You are reading the article Google’s John Mueller: Don’t Create A Sitemap Manually updated in December 2023 on the website Daihoichemgio.com. We hope that the information we have shared is helpful to you. If you find the content interesting and meaningful, please share it with your friends and continue to follow and support us for the latest updates. Suggested January 2024 Google’s John Mueller: Don’t Create A Sitemap Manually
The thread states:
“I have a client in a very technical, industrial niche. They sell industrial parts that are similar, but very specific. They have 2 Million + SKUs in their inventory.
My challenge here is to create a sitemap. Because there are so many pages, I have to create it manually. I have a list of URLs broken up by products and categories that our dev team pulled through API. Since sitemaps can only contain 50,000 URLs, I have 37 excel sheets with 50,000 URLs on them each…”
The SEO went on to describe how they plan to go about tackling this challenge, which is all irrelevant now considering they don’t “have to” create the sitemap manually as they originally thought.
Here’s what Mueller suggests doing instead.
John Mueller’s Response“Don’t create a sitemap manually like that,” Mueller plainly states in his response.
Instead of creating the sitemap manually, Mueller says this is what should be done in this situation:
“You need to get [the sitemap] from the CMS or the underlying database directly.”
As another Reddit user points out, getting a sitemap from the API where the dev team originally pulled the list of URLs would be a fine solution as well.
Why is this better than manually creating a sitemap?
When creating a sitemap for a large site, or any site, you have to consider not only how it will be created but how it will be kept up to date.
A site with a product catalog of this magnitude could be adding and removing tens of thousands of products every day.
It would be logistically impossible to manually maintain an updated sitemap like that.
And that’s not even taking into account the considerable amount of work that would go into creating the sitemap in the first place.
Manually creating a sitemap is not a realistic solution when automated options exist.
The SEO Comes to Their SensesThe SEO who started the Reddit thread eventually came to their senses and agreed that manually creating a sitemap is not the right way to go about it.
“Thanks for the wake-up call guys. I agree, this was the plan of action laid out for us and it didn’t sit right with me from the beginning.”
For what it’s worth, the idea apparently came from senior staff members of the company they work for.
More ResourcesFor more information on creating and optimizing sitemaps, see the resources below:
You're reading Google’s John Mueller: Don’t Create A Sitemap Manually
Mueller Says Don’t Focus On What Google Thinks Is Quality. Focus On This Instead
In a Google Webmaster Hangout someone asked John Mueller what was quality content for Google. Mueller essentially said that publishers know what “quality” is better than Google does. Mueller then shared what the publisher should focus on instead.
What is Quality Content for Google?To put this question into context, a few years ago the SEO community kept announcing what they called a Quality Update every month. Month after month, they kept saying an update was happening and it was about quality.
Google denied that those updates were actual updates. But the idea that “quality” might be an important ranking factor persisted.
Even after Google introduced BERT, Neural Matching, RankBrain and other strides in Natural Language Processing to search results, publishers still think in terms of creating “quality content.”
Quality is good. But in my opinion, based on twenty years of search marketing experience and following the latest developments in search, Google primarily ranks websites for usefulness, which is about relevance to the search query intent.
Authority is a part of determining what is relevant.
Relevance is the end and authority is the means.
Bill Slawski, a search marketer who follows search related patents, published an article in 2023 about a patent related to authority. In it he quoted this about authority:
Whether the search system considers a site to be authoritative will typically be query-dependent. For example, the search system can consider the site for the Centers for Disease Control, “cdc.gov,” to be an authoritative site for the query “cdc mosquito stop bites,” but may not consider the same site to be authoritative for the query “restaurant recommendations””
Here is the question:
“What is quality content in Google’s eyes? If two people are writing on the same content it’s possible they have a different opinion on the same thing. Then how does Google decide which one is better?”
John Mueller answered:
“With regards to quality content, in general this is something where you as the site owner probably know a lot more about what is actually quality content for your specific kind of site.”
What is quality? It’s a subjective opinion of excellence. There aren’t really any patents or research papers about creating a subjective opinion of quality across a range of topics.
