Technology: Google releases new compression technology

Google just released an image compression technology called RAISR (Rapid and Accurate Super Image Resolution) designed to save your precious data without sacrificing photo quality.

Claiming to use up to 75 percent less bandwidth, RAISR analyzes both low and high-quality versions of the same image. Once analyzed, it learns what makes the larger version superior and simulates the differences on the smaller version.

In essence, it's using machine learning to create an Instagram-like filter to trick your eye into believing the lower-quality image is on par with its full-sized variant. Unfortunately for the majority of smartphone users, the tech only works on Google+ where Google claims to be upscaling over a billion images a week. If you don't want to use Google+, you'll just have to wait a little longer. Google plans to expand RAISR to more apps over the coming months. Hopefully that means Google Photos.

https://www.blog.google/products/google-plus/saving-you-bandwidth-through-machine-learning/

Online Shopping: The Top 3 Online Resources (research)

Comparing Online Shopping Resources

The chart below says it all.

It's not so much that you need to be selling your stuff on Amazon. No, it's more like, people are shopping online at a reputable, easy to use web site where they KNOW a fair price is offered.  Amazon is not always the cheapest price, but they do have reputation for excellent service.

If you want to build your business, then steal some of Amazon's web site aspects and use those to start building your brand.

Courtesy zerohedge.com

Online Marketing; 7 points of understanding online shopping behavior

Do people use the web to go shopping? Research says they do.

#1 81% of shoppers conduct online research before making big purchases. (Retailing Today, 2014) 

#2 44% of people go directly to Amazon to start their product searches, compared to 34% who use search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo to search for products. (Marketing Land, 2015) 

#3 Mobile commerce makes up 30% of all U.S. ecommerce. (Internet Retailer, 2015)

#4 Sales during the 2016 holiday season on Amazon amounted to almost 40 percent of online spending (Slice Intelligence, 2016).

#5 Mobile devices accounted for 31 percent of holiday sales, and the desktop generated 69 percent. (Adobe, 2016).

#6 Almost 70% of the survey participants labeled facial recognition technology as creepy when asked about it being used by retailers to direct salespersons toward high-value shoppers. (RichRevelance, 2016)

#7  Online product reviews on in-store shopping in a new report called the ROBO economy: How reading reviews impacts offline sales. For every $1 online influenced by reviews, offline impact at least $4. (MarketingLand).

For customize marketing plans and a free 30 minute review of your web site, send us a email here.  All services are confidential and provided by Ez Web Company, a leader in small business online marketing.

SEO: eight tips to build your 2017 marketing success

Eight marketing questions, with researched answered to guide your 2017 online marketing efforts.

What is the most used search engine?
#1 Taking into account all searches performed in all search engines, 67.7% are done in Google. (NetMarketShare.com, 2015) 

Are keywords important in a title for SEO?
#2 Just 53 percent of the top 20 URLs, of organic search results, included a keyword in their title. (SearchEnigneLand, 2016)

How do people make their search?
#3 50% of search queries are four words or longer. (WordStream, 2016) 

What pages of search engine results are used/viewed?
#4 The search pages occupying positions 1 through 3 have an average Click-Through Rate of 36 percent. (SearchEnigneLand, 2016)

What domain extension is used most?
#5 86% of the top 10 domains now use the .com domain extension. (SearchEnigneLand, 2016)

How do businesses use search engines when buying services/products?
#6 B2B (business to business) researchers do 12 searches on average prior to engaging on a specific brand's site. (Google, 2014) 

What is the #1 marketing strategy in online marketing?
#7 A total of 72% of marketers say relevant content creation was the most effective SEO tactic. (Ascend2, 2015) 

What is a significant challenge to successful online marketing?
#8 About 40% of marketers say the most challenging obstacle to search engine optimization success is changing search algorithms. (Ascend2, 2015)

For customize marketing plans and a free 30 minute review of your web site, send us a email here.  All services are confidential and provided by Ez Web Company, a leader in small business online marketing.