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It’s already obvious to most businesses that search engine optimization (SEO) is critical to business success. That’s because, being listed high in search engine results means a higher likelihood that consumers will go to your website and choose your company to do business with.

But what about voice search optimization? Is your business ready?

If you’re not familiar with the term, let’s start there before exploring how your business can prepare for this new wave of online searching.

What is a voice search?

Voice search simply refers to online searches (via sites like Google or Bing) that are carried out with a user’s voice. Think of someone driving in their car, looking for a place to have dinner. They may ask Siri, “What’s the closest Chinese food restaurant to where I am?” This is a voice search.

Why is voice search optimization important?

Alas, if you feel like you’ve only just begun to grasp the importance of SEO for text searches, strap in. The next new frontier is voice search optimization. It’s important because more and more people are doing it.

According to Andrew Ng, co-founder of Coursera, half of all online searches will be voice searches by 2020. While this has yet to be confirmed, there are certainly signs that the prediction is accurate.

For one thing, an increasing number of people are investing in smart speakers like Google Home, Apple HomePod, and Amazon Echo. Additionally, use of virtual assistants like Google Assistant, Alexa (Amazon), Siri (Apple), and Cortana (Microsoft) are being utilized more.

While voice search use rates aren’t sky-high quite yet (a recent study found that 21% of respondents used voice search on a weekly basis), experts estimate that they soon will be.

What does this mean for your business?

At this time, it’s not necessary to put all of your efforts and marketing funds into voice search optimization. Furthermore, many of the things you’ve ideally already done to optimize your business for text searches will also help when it comes to voice searches.

Still, there are several key things that are unique to voice searches and voice search optimization:

• Only “position zero” gets the spotlight. With a regular Google text search, search result position 1 (“position zero”) is best, but positions 2, 3, and 4 are still pretty good. When it comes to voice searches, however, Sir or Alexa will only read the first search result, which means you won’t even be seen if you’re in position 2 or beyond.
• People use longer key phrases and questions with voice search. While a user might type “best dentist Denver” into Google Search, they might vocally ask Google Assistant: “Who is the best dentist in Denver?” This means you must optimize your content for both text and voice search key phrases.
• There are several core inquiries that voice searchers will continually ask. Think about who usually voice searches and when. Often, it’s in situations where typing isn’t possible (e.g., while driving) or when the user wants one simple answer (e.g., “What time does the post office open?”) In these cases, businesses must first ensure the accuracy of their location information (address, phone number, hours, etc.). Second, they must optimize their content for quick and succinct answers to their most commonly asked questions.

As you can see, it’s wise to at least take some preliminary steps right now in order to ensure a seamless transition into the soon-to-be world of prevalent voice searching. This starts with assessing your company’s current voice search status and speaking with SEO professionals who can help optimize your content for voice search.

 

Microsoft Teams is an amazingly powerful collaboration tool that’s available as a part of the Microsoft Office suite.
At its core, it’s kind of like Slack on steroids, but that core functionality is just the tip of the iceberg. Because it’s integrated with the rest of Microsoft Office, it has so many powerful features.

One feature area in Microsoft Teams is the ability to host and join virtual meetings. Users can join or host meetings from desktop or mobile. Mobile users can share files with the group, and we covered that in a previous post. Desktop users can share screens with other users, and with a surprising degree of control. Here’s how to take advantage of this feature.

Step 1: Create a Meeting

The Share Screens feature works from within the Meetings function, so the first step is to create or join a meeting. Locate the tabs bar (usually on the left side), where you’ll see icons like Activity, Chat, Teams, Meetings, and Files. Select Meetings, and then create a meeting (or join a meeting that someone else is hosting). The Meetings tab is tied into your Outlook calendar, allowing you to see potential conflicts.

Quick note: Teams features can be enabled or disabled at the enterprise level. If you don’t see a Meetings tab at all, your IT department hasn’t enabled it yet. Contact IT and plead your case for enabling this awesome feature.

Step 2: Click the Share Button

Once the meeting is in progress, you’ll see a series of buttons in the bottom middle of your screen. If you don’t see them, move your mouse to that location to make them show up. You’ll see buttons for video (if enabled), microphone (for muting yourself), ending the call, and more. The one you want looks like a rectangle with an upward arrow. This button, aptly named the Share button, represents screen sharing. Click it to continue.