Something like authoritativeness has been researched. Authority is about accuracy and factual truth. A site that acquires links and other signals of affirmation can be said to be authoritative.
A concept like quality is abstract and subjective. Search, in my opinion, is not about providing subjective answers but about providing useful answers that are accurate in terms of solving the question or need that underlies the search query, also known as search intent.
Related: How to Create High-Quality Content
Mueller continues:
“So that’s something where I wouldn’t worry too much about what Google thinks about quality content. But rather you need to show that you really have something that’s unique and compelling and of high quality.”
Mueller appears to be saying to stop focusing on what Google might algorithmically think is high quality and start focusing on what users will respond to as high quality.
His follow up statement encourages publishers to focus on how users may respond and that might sound “holistic” and new age-y and non-actionable. But it’s not.
Here’s Mueller’s follow up statement:
“So instead of trying to work back how Google’s algorithms might be working, I would recommend trying to figure out what your users are actually thinking and doing things like user studies, inviting a bunch of people to your office or virtually to show them something new that you’re providing on your website and ask them really hard questions where sometimes the answer might be we don’t like your website or we were confused by your website or we don’t like the color of your logo or something.
But kind of this is the hard feedback that’s really important to get and a lot of times these are things that you might not agree with but if all of your users are saying this then maybe that’s something you need to consider as well.”
In my opinion and experience what Mueller is describing is a pragmatic approach for ranking. What I mean is that when people talk about delighting users what they are really talking about is providing relevant answers or relevant experiences or relevant usefulness (utility).
Relevant answers
Relevant experiences
Relevant usefulness (utility)
Then to put a bow around those concepts of relevance there are considerations like ease of use and attractiveness.
Attractiveness is About RelevanceIn my opinion, attractiveness is more about being appealing and less about being stylish. Attractiveness, when considered in terms of being appealing, is really about relevance.
For example, a site about tying fishing flies might work best if it looks like it was hand coded by a twelve year old. That will resonate with people who are focused on the information and not on how pretty a site looks. Attractiveness is about relevance. So when you design a site a consideration should be understanding how a user might feel about the look of the site and how it relates to them (relevance).
Importance of Being Relevant to UsersFinally Mueller shared how Google itself focuses on being relevant to users:
Here he mentions being relevant:
“This is something we do all the time as well. We do a/b tests in the search results all the time to see how can we make sure that we continue to provide relevant results, even when users needs and expectations continue to change over time.”
Now Mueller describes the importance of how users experience Google:
“We do user studies in search console as well where we try new features out and try to kind of see which ways users are either confused by these new features or which way they can work better with these new features.”
Finally he underlines the usefulness of approaching the problem of ranking in the same way Google approaches the problem of ranking.
“These are things you always need to do and you should focus on your users rather than on how Google’s algorithms might currently be trying to figure out what is high quality content.
One of the other reasons why you shouldn’t be focusing on how Google’s algorithms figure this out is that Google’s algorithms will also continue to evolve and continue to focus on the users and see what they need.
And if you’re just focusing on Google’s algorithms you’re always a step behind.
So try to focus on your users and figure out what their needs are and what you can do to provide something that is really unique and compelling and different from everyone else in that area that you’re active in.”
Related: The Three Pillars of SEO: Authority, Relevance, and Trust
Relevance Versus QualityA not uncommon issue I find when performing a site audit is that the publisher focuses too much on the excellence of the content and not enough on being relevant to the user they are trying to reach.
Content quality becomes defined within the context of being comprehensive. So they write 5,000 word web pages.
Meanwhile their competitors are outranking them with pages that are significantly shorter in content.
Why is that? That’s the answer I provide and it’s always different but it mostly centers on relevance.
This is what I meant when I said that Mueller’s answer kind of sounds new age-y but in reality there are some pragmatic and actionable takeaways.
Watch the Google hangout here:
John Galliano: As A Fashion Icon
John Galliano is known for his flamboyant and theatrical runway shows, and his designs often incorporate elements of historical costume and fantasy. He was widely considered to be one of the most talented and influential fashion designers of his generation. Galliano began his career working for British designers like Stephen Jones and Wendy Dagworthy before moving to Paris in the 1980s.
