requirements, you could face other limits. Specific fees are paid to accounts that do not have a minimum deposit. This is what an investor shares if they want to invest in stocks.

After Betterment launched, other Robo-first companies have been established, and even existing online brokers such as Charles Schwab have introduced Robo-like advisory services. According to a study by Charles Schwab, 58 percent of Americans say they will be using Robo-advice by 2025. A Robo-advisor could be for you if you want an algorithm to make investment decisions for you, including tax-loss harvesting and rebalancing. And as the success of index investing has shown, if your target is long-term wealth building, you might do better with a Robo-advisor.

Investing via your employer

Try to spend only 1 percent of your income in the retirement account open to you at work if you're on a tight budget. The fact is, you probably won't even miss such a small contribution.
Until taxes are computed, work-based investment programs exclude your salary contributions, which would render the payment much less costly. When you're happy with a 1 percent contribution, maybe you should increase it when you get annual increases. You're not going to miss the extra donations. If you have a 401(k) retirement plan at work, you may already be investing in your future with mutual fund allocations and even the shares of your own company.

Minimums for account opening

Many financial institutions have minimum standards for deposits. In other words, unless you deposit a certain amount of money, they won't approve your account application. Some businesses would not even enable you to open an account with an amount as low as $1,000.

Before deciding where you want to open an account, it pays to shop around and check out our broker feedback. At the top of each analysis, we list limited deposits. Individual companies need no minimum deposits. Others, such as trading fees and account management fees, can also lower costs if you balance above a certain level. Still, others can offer a certain number of commission-free trades for opening an account.

Commissions and fees

There isn't a free lunch, as economists tend to say. Although several brokers have recently been rushing to lower or remove trading commissions, and ETFs sell index investing to anyone who can trade with a bare-bones brokerage account, one way or another, all brokers have to make money off their clients.

In most situations, each time you exchange stock, either by purchasing or selling, your broker will charge a fee. Trading costs vary from $2 per transaction to the low end but can be as high as $10 for individual discount brokers. Some brokers do not charge any trade commissions at all, but they make up for it in other respects. No charitable organizations operate brokerage facilities. These fees will add up and affect your profitability, depending on how much you trade. If you hop in and out of positions regularly, especially with a limited amount of money available to invest, investing in stocks can be very expensive.

The order to buy or sell one company’s stock is a trade. If you want to buy five different stocks at the same time, this is seen as five separate trades, and you will be paid with each one.

Imagine that with your $1,000, you plan to purchase the stocks of those five firms. You would pay $50 in trading costs to do this, assuming the fee is $10, representing 5% of your $1,000. Your account would be reduced to $950 after trading costs if you were to spend the $1,000 ultimately. This reflects a loss of 5 percent before ever getting a chance to gain your investments.

If you were to sell these five stocks, you would incur the trading costs again, which would be another $50. It will cost you $100, or 10 percent of your initial deposit sum of $1,000, to make the round trip (purchasing and selling) on these five stocks. If your investments do not gain enough to cover this, you have lost cash by only entering and leaving positions.

Mutual fund loads (Fees)

There are other costs associated with this form of investment, in addition to the trading charge for buying a mutual fund. Mutual funds are professionally managed pools of investor funds that, such as large-cap U.S. stocks, invest in a concentrated way.

When investing in mutual funds, there are several fees an investor will incur. The management expense ratio (MER) paid by the management team per year, depending on the fund’s number of assets, is one of the most relevant fees to remember. The MER ranges annually from 0.05 percent to 0.7 percent and varies depending on fund form. But the higher the MER, the more the fund's net returns are influenced by it.

You might see several sales charges called loads when you purchase mutual funds. Some are front-end loads, but no-load and back-end load funds will also be visible to you. Be sure that you understand whether a fund you consider bears a sales load before purchasing it. If you want to stop these additional costs, check out your broker's list of no-load funds and no-transaction-fee funds.

As far as the starting investor is concerned, the mutual fund fees are an advantage compared to the stock commissions. The explanation for this is that irrespective of the sum you spend, the payments are the same. Therefore, you can invest as little as $50 or $100 per month in a mutual fund as long as you satisfy the minimum requirement to open an account. Dollar cost averaging (DCA) is the word for this, and it can be a perfect way to start saving.

Diversify and lower the risks

The only free lunch in investing is known to be diversification. In a nutshell, by investing in various assets, you reduce the risk that the output of one investment will seriously harm the return of your total investment. You might think of it as "don't put all of your eggs in one basket." financial jargon.

