The Friday Catch-Up: Apple Re-enters the Music Business

The weekend is finally here, the month is almost over, and we have some exciting shenanigans planned for the two days of oncoming bliss (we mean sleeping). Summer is here, and we are ready to embrace our inner lazy child. This weekend, we’re simply going to kick back, drink a few cocktails, and bask in the sun.

This week has been quite exciting. The Big 3 finally make an appearance again this week with some major steps. It seems they have a pact of giving us multiple heart attacks at the same time. Facebook makes some important changes to business pages while Apple meets with a long-forgotten friend.

NEWS

Facebook Enters the Food Industry; Yelp Enters Panic Mode

We are at war gentlemen, and it’s in its most crucial stages. It seems the eye of Sauron has locked its gaze towards other things in the Kingdom and Yelp is being threatened by a contender they never saw coming. The announcement of the Menu feature in business pages on Facebook is a direct unconcealed attack on Yelp and takes Facebook much further in the social industry. Yelp, however, isn’t one to go down without a fight. The introduction of the video feature came soon after the facebook update where users will have the opportunity of uploading 12 seconds of footage on the review site. Read more of this juicy combat entrepreneur.

Apple Buys Beats by Dr. Dre

The $3 billion deal went down this week as Apple took over the popular music brand Beats by Dr. Dre. The deal comes with Dr. Dre and Jimmy Lovine (record executive) and it seems Apple is ready to re-enter the music industry. This step occurred after Apple‘s iTunes which used to be the largest source of music downloads dwindles into oblivion. The recent changes have occurred as a result of a need for innovation without Steve Jobs and to show the world that the brand is still exclusive. Read more The Guardian.

 Checking Under the Hood with Fetch as Google

This new tool by Google is great for webmasters looking for a new vantage point on their website. Fetch delivers results on how the Googlebots fetch pages. The HTML shown allows webmasters to identify and troubleshoot problems. When trying to render the page, the bot will locate the external files and fetch them. The resulting preview page will show your page through the eyes of the Googlebot. Looks like Google just made fetch happen. Read more at the Google Webmaster Blog.

TIPS & TRICKS

Integrated Approach to Ecommerce

When it comes to the integration of the digital and physical world, we are starting to learn that it is all a jigsaw puzzle where everything simply fits together. The recent prevalence of mobile commerce has led people to think that the device stands apart from others but in fact, it is just another addition to the whole. While all recent statistics show that mobile has been taking the commerce world by storm with more and more purchases being made through the device, what they haven’t been noticing is that there is an overall decline in the total sales. This is because focus is being put primarily on mobile while other mediums are being neglected. Read more at Baekdal.

Hitting the 1M Mark on SlideShare

Anyone can get a million views on SlideShare. At least that’s what Jonathan Colman says. After hitting this much awaited mark himself, he reveals some of the secrets that can help you get the million views you’ve been looking for. His first suggestion is to get in touch with the SlideShare community and to engage with them regularly. You can’t only take and not give. This is why he also suggests looking at a lot of other presentations. This is mostly a learning experience which means you ultimately get the hang of what works and what doesn’t. Read more of his suggestions at Jonathan Colman.

Prevalent Online Marketplaces in Europe

Ecommerce has been growing at an astounding pace and the introduction of marketplaces is only going boost the industry further. Some countries, however, have embraced online sales much more than others. The very first one is the United Kingdom with a $118 billion market. France follows them with $70.8 billion. Other names include Germany, Spain, and Poland with $69.8 billion, $70.8 billion, $17.9 billion, and $15.5 billion respectively. Read more at User Like.

Interview with John Doherty

In an interview with John Doherty, Kelsey Jones discussed the introduction of the Reddit AMA style panel at the HotPads panel. He stated that the real estate and rental for in terms of SEO has changed over the years and that a holistic approach to marketing is required to make the most of campaigns. He also revealed that the most important strategy for SEO is indexing pages and having a clean interface. Read more at Search Engine Journal.