He was appointed the creative director of Givenchy in 1995, and in 1996 he became the creative director of Christian Dior. He also has his own label, John Galliano, which he launched in 2023. His work continues to be recognised and praised by the fashion industry and critics.
Personal LifeHe was born in Gibraltar in 1960, and he grew up in South London. He developed an interest in fashion at a young age, and he attended the Saint Martin’s School of Art in London, where he graduated with a degree in fashion design. Galliano is known for his flamboyant and theatrical runway shows, and his designs often incorporate elements of historical costume and fantasy. He has dressed some of the most famous women over the years.
In his personal life, Galliano has had a tumultuous time; he has been open about his struggles with addiction and mental health issues. He was dismissed from Dior in 2011 after a video surfaced of him making anti-Semitic remarks in a Paris café. The incident caused significant controversy, and Galliano was widely criticised for his behaviour. He took a break from the fashion industry and later completed an addiction treatment program. He has since apologised, acknowledged his past mistakes, and sought to better himself. Despite the controversy surrounding his dismissal from Dior, Galliano’s legacy in the fashion industry remains undeniable. He is widely recognised as one of the most talented and influential fashion designers of his generation, and his impact on the fashion industry continues to be felt today.
As a Fashion IconJohn Galliano is considered a fashion icon for his flamboyant and theatrical runway shows and his unique designs that often incorporate elements of historical costume and fantasy. He is known for his use of luxurious fabrics, intricate detailing, and the ability to create a sense of drama and spectacle on the runway. He was able to push boundaries and break the mould of traditional fashion design, and his work was often described as theatrical, romantic, and fantastical.
Galliano’s designs were not only admired by fashion critics and industry experts but also by celebrities and high-profile personalities who frequently wore his designs on the red carpet. He dressed some of the most famous women in history. His tenures at Givenchy and Christian Dior were particularly notable, as he helped revitalise both brands and bring them back to the forefront of the fashion industry. He was responsible for the iconic designs that defined the late 1990s and early 2000s. Despite the controversy surrounding his dismissal from Dior, Galliano’s legacy in the fashion industry remains undeniable. He is widely recognised as one of the most talented and influential fashion designers of his generation, and his impact on the fashion industry continues to be felt today.
His Signature StyleJohn Galliano’s signature style is known for its flamboyant, theatrical, and romantic aesthetic. He often incorporates elements of historical costume and fantasy into his designs, creating a sense of drama and spectacle on the runway. He is known for his use of luxurious fabrics, intricate detailing, and the ability to create a sense of drama and spectacle on the runway. Galliano is known for his use of luxurious fabrics like silk, satin, and velvet, which he often combines with intricate detailing such as embroidery, lace, and beading. He is also known for his use of playful prints and patterns, which he often incorporates into his designs.
His designs are characterised by the ability to create a sense of drama and spectacle on the runway. He often uses elements of historical costume and fantasy in his designs, which adds a unique and theatrical touch to his collections. His runway shows are often described as flamboyant and theatrical. Galliano is also recognised for his ability to create timeless, classic designs that remain relevant for decades. He was able to push boundaries and break the mould of traditional fashion design. His work is often described as theatrical, romantic, and fantastical. He has dressed some of the most famous women over the years.
Fashion CareerJohn Galliano began his fashion career working for British designers like Stephen Jones and Wendy Dagworthy in the early 1980s. In the mid-1980s, he relocated to Paris to work for the fashion house Jean Patou. He later worked as a freelance designer for a number of fashion houses, including Christian Lacroix, and started his own label, John Galliano. In 2011, Galliano was dismissed from Dior after a video surfaced of him making anti-Semitic remarks in a Paris café.
The incident caused significant controversy, and Galliano was widely criticised for his behaviour. He took a break from the fashion industry and later completed an addiction treatment program. In 2014, Galliano made a comeback in the fashion industry as the creative director of Maison Margiela. He remained with the brand until 2023. He then relaunched his own label, John Galliano, in 2023. His work continues to be recognised and praised by the fashion industry and critics.
Timeline
1960 − John Galliano is born in Gibraltar.
1980s − Galliano begins his fashion career working for British designers like Stephen Jones and Wendy Dagworthy.
1984 − Galliano starts his own label, John Galliano.
Mid-1980s − Galliano moves to Paris to work for the fashion house Jean Patou.
1995 − Galliano is appointed as the creative director of Givenchy.
1996 − Galliano is appointed as the creative director of Christian Dior.
2011 − Galliano is dismissed from Dior after a video surfaced of him making anti-Semitic remarks in a Paris café.
2011 − Galliano takes a break from the fashion industry and later completes an addiction treatment program.
2014 − Galliano makes a comeback in the fashion industry as the creative director of Maison Margiela.
2023 − Galliano leaves Maison Margiela and relaunches his own label, John Galliano.
2023 − Galliano continues to design and present his collections at major fashion events, and his work continues to be recognised and praised by the fashion industry and critics.
Famous Outfits Designed by HimJohn Galliano has designed many iconic and memorable outfits throughout his career. Some of the most famous outfits designed by him include
The “New Look” collection for Christian Dior in 1997 celebrated the 50th anniversary of the original “New Look” collection designed by Christian Dior himself in 1947. This collection was considered a triumph and was credited with revitalising the brand.
The “Nautical” collection for Christian Dior in 2000 featured nautical-inspired designs such as sailor’s stripes, anchor motifs, and rope detailing.
The “Marie Antoinette” collection for Christian Dior in 2007 was inspired by the 18th-century French queen and featured extravagant designs with a rococo and baroque aesthetic.
The “Goddess” collection for Christian Dior in 2008 featured flowing, goddess-inspired designs in a palette of whites and golds.
The “Circus” collection for Maison Margiela in 2023 was inspired by the circus and featured designs with a playful, whimsical aesthetic.
The “Artisanal” collection for Maison Margiela in 2023 was inspired by the craftsmanship and artisanal techniques of traditional couture.
These are just a few examples of the many iconic and memorable outfits that Galliano has designed throughout his career. He has been able to create a unique and instantly recognisable aesthetic that has set him apart in the fashion industry.
ConclusionIn conclusion, John Galliano is known for his flamboyant and theatrical runway shows and his unique designs that often incorporate elements of historical costume and fantasy. He began his career as a freelance designer for British designers such as Stephen Jones and Wendy Dagworthy. He helped revitalise the brands and bring them back to the forefront of the fashion industry. He was known for his iconic designs that defined the late 1990s and early 2000s. He later relaunched his own label, John Galliano. Galliano’s legacy in the fashion industry remains undeniable, and his impact on the industry continues to be felt today.
7 Reasons Why An Html Sitemap Is Still A Must
The debate about the utility of HTML sitemaps and their efficacy with regards to SEO rages on.
But as far as I’m concerned, they are useful for users and there is no good reason not to have one. If there is additional SEO value, that’s even better.
A sitemap guides your website visitors to where they want to go. It’s where they turn if they haven’t found what they are looking for in your dropdown menus or on-site search.
Beyond helping your visitors navigate your website (which should be the primary focus of any marketing effort) there are lots of other great reasons to use a sitemap. We’ll explore those below.
First, it’s important to understand that there are two types of sitemaps that websites use:
XML sitemaps.
HTML sitemaps.
What Are XML Sitemaps?XML sitemaps help search engines and spiders discover the pages on your website.
These sitemaps give search engines a website’s URLs and offer data a complete map of all pages on a site. This helps search engines prioritize pages that they will crawl.
There is information within the sitemap that shows page change frequency on one URL versus others on that website, but it is unlikely that this has any effect on rankings.
An XML sitemap is very useful for large websites that might otherwise take a long time for a spider to crawl through the site and can help search engines just simply know what pages exist. Without this sitemap, they would not be able to build the full menu of available pages until they completed a crawl of the whole site.
Every site has a specific amount of crawl budget allocated to their site, so no search engine will simply crawl every URL the first time it encounters it.