In terms of diversification, stock investments can trigger a tremendous amount of complexity in doing so. The expense of investing in a large number of stocks could be harmful to the portfolio, as stated earlier. It is almost impossible to have a well-diversified portfolio with a $1,000 deposit, so be mindful that, to begin with, you may need to invest in one or two companies (at most). This will increase your risk.

The key benefits of mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) come into view. Within the portfolio, both securities tend to have a large number of stocks and other investments, making them more diversified than a single stock.

The bottom line

When you are just starting with a small amount of money, it is possible to invest. It's more complicated than just choosing the right investment (a feat that is hard enough in itself), and you have to be mindful of the constraints you face as a new investor.

To find the minimum deposit criteria and then equate the commissions with other brokers, you'll have to do your homework. Chances are you won't be able to purchase individual stocks cost-effectively and still be diversified with a small amount of capital. You'll also have to determine which broker you want to open an account with.

 

 

How COVID-19 impacts the field of asset and wealth management

 

Convenient measures to respond to the coronavirus crisis

For customers, companies, and societies worldwide, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is causing widespread fear and economic hardship. To assist, we prepared COVID-19 guidance: What US business leaders should know: crisis management and response, workforce, supply chain and operations, finance and liquidity, tax and trade, and policy. Below, you can find guidelines unique to asset and wealth management companies.

Most businesses do have business continuity plans, but those do not entirely address an outbreak's fast-moving and unpredictable variables such as COVID-19.

The widespread quarantines, business, and community disturbances, and added travel restrictions of a global health emergency such as this one are not usually taken into account by traditional contingency plans.

There are a variety of particular issues posed by the crisis. Finance leaders in the United States and Mexico expressed their top priorities in PwC's COVID-19 CFO Pulse Survey.

Considerations for the business of asset and wealth management: Managing and responding to emergencies

Challenges facing the asset leadership industry:

Given how closely revenues are tied to the financial markets, the asset and wealth management sector may be considered a bellwether for the overall economic climate.

After their February market highs, publicly-traded fund managers have seen their share prices drop 20 percent to 30 percent or more. Significant liquidity is generally untested in passive items. There are increasing signs of stress in broad areas of fixed income markets, such as corporate credit. The potential for significant market uncertainty could be in play for weeks or months, and there are rising forecasts of a decline. Until markets recover, the M&A and IPO markets can contract. Being an investor is a difficult time.

Business continuity plans could not have envisioned a crisis requiring more than transferring activities or deploying remote server backups from one site to another. There are disaster recovery plans for different operations. Still, they may not be adequately comprehensive to cope with multi-pronged problems that may emerge from a ripple effect on suppliers and markets (processes, technological breaking points, third-party risk, estimation and determination of net asset value, people's concerns, and financial reporting). There will invariably be certain manual activities that might have missed all the best company continuity preparation. Asset and asset managers rely on a network of service providers. Still, administrators, custody, pricing, and other resources, do not have adequate insight into third-party crisis management plans.

Cybersecurity is always a top priority; with higher levels of remote access to core systems, asset management companies can face extra threats and vulnerabilities. Employees and management may be more vulnerable to the efforts of social engineering.

Employees: Challenges facing the asset management industry

People (human capital) are the most excellent resource of asset management companies, meeting customer needs, portfolio management, operating operations, and more. After recent disasters, several businesses have developed contingency plans for personnel, including shifting to a secondary venue. Backup sites can often become unavailable in this case, and social distancing can enable workers to operate remotely for long periods. Companies will not be completely prepared, except for job categories where it is possible to incorporate this transition on a scale. As an increasing number of workers work remotely, cyber threats may also rise.

Market instability and business continuity communications can not provide adequate clarity and data to keep workers updated and reduce their concerns regarding their job situations. Stress may arise from rising consumer demands, market uncertainty, possible exposure to disease, and absenteeism that may render business operations more difficult to sustain.

These variables could leave asset management companies with a workforce more likely to control breakdowns, mistakes, and other risks that could lead to exposure to regulations.

Operations and chain of supply: Challenges facing the asset management industry

The roles of risk investment, management reporting, and asset managers’ investor services are still under pressure. Customer questions and concerns about the exposure of assets to affected territories, asset classes, and sectors could continue or even increase in number.