Step 3: Choose What to Share

Screen sharing isn’t exactly new technology, but the implementation here is particularly well done. When you click the Share button, Teams doesn’t immediately share your entire screen. Instead, you have options. “Desktop” allows you to share one of your desktops. “Window” lets you choose a single window or app to share. “PowerPoint” shares the presentation you choose. There are even more options available under “Browse”.

Conclusion

This level of granular control makes screen sharing in Teams a killer feature, and there’s so much more that Teams can do for you. Team-based chat, productivity tools, and real-time collaboration on nearly any Office file are a few more ways it can help. If you’re ready to keep exploring, contact us to keep learning.

Microsoft PowerPoint is the industry leader in presentation software, a venerable application that’s over 30 years old. Awesome PowerPoint slides can greatly enhance the visual impact of a meeting presentation. The inverse is also true: terribly designed PowerPoint slides can create serious distraction and disinterest. Many a speaker has been undermined by his or her slides.

Today’s tech tip will teach you how to make your Microsoft PowerPoint slides awesome. View online here or watch the video below.

 

Step 1: Choose a Theme

PowerPoint offers a variety of prebuilt themes. Choose one that fits the tone of your presentation and your company. To do so, open PowerPoint and click the Design tab in the menu ribbon. One of the sections is named Themes. Click on a theme to apply it to the default slide. Don’t like it? Try another.

PowerPoint also allows you to find additional themes online. Click the drop-down arrow in the Themes pane and select “Browse for Themes…” to start that process.

Bonus tip: If you have a presentation that’s already filled with content, you can still experiment with changing the look by changing themes. Changing themes never removes or erases existing content, though it will change fonts and sometimes reposition text.

Step 2: Insert Your Raw Data

Whether you’re typing all your content in manually or pasting it in from another document, now’s the time to get the raw data into your file. Don’t worry very much about looks at this point. Just get the information in there.

If you’re working in a theme, remember to right-click on each new slide and select the appropriate layout. Placing content into slides with the proper layout now will save you headaches later.

Bonus tip: Not all themes have the same set of slide layouts available. Make sure the theme you choose has all the ones you need.

Step 3: Check Out Design Ideas

A new feature in Office 365, Design Ideas is a powerful, AI-assisted tool. It will dynamically analyze the contents of a slide and suggest a handful of alternative ways of displaying the information. It’s truly marvelous when it works just right (for example, turning a bulleted list into a sleek timeline), and you have to see it in action to fully appreciate it.

To access Design Ideas, click on the Design tab in the menu ribbon. At the far right, you’ll see a Design Ideas button in the Designer section of the ribbon. Click this button to open a sidebar. You may see “Generating design ideas…” for a few seconds. Next, a handful of design ideas will appear. Click through them and select the one that works best for you.

Using Design Ideas is the easiest way to create awesome, powerful PowerPoint presentations. Check it out today!

Spam emails can be incredibly annoying. Not only that, it can be downright dangerous, considering the phishing schemes and other email scams that are prevalent today. We can’t avoid spam completely and hope to have any kind of digital life, because so many services require an email address as part of the sign-up process. These can tend to clutter our inboxes with (technically not spam) promotional emails, and the less scrupulous of these may send real spam. That’s not to mention the frequency with which these companies’ databases are breached, creating a whole new layer of spam potential.

How to Avoid Seeing Spam

All of the most prevalent email services offer some degree of spam protection. Great spam protection is one of the reasons Gmail rose to such prominence a decade ago. Most services enable spam filtering by default, but check your email service’s settings to ensure that this setting is turned on.

If you’re still seeing a lot of spam, or if you’re using a service that doesn’t offer much in the way of spam filtering, here are some other suggestions.

Create Filters or Rules

You can create your own rudimentary spam filter by setting a filter or a rule. The terminology varies based on your email service, but you should find something by a similar name. You can create rules that auto-route email based on certain characteristics. For example, you can create a rule that sends any message containing NSFW language straight to the trash. Simply insert all those explicit terms in the field “message contains” and select “move to trash” as the action that is taken.