An XML sitemap is a good way for a search engine to build its queue of the pages it wants to serve.
What Are HTML Sitemaps?HTML sitemaps ostensibly serve website visitors. The sitemaps include every page on the website – from the main pages to lower-level pages and can be thought of as a well-organized table of content.
This is a great opportunity to create some order out of chaos, so it’s worth making the effort.
Why You Should Leverage HTML SitemapsWhile you may already use an XML sitemap – and some insist that an HTML sitemap is no longer necessary – here are seven reasons to add (or keep) an updated HTML sitemap.
1. Organize Large WebsitesYour website will grow in size.
You may add an ecommerce store with several departments or you may expand your product portfolio. Or, more likely, the site just grows as new ideas become a part of the company.
However, this can lead to confusion for visitors who are then confused about where to go or what you have to offer.
The HTML sitemap works in a similar way to a department store or shopping mall map.
The sitemap is a great way for the person maintaining the sitemap to take stock of every page and make sure it has its rightful home somewhere on the site.
This is the directory for users that can’t find the pages they are looking for elsewhere on the site and, as a last resort, this should help them get there. I find myself looking for sitemaps when I am otherwise confused as to where to go on a website.
2. Serve As A Project Manager & ArchitectThink of the HTML sitemap as an architectural blueprint for your website.
The sitemap becomes a project management tool. It oversees the structure and connections between pages and subpages.
It’s also a forcing function to make sure that you have a clean hierarchy and taxonomy for the site. Every page that is created has to find a home.
A good sitemap is like a well-organized daily schedule.
As any busy person knows, there’s a big difference between an agenda that has every meeting popped on at random or those that are themed and organized around time blocks.
In either case, an agenda is still an agenda but an organized one is far more useful for everyone.
3. Highlight The Website’s PurposeAs a content-based document, the HTML sitemap serves as a way to further define your website’s specific value.
Enhance this benefit by using SEO to identify the most unique and relevant keywords to include on the sitemap.
Anchor text is a great way of creating keyword relevancy for a page and for pages without many cross-links, a sitemap is an easy alternative to use choice anchor text. While there is no guarantee that the anchor text is valued by search engines, it nonetheless does not hurt to try.
4. Speed The Work Of Search Engine CrawlersYou want to help those search engines out in any way you can and take control where you can. The assistance includes finding your content and moving it up in the crawl queue.
While an XML sitemap is just a laundry list of links, HTML links are actually the way search crawlers prefer to discover the web.
The HTML sitemap helps call attention to that content by putting the spotlight on your website’s most important pages. You can also submit the text version of your sitemap to Google.
5. Increase Search Engine VisibilityWith some websites, Google and other search engines may not go through the work of indexing every webpage.
For example, if you have a link on one of your webpages, then search bots may choose to follow that link.
The bots want to verify that the link makes sense. Yet, in doing so, the bots may never return to continue indexing the remaining pages.
The HTML sitemap can direct these bots to get the entire picture of your site and consider all the pages. In turn, this can facilitate the bots’ job and they may stay longer to follow the page navigation laid out for them.
Not only does a taxonomy and hierarchy help users find themselves, but it’s incredibly important for search crawlers, too. The sitemap can help the crawlers understand the website’s taxonomy.
There is no limit to how big a sitemap can be and LinkedIn even has a sitemap that has links to all of their millions of user pages.
6. Enable Page Links In A Natural Way To Drive VisitorsNot every page will connect through a link located in a header or footer.
The HTML sitemap can step in and find these ideal connections that address how visitors may look for things.
In this way, the HTML sitemap can reflect a visitor’s journey and guide them from research to purchase. In doing so, this benefit of HTML sitemaps can raise the organic search visibility of these linked pages.
In this instance, the sitemap is the fallback that ensures that there is never a page on a site that is orphaned.
I have seen huge gains in the traffic of sites that had issues with deeper pages not receiving many internal links.
7. Identify The Areas Where Site Navigation Could ImproveOnce your website grows and you develop more pages, there may be duplicate data, which can be problematic for a search engine.