If their staff or activities are interrupted, third-party service providers that drive key processes may run into problems. If counterparty settlement becomes compromised or problematic, vendor exposure to company and employee illness risks may change the best execution formula.

As more workers operate remotely for extended periods and pressures on the systems increase, technology infrastructure may be strained or show weak spots. Companies could freeze code and site changes, which could have customer and security consequences. New cybersecurity threats may be generated by introducing new infrastructure components to cope with outsized volumes. COVID-19-related phishing attacks are on the rise.

Finance and liquidity: Challenges facing the asset management industry

In financial statements or other SEC filings, asset management companies can need to make reports about the impact of COVID-19 on their company, based on applicable GAAP and SEC disclosure requirements. In addressing operational outcomes and adjustments in balances, these could include risk factors, deterioration, debt, liquidity, management discussion, and analysis (MD&A). Investors in private asset management companies are likely to concentrate on these and other market concerns. Investors in the fund can also expand their inquiries to include possible disruption to the advisor's activities.

Macroeconomic and industry situations can lead to events requiring assessments of disability being triggered. Forecasts, models, and assumptions, if disability evaluations are warranted, could all need to be checked and, possibly, updated. With increased market volatility, uncertainty, and illiquidity, the valuation of less liquid and private assets is becoming more difficult. It is also likely that considering COVID-19-related uncertainty, you would have difficulty estimating NAV (net asset value), which might cause NAV determination problems.

Asset management supply companies often rely on their supplier network to fulfill their obligations. In territories impacted by COVID-19, some of those suppliers may have operational footprints, which further complicates the situation. Your suppliers and their suppliers may affect your ability to generate timely financial statements, depending on the degree of business interruption.

With possible delays in processing financial reports, combined with extensions to tax filing deadlines given by the US and state and local governments, the production and distribution of information reporting to fund-limited partners may be affected.

Taxes and trading: Challenges facing the asset management industry

If significant portfolio sales are made to satisfy redemptions, funds may face tax implications and may meet illiquid markets and distressed values.

The demand for capital could become less available. Lending conditions could tighten rapidly, and refinancing or issuing new (original) shares could be more costly or impractical for you.

For individual workers mandated to operate from home, it is essential to review payroll tax withholding, nexus/permanent establishment, and revenue distribution. Also, asset managers would need to discuss regional policies in jurisdictions that handle their employees’ business continuity/disaster recovery.

Strategy and trademark: Challenges facing the asset leadership industry

For business planning and research, estimates, models, and assumptions could all need to be checked and updated theoretically. On whether disability tests are required, a decision should be made.

Additional considerations: Business model

Issues that the asset management sector may face:

Traditional 60% /40% equity/fixed income wealth management portfolio models do not perform as expected. This has the potential to add to pressure on consumer trust and spending.

In upmarket, passive products have recently become popular, but they could lose popularity in a volatile or down market.

In comparison, alternative managers and distressed firms could be placed to invest in special opportunities at more favorable valuations.

Reporting for regulatory purposes

Issues that the asset management sector may face:

New guidance and relief are being provided by the SEC, FINRA, IRS, and other reporting regulatory outlets, and they may offer more in the coming days and weeks. Planning for people, monitoring, third-party risk, and other contingencies may be influenced by regulatory changes.

SEO - The Ultimate Guide to Organic Marketing

SEO has long been the spicy topic to divert real, organic traffic to your website. No marketing conversation goes without bringing SEO to the table. But what is it exactly? What makes Search Engine Optimization so diverse and unique that it’s always playing a factor – one way or the other – in your organic marketing strategies on digital media?

Apparently, Search Engine Optimization is a metaphor for bringing your website rankings up on search engines. But the term is more than just that! It’s diverse. 

It’s about utilizing the channel synergies of various mediums such as email marketing, social media, and other assisting sources. Marketing experts, who have long been into the business realize the benefits of combining on-page SEO, off-page SEO, paid marketing, social media, email marketing, and more.

Also, in this case, there is no definite guide provided by Google, Yahoo, Bing, or any other major search engines. As a digital platform owner, you have to figure these things out on your own. As you go along, you find ways and hacks to build up your organic rankings through SEO. However, this could take a while if you are new in the business and looking to get a head-start.

With 2020 right around the corner, here’s a detailed guide for you – based on crisp and precise steps – to help you kick-start your organic marketing campaigns:

Analyze – Build an SEO Strategy

For starters, you have to observe your business with a keen eye, what is it about? How other businesses like yours are performing in the market? What are some of the key factors driving their website rankings up?