The Era of Cash Is Over

While credit and debit cards have been around for the longest time, cash has still endured and is still in use today. Americans, however, are shifting more and more towards different modes of payment and are looking to completely eliminate cash from their transactions. A recent survey revealed that while 40% of transactions include cash, almost 30% of these individuals use it hesitantly. Although cash is most prevalent, it isn’t preferred. The next payment mode in terms of prevalence is debit cards with 25% usage. Read most at Business Insider.

How We Search Online: Social Media Edition

Social media has changed a lot of things and one of those factors is the way we search for content on the internet. The surge in the use of social media for search has been great news for SEO. This is why marketers are focusing on increasing user engagement through social media. In fact, studies show that 97% of individuals use social media to research a product before making a purchase. 91% on the other hand have visited a store as a result of a social media experience. 81% revealed that friend’s suggestions worked as catalysts when it came to making purchase decisions. Read more at SEO.

Management Marketing and Hiring Tips Found on Reddit AMAs

The Reddit AMA is an absolutely glorious thing. This is where people from all walks of life come together to focus on important issues. The free flow of communication allows conversations to be engaging and deliver important information. Some of the marketing bigwigs have found their way towards the site to conduct AMAs (Ask Me Anything) to answer questions posted by the community. This includes Dharmesh Shah, who answered that the biggest surprise when it came to Hubspot was the importance of company culture. Oli Gardner revealed that blog posts can be made more engaging by using original visuals and having a strong opinion. Read more suggestions at Zapier.

Changing a Word to Increase Conversions by 139%

Andrew Thompson over at GoCardless ran an A/B test to see how minor changes to copy affect conversion rates. The test included changing the call to action, requesting users to fill out a demo form, and showing a 10-minute video at the end. The precious CTA on the site stated “request a demo” whereas the new one was “Watch a Demo Now”. The stronger, more assertive tone in the latter resulted in an increase in conversions by 139%. Read more about the test at GoCardless.

Personalized Mobile Marketing through Receipts

E-receipts have been on the market for years but they haven’t quite been used in the way Walmart is. This new update, which was revealed last week allows customers to either use their e-receipts or scan the QR code on physical ones to place future orders directly through the app. This serves as a premade shopping list and targets offers which may be currently going on in-store for products on the list. Read more at Get Elastic.

Starting a Business with $5,000

Have $5,000? Why don’t you start a business? Kaiser the Sage thinks that $5k is just enough to start your very own business and even got some entrepreneurs to help back his claim. Nishank Khanna suggested starting off as a consulting firm and then building your way towards offering a tangible product until you have the resources. Zeph Snapp, on the other hand, suggested looking for the main actionable item and investing in it. Other suggestions included having enough money for living expenses other than the $5,000 for investment. Read more in-depth solutions at Sage Mode.

INFOGRAPHICS & VIDEOS

Essential Skills for the Modern Marketer

Marketing has changed so much over the years that modern marketers need to keep tabs on changes as they occur. An Infographic over at Econsultancy reveals skills that modern marketers should have if they want to survive in the market. 75% of marketers said that there was a need for adaptability to change whereas 63% said that they should have a keen eye for new opportunities and the passion to learn new things (61%). View the entire Infographic here.

The SEO Quiz to Rule them All

This is why we just love Moz. This time they have blown us away with an amazing quiz, which will show you just where you rank when it comes to SEO expertise. This 50 question quiz, which takes 15 mins to take, covers everything there is to now and is a great way of finding gems that even experienced SEOs may have overlooked. Take the quiz at Moz.

Advanced Google + Engagement Strategies

Dan Petkovic shared a presentation containing some crucial information for those looking to increase engagement on Google+. He suggested engaging with people and commenting on the platform. The integration with YouTube means that you can +1 content there too. One great benefit of using Google + is that it shows up in organic search results in Google. In addition, it will also automatically display authorship in the search results. Read more at Google Docs.