But after mapping everything out, you’ll be able to use the sitemap to find the duplication and remove it.
As an aside, this only works if there is an owner of the sitemap that is looking at the sitemap on a semi-regular basis.
Also, when you apply analytics or heat map tools, it may conclude that more visitors are using the HTML sitemap than using navigation.
This is a clear signal that you need to reassess why this is happening if the current navigation is missing the mark.
It’s important to determine how you can change the site architecture to make it easier for visitors to find what they need.
For all these benefits, you’ll want to maintain an HTML sitemap. These benefits save resources (time and money).
They also deliver an effective way to guide your website visitors to what they need and help close those sales.
Getting StartedIf you don’t have an HTML sitemap but do use a platform like WordPress, I recommend one of the many sitemap plug-ins. The plug-ins automate much of the sitemap development and management process.
For larger sites, it might take running a web crawl like:
Screaming Frog or SiteBulb on desktop.
OnCrawl or DeepCrawl in the cloud.
The output of this web crawl should then serve as the basis for organizing all of a site’s pages around themes.
After developing the HTML sitemap, don’t forget to put a link on your website that is easy to find.
You can either put the link at the top, as part of a sidebar, or in a footer menu that continues to be accessible as visitors move from page to page.
However you look at it, an HTML sitemap is an easy way to get huge benefits without a lot of effort.
More Resources:
Featured image: Shutterstock/Griboedov
Don’t Do This On Facebook: A Guide For Marketers
Are you planning to market your brand on Facebook? You better follow the rules, or you’ll be out, and you’ll be out fast.
A robust social platform for business marketing, Facebook is one of the monsters of the social media realm.
With a considerable amount of users of all ages, all of whom have varied interests, it’s easy to find your niche target audience. But you better not mess up.
Facebook is proud of their community standards and the action they are willing to take.
For instance, the platform has a strong stance against hate speech – throughout Q3 of 2023, they took action on 22.1M pieces of hate speech content.
Yes, you want to stay on their good side. You also want to ensure your Facebook marketing works to drive sales.
However, there’s no need to worry. As long as you follow my guide with a few simple rules for marketing on Facebook, you’ll be good to go.
Facebook Is Vital For MarketersYou want to stay on Facebook – marketing on the social media platform is crucial.
Why? Because Facebook is, without a doubt, a ringleader when it comes to social media.
Based on statistics from 2023, Facebook reaches 59% of social media users. That’s over half of the population on social media.
You Need A Guide To Facebook These DaysAlthough Facebook can help you see great success if you approach it correctly, not doing so could result in quick failure.
In this article, I’ve compiled a list of unacceptable errors you could run into on Facebook and what to do instead.
The 5 Worst Things You Can Do On FacebookIt’s simple to slip up, especially if you’re new to Facebook.
Are you worried about messing up? I’m here to help put your mind at ease – here’s what not to do on Facebook.
Avoid these missteps, and you’ll be well on your way to a prosperous Facebook marketing campaign.
1. Overpost Or OvershareFirst of all, overposting or sharing content is going to be annoying to your audience. While you want to post on a regular schedule, you can’t make it seem like spam. Facebook also hates spam.
Generally, post to Facebook no more than one to two times per day, maybe a few more depending on your business. Anything excessive could be seen as spam, however, which could get your account disabled.
Be especially careful of bulk posts that contain promotional messaging – Facebook automatically considers this spam.
2. Try To Promote Your Business Without PayingFacebook has also banned any promotional cover art. A.k.a., cover art that features a sales flyer or CTA (Call to Action) within the picture.
A CTA could include a request for users to go to the company’s website, make a purchase, or download the company’s app. Facebook gives you CTA buttons within your page now anyway, so there’s no point in adding one to your cover art as well.
Here’s a look at the CTA buttons:
3. Have Too Broad An AudienceHere, we’ve come to what some endearingly call “lazy targeting.” Although you may not get in trouble with Facebook over it, lazy targeting can be an effortless way to tank your marketing strategy goals.