Whether it is an accurate implementation of visual search, the synergy of YouTube and Social Media, accurate keyword targeting, or adding backlinks and popping snippet baits to your website, there’s a lot that you could know. 

The aim of analyzing your business and market shouldn’t be to implement everything right away. Instead, observe, analyze, and devise a strategy within your resources. Only very few people have the resources to put each technique to use right away. Therefore, the key is to build a basic, yet effective strategy and initiate the process. This will eventually lead your website to top-rankings, by utilizing one medium at a time. 

Keyword Research

Researching appropriate keywords is one of the basic, vital, and crucial tasks for an effective SEO strategy. You must be well-aware of your niche and make use of proper tools to detect proper keywords. Keywords are the phrases that people would type in search engines when looking up for something particular. 

For example, a person who is looking for boat rentals in Havana may search “Rent a boat in Havana.” Therefore, “Rent a boat in Havana” is a keyword that must be thoroughly and meaningfully distributed on your website in order for your website to show up in the top results of search engines.

Moreover, marketers and website owners who want their websites to show up on the first page of Google, make use of various keyword targeting techniques. In other words, a reasonable and sensible SEO strategy always includes the utilization of smart keywords.

Black Hat SEO vs White Hat SEO – Save Your Website From Being Penalized!

Black Hat SEO is basically a set of unethical practices that can improve rankings of a website in search engine results. These practices should be highly opposed because while they may get you to the top of SERP in a short time, they’re also a perfectly good reason for search engines to ban your website. 

If you need to find out which practices are unethical, you can visit Google’s Webmaster Guidelines page. 

On the other hand, White Hat SEO is a set of ethical practices that sensible marketers use to get their websites to the top of SERP. White Hat SEO is about sticking to the guidelines and rules provided by search engines – and honestly speaking, you want to be on good terms with google!

You can do this by:

• Making relevant, great quality content

• Generating great keyword targeting campaigns

• Link building

On-page SEO vs Off-page SEO

On-page SEO is the website optimization rules that a website owner has to follow. This includes the website containing meaningful content, the right keywords scattered throughout, and following some rules for maintaining the quality of content.

Some rules for maintaining the quality of content may include external and internal URLs, Image optimization, structured data, meta tags, and keyword-rich headings.

On the contrary, off-page SEO covers all the activities you do to improve your SEO rankings by getting backlinks from other websites. Website owners normally do this by assisting their websites with social media pages, YouTube channels, Email Marketing, and collaborating with niche influencers. 

Done With The SEO Basics? – Time To Consider Some Details!

SEO can be a diverse area to cover and no one can know the ultimate answer. However, here are some of the most critical factors to maintain SEO by 2019:

• The content on your website should be unique, fresh, and quality-centered. 

• Always design your strategies while keeping the user intent in mind. After all, they are the ones selecting effective keywords.

• Make sure the external and internal links on your webpages are intact.

• Check the website’s cross-platform compatibility – the higher the compatibility, the better.

• Search engines also value your website’s efficiency and speed – find a good hosting!

• Your website must have a reasonable quantity of content, so users have an opportunity to crawl through your webpages. 

• Webpage layout, social sharing, topical authority, and domain age are some additional factors responsible for rankings.

How And Why Do People Use Search Engines?

Before summing up, let’s look at your potentially number one priority – the people using search engines. Normally, when people turn to Google or other search engines, they’re looking for a solution to a problem. This problem can range from finding the meaning of a word to finding the meaning of the universe. But the key here is to look at how users search for a solution.

They are not always going to use perfect grammar or phrases but search engines will still show them accurate results. This can only be done if the websites have smartly optimized their content, have secretly targeted keywords, making the content on their websites still just as meaningful.

Final Advice 

Now that you have an ultimate guide to kick-start your organic marketing campaign, here’s a bit of advice that should go a long way:

In order to correctly evolve and to get the desired results, you always have to keep experimenting with the ethical set of rules. Sooner or later, something will click and it’ll make your organic audience flow!

Here’s What You Need to Know About Meta Description Length

When working with our marketing customers at Joseph Studios, we try our best not to geek out about too much of the nitty-gritty behind the scenes. We do, however, like to keep them in the know about the different tactics we are using to keep them on top and ahead of their competitors in a way that they can easily understand. This brings us to the importance of meta descriptions and how they can help leverage descriptions to achieve better rankings. 