You can use filters or rules to move less important messages to a folder, too. If you still want to know about the latest sales at a few retailers, but you don’t want to be inundated right alongside emails that are actually important, create a rule that sends these emails to a “Retail” folder that you can check when you get the shopping urge.

Block Addresses

In the same area of settings, you should also have the option to block specific email addresses or even all addresses from a particular domain. Granted, it’s rare these days for spammers to frequently reuse the same address, but this function can still help with overly persistent individuals as well as companies or domains that refuse to take you off their mailing lists.

How to Stop Spam from Ever Arriving

There are other tools available to stop spam from ever showing up in your inbox.

Use “Report Spam” Button

The spam filters from email services like Gmail aren’t static. They can actually learn from you. When a spam message leaks through, you can help the spam filter learn. Look at the menu options available on the message. You should see one that looks like a stop sign with an exclamation point. Click this button to report to Gmail that the message is spam, and you should never see a similar message again.

If Gmail recognizes that your spam message is actually from a mailing list, it will try to unsubscribe for you if you click that option.

Set Up a Spam or Throwaway Account

Another savvy way to avoid spam is to set up a “spam account” that you use only for email signups, website logins, and the like. Give your main email address only to those personal and professional contacts you actually want to hear from, and sign up for everything else using your “spam account.”

If your current account is beyond hope, turn it into your spam account. Create a new main account, and let all your real-life contacts know about the switch.

These tips should help cut down on the chaos in your inbox. Got your own tips? Let us know!

Local Guides have contributed content about hundreds of thousands of businesses. They get together and have held meetups and conducted projects in Europe, India, South America, North America, Australia, and Asia.

How Are Google’s Local Guides Different From Google Users?

People have been contributing reviews, photos, and videos to Google for years. Google Local Guides are part of a program that offers benefits provided through Google Maps.

The Local Guides provide a way for Google to improve its maps and local business information. Local Guides can post photos, reviews, and answer questions about businesses — all tied to Google Maps.

What Do Google Local Guides Get From Contributing?

The Local Guides program offers a rewards program for participants. The points-based program offers a way for guides to get points for contributing nine different kinds of information based on their local area.

The types of information and points include:

• Answers: 1 point
• Edits: 5 points
• Fact Checks: 1 point
• Photos: 5 points
• Places: 15 points (for places and roads)
• Q & A Answers: 3 points
• Ratings: 1 point
• Reviews: 10 points, plus additional 10 points for reviews over 200 words
• Videos: 7 points

Guides advance through the point system. They start at Level 1 and can achieve Level 10. People using Google Maps can see the Guide’s level and use it to decide the trust level and authenticity of the information.

What Other Benefits Do Local Guides Get?

Local Guides have access to perks from Google’s partners and also get early access to Google features. They can also get badges and recognition from other Google Maps users.

Google Local Guides have profiles that display badges and recognition. Recognition from users shows next to the Guide’s level on their profile.

How Do Local Guides Level Up?

Local Guides advance through Levels by accumulating points from their contributions. Level 1 Guides are just starting out. They have 0 points. By Level 2. guides have achieved 15 points.

Here are the other Local Guide levels and points needed to achieve them:

• Level 1: 0 points
• Level 2: 15 points
• Level 3: 75 points
• Level 4: 250 points and a badge
• Level 5: 500 points and a new badge
• Level 6: 1,500 points and a new badge
• Level 7: 5,00 points and a new badge
• Level 8: 15,000 points and a new badge
• Level 9: 50,000 points and a new badge
• Level 10: 100,000 points and the highest badge

Level 10 is a high level of achievement requiring many contributions over a significant period. As of 2018, members of the Local Guide community identified over 500 Level 10 Local Guides around the world. The number of Local Guides of different levels in each area shows on each Local Guide’s profile.

How Do You Become a Google Local Guide?

Anyone with a Google account can visit the Local Guides page and choose “Join Local Guides” to get started. Provide your home location and confirm the details, and then sign up.

When it comes to watching videos online, no name comes to mind more often than YouTube. They host nearly 2 billion users each month. 60% of people now prefer watching YouTube to watching TV. 80% of people under 49 are watching videos on YouTube.