What I’m talking about is not putting enough effort into determining your ideal target audience. Facebook gives you some fantastic tools to narrow down to the specific audience you’re trying to reach — you’re shooting yourself in the foot if you don’t use them.
Whether you realize it or not yet, your company has a niche: your marketing strategy should focus on it.
Not doing so will result in many views from bored users who have little to no interest in your brand simply because they’re nowhere near to being your target audience.
Spend time researching your target audience: what they like, what they do, and how they act.
Honing in on specific economic factors, interests, and activities of your audience will help you reach only the people who are likely to interact with you, like Intrepid Travel does.
4. Post Bad Images Or ContentWhen I say don’t post bad images or content, I mean two things:
Don’t Post Low-quality Photos
This is a great way to make your company look unprofessional. If you post grainy, unclear photos, it will lower your page’s image.
Facebook pages that either post low-quality visuals or use them in their profile are likely to be disregarded.
Make Sure Your Content Is Appropriate
Facebook has taken a tough stance on the content it considers appropriate – it is vital to ensure you’re following their community standards. Not only will you ensure your page doesn’t stay up if you violate them, but it will also paint your business in a bad light.
Facebook won’t tolerate content that contains:
Hate speech.
Violent or graphic content.
Child nudity or sexual exploitation.
Bullying or harassment.
It’s pretty straightforward: just don’t break the laid-out rules and post pretty content.
Intrepid Travel does an excellent job at increasing engagement by posting captivating images from around the world – it’s no surprise they have over half of a million followers.
5. Incorrectly Used CTAThe most important thing to note here is to make your CTA crystal clear.
It must always, plainly and clearly, state where it will lead and the actions the user will be expected to take. If you don’t follow that rule, Facebook will take action against your account.
Don’t overuse your CTA, either. A tip to help keep your audience from getting overwhelmed: it’s key not to try and do too many things simultaneously.
While Facebook gives you up to seven CTA buttons on your Facebook page, that doesn’t mean you should use every single one.
Finally, make sure you do use a CTA or two. It’s essential to do it correctly but failing to use any type of CTA at all is worse than a bad one. It means potential consumers have nowhere to go once they’ve found you.
What To Do InsteadI’ve talked a lot about what not to do on Facebook. But what should you do instead? The answers make sense when you think about it.
If you’re looking to completely revamp and need even more tips on creating the best Facebook page for your business, we’ve written about it before.
Maintain A Regular ScheduleInstead of posting sporadically, or on the other hand, posting so much it looks like spam, follow a maintained schedule.
Posting at least once a day is ideal. However, if that isn’t feasible, try to post a few times a week.
If you’re too busy to post every day, try using plugins or software like Semrush, which posts to Facebook automatically for you – it will make your life much easier.
Pay For Ads Define Your Target AudienceCrucial to the heart of all marketing strategies, not just those on Facebook, defining your target audience allows you to decide who you want to interact with.
Narrow down exactly who you want to market to using Facebook’s tools, such as their Audience Insights, and you can find people who have aligned interests.
Use Beautiful ImagesPeople love pretty things, especially beautiful images. Gorgeous content will encourage your audience to engage with your posts.
Nearly everyone these days has a phone (or some other device) with a camera that has the capability of capturing gorgeous visuals. There’s no excuse – make sure the pictures you post are well-designed, on-brand, and give a viewer pleasing aesthetics.
Use CTAs To Your AdvantageUsing a compelling CTA or two is vital to driving not just page views but sales.
A CTA tells your audience where to go next and is what will ultimately drive engagement in the end. After all, you’re trying to turn your audience into consumers.
On the SEJ Facebook page, the CTA is a “Sign Up” button – the link takes you to sign up for the newsletter.
Figure out what the primary goal for your Facebook page is before trying to decide on a CTA. Knowing what you really need will help laser your focus on the right one.
Marketers, Don’t Mess Up On FacebookMarketing on Facebook can be nerve-wracking, and maybe it should be, just a little bit. If Facebook decides to kick you from the platform, you’re out for good.
Also, if you don’t know some basic marketing skills, you’ll be doomed to stale strategies.