Remember – I promise not to geek out on this.

What is a meta description?

The results of a keyword search provide a long list of results or “hits.” Each hit has a meta title and a link to get to the page. Below is a snippet from the content on that page to give you a taste of what’s to come and a look into how it relates to the keywords in your search. The goal is for this tiny bit of information to be “enough” to attract the searcher to your website to read more. How exactly is that accomplished? Read on, for we’re about to describe this meta description strategy for you.

Does a meta description help SEO at all?

For my best “in a nutshell” description, search engine optimization (SEO) is achieved through a combination of the content and activities (visits and duration of visit) on your website. Google has an algorithm taking all of this into account, and that is what determines your ranking on those search results. 

The meta description in and of itself does nothing to secure your place in the line of search results ***except*** be the right description to get the attention of the searcher to click through to your website. It is the clicking through, and their browsing around that gives your website activity a bump. The meta description just got them there in the first place, so there IS value in that meta description!

So by people clicking through to your site, Google’s algorithm is noticing this and taking note of their clicking and the search phrase. Google is learning and making those connections between the query and your content. This association will be matched to future queries, making your website content a legit listing when Google gets another similar search. This action is what moves your content and your company ranking up higher on the list each time this occurs. Isn’t artificial intelligence awesome?

While Google is king for algorithms, other search engines work in similar ways, making those connections between your website content and click-through actions from every search query that occurs. With this in mind, you want to make sure that meta description has valuable information to grab readers’ attention and want to learn more.

What is the ideal meta description length?

The easy answer to this one is a meta description that can be read entirely. Officially, a meta description “can” be up to around 300 characters. That doesn’t mean that all 300 characters are seen by those searching. For instance, a search conducted by a tablet or phone will see far less than a search from a PC. This makes your available characters to get your point across on that list of hits much smaller. Try to get your meta description length down to about 120 characters. We say this because that is the number of characters that will display on a mobile device and 58% of all searches come from mobile devices. A tablet can see around 150 characters. 

What about other search engines?

No disrespect to the makers of search engines like Bing, Yahoo, and the others, but you always hear about Google’s search engine, ratings, and algorithms. These other search engines do have their own ranking means and algorithms, as well. Google has managed to be the king of all search engines, with 90% of all search volume conducted on Google above all others.  When it comes to meta description length, Bing and Yahoo can hold around 168 characters on a desktop.

With this in mind, you should resist the urge to take up all 300 characters for your meta description with 42% of those viewing unable to see it all. If the first 120 characters don’t make sense, they can pass you over and never even look.  If you can keep your meta description to a meaningful 120 characters for a mobile device, your meta description is ultimately viewable any search engine and any device. This will help with more successful click-throughs creating a positive impact on your SEO.

Focus on your audience

Now that you understand that the meta description is to attract live humans instead of appeasing algorithms, concentrate on your audience without the stress of fitting in those keywords in such a short space. Give your audience an accurate description of the content they will find on your page. Think of it as a tiny sales pitch that your website is just what they’ve been looking for in their search.

Think of three words when writing your meta descriptions: short, sweet, and useful. Your goal is now solely focused on your audience.

Check your meta description length before posting

Now, before you put a finger to the screen counting characters, there are tools to do this much easier than that! First of all, you can do the same on Google Docs or MS Word on the bottom of the screen (if you didn’t know that already). 

Check with your website’s content management system for a tool. There may be a perfect plugin for that. WordPress, for example, has the Yoast plugin. Yoast enables you to update the meta title, meta description, and your URL slug to the keywords and content. Other platforms such as Wix may require you to edit these details through the HTML code directly. It’s worth a look around to see if there is a tool out there for you.

Here are a few sites for free meta description analysis for those of you not using Yoast. 

• EZ Local
• SEOMoFo
• Spotibo

Just like all of your content, you are looking to connect with your audience, and it starts with the meta description to get their attention. The rest is for you to shine with their undivided attention!

Applying the 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) to your marketing strategy

Where strategy stalls

Whether it be an enterprise strategy or a marketing strategy, it remains a collection of pretty papers until it goes into action. That’s exactly what I have to share with you today. I’ve seen many plans created that fell short of meeting their goals because the execution was flawed. This flaw is usually due to the lack of communication, meaning those below senior leadership were unaware of the plan so didn’t know what or how to get it rolling.