It’s popular. We get it. Everyone is on it. And there’s a huge variety of content from funny cat videos to videogame walkthroughs to guided meditation. And the fact is that regardless of whether or not you have any reason to hide what you’re watching, it’s no one’s business what you watch on YouTube as long as it’s not illegal. And even that can be a gray area.

Despite this fact, you should know that everything you do on YouTube is very carefully monitored by the company. And you have to ask yourself, just how many of your personal preferences does YouTube have a right to? According to the privacy policy, they have a right to everything. But you do have the option to go incognito. And we’ll show you how.

But first, what does YouTube do with your viewing history?

A.I., Automation & Analytics

YouTube is owned by Google, one of the biggest and most powerful tech companies in the world. Through Google’s many tech assets, they can gather endless amounts of data about you. While we don’t believe Google has any nefarious intentions for this data, we do know that Google puts this data to work to expand the empire they’ve built, primarily by enhancing their ad platform.

In a practical sense, they use this data to learn about individual and demographic behavior. What ads do you click? What makes you click? How long do you watch videos? What do you watch? All of this information helps a company like Google show you more relevant and targeted ads that may be hard not to click because they’ve been engineered with such precision.

Modern analytics allows Google to glean endless amounts of data and aggregate it into a useable form. Using artificial intelligence (A.I.), they can automate this entire process. Each time you visit, it learns something new and continually adjusts the algorithm to deliver more targeted ads.

In YouTube specifically, they can also use viewing data to make relevant recommendations to you.

This technology is actually great. It has opened the doors for personalization and relevancy in advertising that can’t otherwise be achieved. And people love that. 57% of people say they’re willing to share more data for a more personalized experience. But you have a right to control this flow of information.

How to Set up Incognito in YouTube

These instructions are the same whether you’re on Apple or Android. In order for this to work, you do need to log into your YouTube account. And before we go any further, let’s get one misunderstanding out of the way. Just because you don’t log in doesn’t mean they don’t track you. They put cookies on your device to track every visitor.

Follow these steps.

1. Open the YouTube app.
2. Tap the profile icon
3. Tap “turn on incognito”.
4. Check to see that your profile icon is replaced with the “incognito symbol” to know you can privately watch YouTube videos.
5. Whenever you go into YouTube, check for this icon first to know that it’s active.
6. When you finish private viewing, we recommend that you turn this feature off.
7. Tap the profile icon again.
8. “Turn off incognito”.
9. YouTube is again tracking what you do.
10. Switch back and forth, as needed. It’s so easy to do so.

But you may still have a pressing question. We’d like to address it.

Why Would You Want YouTube to Track You?

Personalization is pretty cool. YouTube can very quickly figure you out and recommend things that you weren’t even thinking to search for but would love to view. YouTube’s personalization is kind of like having your own personal assistant that knows you so well that they can always recommend the perfect thing.

Sometimes that you might want to consider privately watching include:

• If you’re viewing something somewhat embarrassing. Seriously, it’s no one’s business.
• If you want to view something without seeing ads for it later.
• If you’re letting your child, spouse, etc. watch on your account. This way they don’t see recommendations intended for you, which may not be appropriate. And their viewing on your account doesn’t mess with the algorithm. Otherwise, YouTube is recommending children’s cartoons for a month after you let your 4-year-old use your phone.

Remember, You Have the Power

Yes, YouTube and their parent company Google are collecting a lot of data about you. They use this data to enhance your online experience. And most of the time, personalization is awesome. But you may not always want this data collected. And you have the power to say when you’d prefer not to share. Use incognito to watch YouTube videos privately when you want to and turn it back off to get the best recommendations.

iOS 12 brings a lot to the table and you will want to take full advantage of it to get the most out of your device. The Today View in iOS 12 is one feature that is worth exploring to determine how you can leverage it to make your workday and personal life more organized. As the name implies, the Today View is there to let you know what is going on right now. But there are a lot of different information points that your device can inform you of, so customizing your Today View and learning to navigate it is essential to getting more out of your iPhone.

The Today View in iOS 12

Your iPhone is designed to keep you organized and updated on the things that matter most to you. As a business user, that means staying abreast of what is going on in your department, your company and your industry. If you are like most business users, it also means managing your professional life and your personal life on the same device.

Taking care of all these needs requires using a variety of apps. In the olden days of earlier smartphones, those apps would need to be opened to see what they had to offer. But today, with your iPhone and iOS 12, you can get most of the information you need from each app on your Today View—at least the fundamental information that you are likely to want access to at a glance. Instead of having to go to your Home screen to get the information you need, you can just do a quick swipe and see what you need more quickly and more conveniently than you would if you have to open each app individually.

One of the most useful things about the Today View is that you do not even need to unlock your phone to access it. As long as you have your security settings established where your Today View shows on your Lock screen—which is the way your phone comes by default—you can check your Today View at any time whether the phone is locked or unlocked.

How to Access Your Today View

Whether you are on your iPhone’s Lock screen or on your Home screen, your action to get to the Today View is the same. You will simply swipe to the right side of your phone screen. You can start your swipe from the left side of the phone, from the middle of the phone screen and even from pretty close to the right edge of the screen. Wherever you begin your swipe, as long as you slide your finger off the right edge of the screen, your Today View will pop up.

When you want to leave the Today View, you perform the opposite gesture. Swipe to the left edge of your screen to leave the Today View both on your Home screen and on your Lock screen.

What Does the Today View Show You?

The things that you will see on your Today View will vary based on the apps you have installed and the widgets you have told your phone to include on the Today View. For instance, you will see FAVORITES that shows some of your favorite contacts that you have called recently. You will also see other widgets that are based on the apps that you have recently used. Like if you have used Maps recently, your Today View will show a MAPS DESTINATIONS widget with a destination that you are likely to want to go to—such as your home.

Show More

Many of your widgets will give you an option to show more information if you need it. The option to Show More will show to the right of the name of the widget. Just click the Show More section and the widget will expand. For example, your FAVORITES widget will only show four favorite contacts initially, but if you click Show More you will see eight contacts.

Launching Apps

Some of the widgets on your phone will give you the option of launching the app just by tapping the widget. For instance, the Maps app widget, MAP DESTINATIONS, will launch Maps if you tap the widget and create a map to the destination offered in the widget—like your home address.

Changing Widgets

You can add or remove widgets from your Today View by tapping Edit at the bottom of the Today View and tapping the minus or plus symbol to the left of the app name. You can also reorganize your widgets by tapping and holding the three horizontal lines to the right of an app name, then shifting the app up or down the list.

Organization Shouldn’t Be Complicated

Out of all of Microsoft’s Office programs, Excel is one of the most universally used. What started out as a fairly basic spreadsheet program has evolved into a must-have business tool. However, the more you use Excel, the more data your workbooks will accumulate.

Keeping these workbooks organized and easy to navigate can be a challenge. We can help with that. Check out our short Excel: Tips and Techniques for Managing Workbooks training video, available to you free and on-demand.

Simply Click Here.

Watch at your leisure, and say goodbye to your Excel frustrations.

8 Essential Reasons to Outsource Your IT Services

Technology moves fast and furiously. In this modern world, you need IT services for your business to run as smoothly as possible. The last thing any well-run company wants is for their IT issues to trip up working conditions so your employees are frustrated, and not being as productive as they should be. Ideally having the right technology in place can help your business to be more profitable in the long run. The question then becomes, is it better to have your IT department in-house or outsource those services? There are actually many terrific benefits to outsourcing your IT services to the right qualified professionals.

Here are 8 essential reasons to leave it to the pros at a managed IT service company for all your technology needs.

Reason #8: Increased Productivity

When companies have their IT services in-house, this can take up time and reduce productivity among the staff. It’s been shown that Managed Service Providers (MSP) who have all the right credentials can implement IT solutions for you in a much faster way. The speed and efficiency an outsourced IT company can give you will allow your business to operate at full capacity much faster in the long run. Less IT distractions equal a better working environment for your staff.

Reason #7: Focus on Core Operations

If you and your employees have to worry about IT glitches and struggles, it’s going to carry over into your daily working environment. That takes away the focus on your core operations. Your managers and employees have limited time to do their job. There are only so many work hours in a day. They can do their jobs better without having to get sidelined by IT problems they shouldn’t have to deal with.

Reason #6: Smaller Business Can Compete

Smaller companies sometimes can’t afford the kind of IT services that larger, more established companies use. By having an MSP who can give you the kind of technological advance that larger companies can afford, will make it easier to compete with the “big guys” on a global scale.

Reason #5: Risks and Threats Are Handled

Most outsourced IT companies are available for risks and threats 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s something they monitor all the time. They will be able to handle and manage these threats for you seamlessly to keep your company operationally rock solid.

Reason #4: More Security

Security and compliance issues are less of a problem with experienced IT professionals. Hardware crashes, viruses, data corruption, and backup failures are less of an issue when outsourced IT people are constantly looking out for your company’s security.

Reason #3: Implement New Technology Faster

When you outsource your IT and need updates to be made to your technology, the professionals are going to be able to put that new technology in place much faster. They can also do these updates in off-hours that won’t interfere with your working day.

Reason #2: More Experienced IT Professionals

A company that focuses solely on IT is going to have all the right credentials and certifications in place that will allow you to have the most experienced professionals in your back pocket. A highly qualified MSP also has the most up-to-date training and ongoing education of everything involved in the technology sphere.

Reason #1: Less Expensive IT Costs

This is by far the most important reason in the minds of most companies, the bottom line. By not having your IT department in-house, you are going to be saving serious monetary resources. It’s just less expensive to outsource your IT costs with an MSP that works efficiently and allows you to pay only for the services your company needs from them.

Protect Yourself from Potential Attacks Via Chrome Extensions

Learn two simple ways to set the privacy and activity settings for each Google Chrome extension on your browser and steps the company is taking to protect users.

Google’s Chrome web browser is a popular choice for businesses the world over. Managing the extensions gives you more control and faster results when using Chrome to its best. Here’s a closer look at Chrome add-ons and how to use them effectively.

And with emerging cyberthreats targeting browsers, now is an important time to know your way around the extensions.

What Is the History of Google Chrome Extensions?

Google introduced Chrome in 2008. By 2010, there were more than 10,000 extensions available in the Chrome Web Store. Today, the company does not release the number available, but it’s estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands.

That growth brings with it an increasing vulnerability to attacks via vectors embedded in extensions. The company does work to keep malicious extensions out of its store but mistakes are possible. Other extensions can invade users’ privacy.

Should I Uninstall All Chrome Extensions?

Deleting all extensions is not necessary. Instead, use these two helpful tools to manage your extensions better and control permissions you provide to the add-in.

1. Use Extension Icons

To the right of the address bar, you’ll find icons representing the extensions you’ve installed. If you right-click on an icon, you’ll see an option titled “This can read and change site data” with three options:

• When you click the extension
• On [the site you’re on]
• On all sites

The default is the first option, which limits the use of the extension to user-activated times. If an extension is “loud,” meaning it uses a lot of bandwidth, these settings can provide more control.

2. Use Extension Settings

If you click on the hamburger menu icon to the far right of your address bar, you can click on the option “More tools” and click on “Extensions.” This will bring up a screen with a box for each installed extension. Click on the Details button for any extension you want to modify. You’ll see the three options again, but also an option to add the URLs of specific sites on which you want the extension activated.

What Can Go Wrong with Browser Extensions?

There are several risks to installing browser extensions. Here are a few of the ways extensions can do harm:

• Malicious intent. Malware can be installed unknowingly that uses your computer for other purposes. Kaspersky, for example, noted a recent example of extensions that made money for the hacker by clicking on pay-per-click ads.
• Hijacking. If a hacker steals a designer’s credentials, an extension can be compromised by changing the functionality or inserting malware.
• Purchases. Extensions are hard for designers to monetize. That’s why many are eager to sell their code if approached by a buyer. Users are usually unaware if extensions change hands, meaning a previously well-intentioned add-on can be repurposed.

Is Google Addressing Extension Security?

Google recently announced steps it’s taking to combat the security issues with extensions. Among its changes:

• More granular user permission options
• A requirement that extensions only request access to the minimum amount of user data needed to operate
• Expanding privacy rules for extensions. Those that carry user communications and user content will join those that handle personal or sensitive user data and need to post privacy policies

Proactive steps combined with Google’s efforts are critical to keeping your browsing and data safe and secure.