Luckily, it’s not too hard to avoid getting on Facebook’s wrong side if you can follow a few straightforward rules. Knowing what to avoid is the first step – you’ve got that covered.
Now use your knowledge of what to do instead, and don’t just keep yourself from falling. Fly instead!
More Resources:
Featured image: Irina Strelnikova/Shutterstock
Don’t Go To Death Valley Looking For A ‘Super Bloom’
Flowers are erupting in the California desert, covering dry, hard soil with a profusion of poppies, brittlebrush, dune evening primrose, and desert sunflowers. It’s a gorgeous sight to see, and hundreds of people are flocking to witness nature’s glory for themselves.
But if you’re a bloom-seeker, choose your destination carefully. While many of southern California’s deserts are awash in color after this winter’s intense rainfall, not all deserts are going through the same vibrant transformation.
Death Valley, for example, isn’t looking particularly lively this year. But tourists are still flocking there with floral fantasies.
“If you’re coming to Death Valley looking for flowers you’re going to be disappointed,” says Linda Slater, Chief of Interpretation at Death Valley National Park. “There are almost no flowers in Death Valley this year.”
That’s a stark contrast from last year, when desert gold flowers blanketed the park for 30 miles, creating a glorious display that garnered national attention and actually inspired the first use of the term ‘super bloom’.
This year, Slater has had to disappoint many people who—inspired by news reports of gorgeous blooms in other desert areas—have made the long trek out to Death Valley only to find that there are no flowers easily accessible or nearby.
“Death valley is still a beautiful place to come in the spring, even if the flowers aren’t spectacular this year. The weather is wonderful. But if you’re looking for flowers, please go somewhere else.” Slater says.
But all hope is not lost. The disappointed tourists should try heading further south on their next trek. Flowers are blooming in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and so many people are stopping to take pictures of the orange blanket of poppies near Lake Elsinore that it’s causing traffic jams.
Precipitation patterns are to blame for the decorative discrepancy between the dry areas. While California was pummeled with storms this winter, the rainfall was not distributed evenly. Parts of southern California got soaked, but Death Valley remained characteristically bone dry.
The remarkable desert flowers that people admire are typically annuals, meaning they only live for a single season. And they want to make their short lifespans count. Seeds lie in wait in the desert soil for years—even decades—waiting for the right conditions before they start to germinate.
Super bloom coming 2 CA after drenching rains. Best place to see it #anzaborrego Desert State Park – seeds dormant for 30 yrs coming 2 life chúng tôi Belinda Waymouth (@BelindaWaymouth) March 10, 2023
In order to bloom, Slater says, flower seeds need to get regular waterings by winter storms over the course of a season. That helps the seeds sprout and grow. This doesn’t have to be much. In an area that only gets about 2 inches of rainfall a year, even a quarter inch of rain or less every month is enough to keep the cycle going once a good soaking (half an inch) has gotten the process started. While Death Valley did get some rain later in the season, it didn’t get enough early on to entice the seeds to throw off their protective shields and start growing.
If the rains are properly distributed and the temperatures are just right—warm, but not hot enough to bake all that moisture right back into the air—the tiny seedlings can reach their full potential.
So how super is a super bloom? Usually, everything falls into place about once a decade. Before the 2023 bloom that took social media by storm, Death Valley had dressed up like a garden only a few times in the past few decades—once in 2005 and once in 1998—so it was really right on schedule.
But there are no hard and fast rules on timing. Depending on location and rainfall patterns, the United States could see multiple ‘super blooms’ over the course of a few years—if different deserts happen to hit the jackpot at different times, like Death Valley last year, and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park this year. Or we could have a dry spell and go through a wildflower drought for years as well.
Either way, these flowers won’t last long. If you’re interested in checking out the blooms for yourself, be prepared, and maybe call the place you’re interested in visiting before you hit the road. There’s even a wildflower hotline set up in California to help you out.
Update the detailed information about Google’s John Mueller: Don’t Create A Sitemap Manually on the Daihoichemgio.com website. We hope the article's content will meet your needs, and we will regularly update the information to provide you with the fastest and most accurate information. Have a great day!