The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX)

4DX is a set of practices that brings a strategy to life! These disciplines have been tested and refined by countless organizations over many years. They are designed to move the needle forward a little at a time to move all teams forward toward their most (wildly) important goals. The disciplines are simple ones. Some may think them too simple to matter but never doubt the tremendous power these disciplines have in action.

Discipline 1: Focus on the wildly important

One of the disciplines we focus on with 4DX is to focus on only one or two wildly important goals (WIG) at a time. Too many times, we have so many ideas and goals swimming in our heads that we try to accomplish them all at the same time. What happens is that we may get some of them. Maybe most of them to a mediocre degree. Mediocrity is not a goal in 4DX, so we strive for more on focusing on less. Your chances of achieving a couple of goals with excellence are very high, but the more you juggle, the less likely you are to reach them. With a heightened focus on fewer items, not only is excellence probable, but also at a faster rate.

When you define your wig, you want to identify where you are now, where you want to be, and by when.  Here is an example.
We want to get our SEO results from the fifth page to the first page by January 1, 2020.

Discipline 2: Act on the lead measures

In 4DX there are two kinds of measures that we give our attention:

Lag measures

These are the measures that say whether or not you were successful. Notice I say this in the past tense. This tense is because the action is in the past, so not additional actions can be taken for these results. It is too late, yet we lose sleep over these results regularly. Why do you think that is when there is nothing you can do once the result occurs?

In our example, the lag measure will be the placement or ranking on a Google keyword search.

Lead measures

Lead measures are the ones we have control over. Lead measures are what track the activities that drive the lag measure. These actions can predict the success of the lag measure by the direct influence of the team.

Another detail about lead measures is that we are looking at short-term actions for short-term goals. The small goals bundle together to move the needle to success. Let’s put our two steps together:
WIG: We want to get our SEO results from the fifth page to the first page by January 1, 2020
Our example leads to measures: 

• Website content will have a 1.5% concentration of searchable keywords
• Weekly blogs of 1000 words about relative and interesting content
• Weekly emails with a call to action directing the readers to the website
• 30 social media posts weekly
• 40 or more backlinks monthly

All of these actions can easily be measured and will directly affect the lag measure of the SEO results.

Discipline 3: Keep a compelling scoreboard

Before I tell you why this is so important, let’s picture some neighborhood kids on the cul de sac with a basketball and a hoop. They are bouncing around a little bit and talking smack. They aren’t playing a serious game, but they are taking turns shooting. It’s no big deal – until someone is keeping score. All of a sudden, the kids start breaking a sweat and playing for keeps. Why is that? It’s simple:

People play differently when they are keeping score, and scoreboards motivate players to win.
Of course, the team needs to know whether they are winning or losing at all times! How would they otherwise see if they must change course or push full-steam ahead?

A scoreboard measuring SEO may have a weekly entry with the current position or the team and everyone else in the company to see. It will be displayed with the prior weeks to show the ongoing progress (lag measures). Even if we are failing, everyone will know. We won’t let that failure last very long, though, because we have another discipline.

Discipline 4: Create a cadence of accountability

The team must be accountable for themselves, and in doing so, engages in a brief weekly meeting (cadence) as part of the process to note and celebrate successes, analyze failures, and correct course immediately upon identification of any barriers. This cadence keeps the team pointed in the right direction.

Part of the cadence includes commitments by each team member that contributes to the lead measures (that result in the lag measure). These commitments are above and beyond their regular job duties, so only one or two are necessary each week to move the needle forward.
“What are the one or two most important things I can do this week that will have the biggest impact on our scoreboard?”

Each team member will have a different answer to this question. In the meeting, each team member will report on the success or failure of meeting their commitment, then what their commitment will be for the next week. Again, little steps are all it takes to make a significant change, and the meeting time is usually 15-30 minutes. With the cadence, the team celebrates and troubleshoots together.

Our cadence to our customers

Whether in marketing or operations, the disciplines of 4DX bring a team by way of small, achievable steps to meeting their wildly important goal. At Joseph Studios, we provide a monthly performance report to our customers to show them how each of their marketing campaigns has fared and recommend a change in course when it will benefit the results of our client. We also have regular cadence within the team to keep our individual goals (lead measures) with our client results (lag measures). How much attention do you think your company is getting by your marketing team? Contact us at Joseph Studios to see what a white-glove treatment looks like when you become one of our clients.