Category: Uncategorized

Big changes to Google’s search algorithms are coming: beginning April 21, the company will increase the ranking of sites that are mobile-friendly and surface app results much higher. The company says…

Source: thenextweb.com

Thanks to Marta Rauch for posting this on Facebook today. I do see this as something that will have a big impact. As I was learning in my mobile marketing class this week (and already knew as well), mobile is continuing to gain speed as the primary resource of computing for most people globally. For many outside the US, a smartphone is the ONLY computing device they have. Having a ranking of more mobile friendly sites is going to have a major impact on how people access information via search! 

–techcommgeekmom

See on Scoop.it – M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications

Want to do more with the content you already have? Recycle it! These 7 tips will help you leverage content opportunities and drive new traffic to old pages.

Source: biznology.com

Mike Moran, one of my instructors for my online mini-MBA digital marketing class, posted this on his website. The reuse of content is nothing new to content strategists! Single sourcing! But Mike has some great suggestions for some ideas on how to do this that isn’t limited to digital marketing, but content in general. 

 

To prove a point that it still works in marketing, think about the latest Snickers commercial that was shown at the Super Bowl. They took a segment from a Brady Bunch show–which we are all familiar with–and added new actors, tweaked the script a bit, and voila! New commercial with punch! 

 

Try one of these if you haven’t in the past. Great suggestions here that I might use myself. 

–techcommgeekmom

See on Scoop.it – M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications

Global social is a term that I use for the practice of having a social media presence in more than one country/culture/language. It’s is quite problematic. Here’s why.

Source: www.contentrules.com

Since I’m in digital marketing mode mentally because of the coursework I’m taking, this is very appropriate to the unit I did recently on social media marketing. I don’t think we even approached this information! Val Swisher does it again, and makes a very good point about the translation and localization aspects of social media marketing. 

 

What do you think? Put your comments below. 

–techcommgeekmom

See on Scoop.it – M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications

Ana Redmond launched into a technology career for an exciting challenge and a chance to change the world. She was well-equipped to succeed too: An ambitious math and science wiz, she could code faster, with fewer errors, than anyone she knew.

Source: www.latimes.com

Funny how that works. Companies really need to listen to we females. Our different perspective can often help, as the one example that was given for the woman who made the improvement on the website then got shot down. 

 

I’m reminded of just a few years ago, when I was getting started in grad school, that I signed up for a mentorship program online that was supposed to be geared towards women in engineering and tech. When the person I was matched up with tried to talk to me, he shot down why I was even getting involved in technical communications. He thought it had no future at all, and questioned why I’d even get my degree in the subject. It wasn’t like he was encouraging me to go into programming either, but he wasn’t exactly encouraging. Glad I dumped him and the program and did my own thing anyway. But I still see those barriers in very subtle ways. I still don’t feel like I have much of a voice in matters. Even today, I was in a conference call about localization, and I told them that I study this topic on my own time, read the book (see my review of Val Swisher’s Global Content Strategy), so I do have a good idea of what I’m talking about, and I was trying to encourage a top-down look at globalization instead of the bottom pushing up from local to global.

 

Anyway, I think they heard, but I don’t think anything is going to be done about it, but I can say that I got it off my chest, at least.  Was it because I’m female? I’m not sure. But I do know that women are not considered as smart very often in tech stuff, and it really burns me. 

 

What about you? What are your observations in the work force?

–techcommgeekmom

See on Scoop.it – M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications

The competition for attention is fierce. Learn how to stand out! 10 social media strategy ideas to help your business generate real results.

Source: rebekahradice.com

I found this on Twitter this morning by way of Rebekah Radice. These ten steps are so basic, but a good reminder of what does work. I’ve learned this by trial and error on my own, but also learned it through my digital marketing class that I’m taking right now. These aren’t hard steps, especially for most technical communicators, yet it’s a good refresher. 

 

Take a look. 

–techcommgeekmom

See on Scoop.it – M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications